Marc A. Meyers

Professor, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering , Nanoengineering

Dynamic behavior of materials subjected to explosions, ballistic impacts, and other high-energy forces, biological materials.

Professor Meyers has done extensive research into very rapid deformations, including: the fragmentation and communition (pulverization) of ceramics; dynamic response and shear localization in metals, ceramics, and reactive mixtures; the fundamentals of shock-wave propagation through solids; spalling (high-velocity fracture); shock and shear chemical reactions; and martensic transformations. In these, change is induced to solid crystalline structures to yield enhanced properties. He has studied synthesis of light-weight ceramics and laminates for armor using a gassless combustion process. A new focus is the science of nano-crystalline grains (100 nanometers or less), a nanotechnology niche that aims at higher-strength materials. Meyers is an expert on bioduplication and biomimetics, the study of natural materials from living organisms and the processes that produce them. One target is a toucan's beak, remarkable for combination of light weight, strength, and rigidity. Meyers work has unusually broad implications. Applications range from explosives and armor development, anti-terrorism, oil and gas drilling technology, to space science. He can shed light on how age could impact nuclear weapons reliability.

Capsule Bio:
Marc Meyers came to the Jacobs School in 1988 and had a stint as Director of UCSD's Institute for Mechanics and Materials. Prior to that he was Adviser to the Director, Materials Science Division, U. S. Army Research Office, Durham, North Carolina; and Associate Director, Center for Explosives Technology Research. He is co-founder of the EXPLOMET conferences. His books, Dynamic Behavior of Materials, and Mechanical Behavior of Materials are key textbooks worldwide. He is a fellow, ASM International, among other honors. He received his Ph.D. in 1974 in Physical Metallurgy from the University of Denver.

Institute Affiliation:
Center for Energy Research »