who. we. are.
LESLIE LAMBERSON
FACULTY
Associate Professor
Dr. L is currently in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines. She received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and B.A. in Dance Performance as a Shipman Scholar from the University of Michigan, and her M.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology as a NASA Space Grant fellow with a thesis on thin foil fatigue. Leslie received her Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology under Prof. Ares Rosakis, researching hypervelocity impact damage as a NASA Aeronautics Scholar and NSF Graduate Research Fellow. A former Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Advanced Development Programs (Skunk Works) engineer, Leslie is a recipient of an NSDEG Graduate Research Fellowship, Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship, and the 2009 Ernest E. Sechler Award from Caltech. Leslie spent the summer of 2013 at NASA Glenn as a Faculty Fellow, and she is a 2017 ONR Young Investigator and a 2018 NSF CAREER awardee.
STELIOS KOUMLIS
ASSISTANT RESEARCH FACULTY
Research Focus: Low-Impedance Cellular Material Characterization and Development for Next-Generation Helmet Liners to Mitigate TBI
Dr. Koumlis received his B.S. in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece, with a major in structural mechanics and minor in applied mechanics, materials technology and biomechanics. He received his MSc and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, with a dissertation on an experimental model of blunt-impact induced traumatic brain injuries under Prof. Veronica Eliasson. He also has expertise in shock mechanics and combustion kinetics. Stelios is heading the XSTRM Lab side of a joint ONR project lead by Prof. Christian Franck at U-Wisconsin, Brown University, Sandia National Laboratory and Team Wendy, focusing on dynamic deformation and failure of helmet foam liners for improved head gear and testing methods that address and prevent mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and blast related TBI.
ANDREW MATEJUNAS
PHD CANDIDATE
PhD Focus: Dynamic Inverse Identification of Brittle Polymers & Polymer Composites leveraging the Virtual Fields Method
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MS THESIS @ NMT, Advisor: Prof. Jamie Kimberley: Dynamic Tensile Failure of Rolled Magnesium
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ISABELLA MENDOZA
PHD CANDIDATE
Current Research Focus: Dynamic Fracture of Ferroelectric Ceramics
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PhD Focus: Repetitive Impact Loading to Simulate Launch and Recovery Cycles for Composite Impulsive Fatigue Performance and Damage Tolerancing ​
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EMILY PITTMAN
PHD CANDIDATE / NDSEG FELLOW
PhD Focus: Thermomechanical Behavior of Ti and Ti-Alloys Across Strain-Rates
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Other Active Research: Dynamic Fracture of Aerospace Epoxies and Polymer Matrix Composites
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BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of New Mexico ​
MEGAN SHEPHERD
PHD STUDENT
PhD Focus: Dynamic Fracture and Failure Behavior of Additively Manufactured Polymers and Advanced Polymer Systems
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BS in Mechanical Engineering from Mississippi State University
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XINGYUAN "ZAZZY" ZHAO
PHD CANDIDATE
PhD Focus: Understanding Deformation Mechanisms in Highly Oriented MAX Phases across Strain Rates
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MS THESIS: Phase Content Influence on the Mechanical Behavior of Group V Transition Heavy Metal Carbides
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NICHOLAS BRUNSTAD
MS STUDENT
Thesis: The Role of Layer Orientation on the Dynamic Fracture Behavior of Two Additively Manufactured Thermosets
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B.S. in Biological Systems Engineering from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
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TOBI & MO
UNOFFICIAL FELINE MASCOTS
Alumni
Former HESS & COOP Undergraduate Research Scholars
Rochitha Nathan | BS Mechanical Engineering Drexel '19| Impact Dance-Mechanics Intersections COOP | 2018
Jacqueline Tawney | BS Mechanical Engineering Drexel '18 | Biaxial loading device | 2016
David DiMarco | BS Mechanical Engineering Drexel '17 | MAX phase compression | fall 2015
Laura Melizyaev | BS Materials Science & Engineering Drexel '16 | Rochelle salt impact | spring 2014
Robert Keane | BS Mechanical Engineering Drexel '16 | Kolsky confinement sleeve | winter 2014
Robert Liberatore | BS Mechanical Engineering Drexel '16 | Kolsky pulse shaping | winter 2014
Michael Daily | BS Mechanical Engineering Drexel '15 | dynamic piezoelectric ceramics | winter 2014
