KINGSTON, R.I. — March 13, 2002 — Arun Shukla, interim dean of the College of Engineering and chair and Simon Ostrach Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Rhode Island, was recently elected a fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics. The society conferred this distinction on him in recognition of his research and leadership in mechanics.

Also, the Society for Experimental Mechanics has honored Shukla with its B. J. Lazan Award for his outstanding original technical contributions to the understanding of dynamic phenomena using experimental mechanics. The award is given annually and honors inventors, developers or contributors to the introduction of new devices or methods and will be presented during the Society’s 2002 annual conference in Milwaukee in June.

A resident of Wakefield, Shukla has been a member of the URI faculty since 1981. He is a fellow of the Society for Experimental Mechanics and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, served as the technical editor of international journal Experimental Mechanics and currently serves as associate editor of Lasers and Optics in Engineering and on the editorial board of Key Engineering Materials.

Shukla’s research focuses on fracture mechanics and the dynamic behavior of materials. Using a camera that can shoot pictures at 200 million frames per second, he studies how materials like composites, plastics, metals and concrete break apart so they may be improved to withstand greater stresses. The National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force fund his research.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Maryland.

For Information: Todd McLeish 874-7892