Illinois Tech is hosting the fourth annual Midwest Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MidMechMat) daylong workshop on Thursday, August 9 in Hermann Hall. Register online here.

The departments of Applied Mathematics (AMAT) and Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering (MMAE) have joined forces to host the workshop, which will include talks by a range of researchers who work on the leading edge of the mechanics of materials and structures, as well as student presentations and a poster session.

After a breakfast and welcome speech, Session A speakers will address state of the art computational and theoretical techniques in mechanics. Scheduled speakers and their topics include:

• Michael Ortiz, Frank and Ora Lee Marble Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering, CalTech—data-driven mechanics
• Chun Liu, professor and chair, applied mathematics, Illinois Tech—variational principles
• George Karniadakis, Charles Pitts Robinson and John Palmer Barstow Professor of Applied Mathematics, Brown University—physics-informed neural networks
• Ankit Srivastava, assistant professor, MMAE, Illinois Tech, and Ahmed Elbanna, assistant professor, civil and environmental engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—artificial intelligence for the discovery/embodiment of the laws of mechanics and physics

After lunch, Session B speakers will focus on application areas in contemporary mechanics research:

• Heinrich Jaeger, William J. and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor, University of Chicago—self-assembled nanoparticle-based structures, granular materials
• Horacio Espinoza, James N. and Nancy J. Farley Professor in Manufacturing & Entrepreneurship, Northwestern University—natural and synthetic nanomaterials, micro-nano devices
• Xioping Qian, professor of mechanical engineering, University of Wisconsin Madison—topology optimization in mechanics
• John Lambros, professor, aerospace engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—failure, fatigue, fracture

The poster session begins at 3:30 p.m., and student presentations at 4 p.m. A dinner will follow the day’s activities. See the full schedule.

The event is sponsored by the MMAE department, applied mathematics department, Armour College of Engineering, College of Science, and Questek Innovations, LLC.