Associate Professor (ME, MSE)

• Additional Affiliations Division of Materials Science & Engineering
• Honors and Awards NSF CAREER Award — CMMI: Mechanics of Materials, 2015
• Areas of Interest Elasticity* Geometry* Structural Stability *Mechanics
• Research Areas Slender structures are ubiquitous. Commonly described by rods, plates, and shells, these thin structures are embodied by carbon nanotubes, air plane wings, blood vessels, spider silk, contact lenses, and human hair. The mechanics of these thin objects are fascinating because geometric nonlinearities will arise even as the material properties remain linear – hair will curl and tangle, skin will wrinkle, and the Venus flytrap will rapidly snap its leaves closed. Professor Holmes is interested in understanding and controlling the mechanics, physics, and geometry of these thin structures, and our lab aims to harness material and structural instability for advanced functionality.
  
  Professor Holmes’ research has utilized elastic instabilities to pattern surfaces with deformable shells, described the mechanics of wrinkling and folding thin films, and quantified the dynamics shape change of snapping beams and shells. His lab has utilized the swelling of elastomers as a means for controlling beam bending, and electrically active polymers for the controlled deformation and buckling of thin structures to control microfluidic fluid flow.