Ertekin to lead department's mechanics programs

8/31/2020

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Elif Ertekin
MechSE Professor Elif Ertekin
Associate Professor and Andersen Faculty Scholar Elif Ertekin has been named the new Director of Mechanics Programs.

Ertekin joined MechSE as an assistant professor in 2011 after postdoctoral research positions at the University of California, Berkeley and MIT. She earned an MS in engineering science from Penn State University in 2000, and an MS and PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2003 and 2006, respectively. She is also the Director of nanoMFG, the NSF-funded nanomanufacturing node at Illinois’ National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Earlier this year, Ertekin was named an Andersen Faculty Scholar.

The Ertekin Research Group focuses on materials physics and mechanics, where they use computational methods to design and understand new materials and structures. Ertekin recently worked on a computer model to determine how much energy it takes to bend multilayer graphene.

Ertekin recently won a 2020 Grainger College of Engineering Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research. The distinction recognizes associate professors who boast exceptional research accomplishments over the last five years.

Ertekin takes over this role from Professor Petros Sofronis, who has been named the Associate Head for Graduate Programs.

 

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This story was published August 31, 2020.