Author Description

About the Author Michael E. Plesha is a Professor of Engineering Mechanics in the Department of Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Professor Plesha received his B.S. from the University of Illinois-Chicago in structural engineering and materials, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University in structural engineering and applied mechanics. His primary research areas are computational mechanics, focusing on the development of fi nite element and discrete element methods for solving static and dynamic nonlinear problems, and the development of constitutive models for characterizing behavior of materials. Much of his work focuses on problems featuring contact, friction, and material interfaces. Applications include nanotribology, high temperature rheology of ceramic composite materials, modeling geomaterials including rock and soil, penetration mechanics, and modeling crack growth in structures. He is co-author of the book Concepts and Applications of Finite Element Analysis (with R. D. Cook, D. S. Malkus, and R. J. Witt). He teaches courses in statics, basic and advanced mechanics of materials, mechanical vibrations, and fi nite element methods. Gary L. Gray is an Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State in University Park, PA. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (cum laude) from Washington University in St. Louis, MO, an S.M. in Engineering Science from Harvard University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His primary research interests are in dynamical systems, dynamics of mechanical systems, mechanics education, and multi-scale methods for predicting continuum-level properties of materials from molecular calculations. For his contributions to mechanics education, he has been awarded the Outstanding and Premier Teaching Awards from the Penn State Engineering Society,