June 21, 2021
Stelios Kyriakides, a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics (ASE/EM), was selected to receive the 2021 Billy and Claude R. Hocott Distinguished Centennial Engineering Research Award by the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.
The award, supported through an endowment funded by engineering alumnus Claude R. Hocott, recognizes faculty members who have made significant contributions in advancing the profession in engineering through documented research conducted while affiliated with The University of Texas at Austin. The recipient’s work must also have brought significant credit to the engineering profession and is determined exemplary by the recipient’s peers.
Professor Kyriakides is the director of the Center for Research in Mechanics of Solids, Structures and Materials. Buckle propagation in offshore pipelines is a unique structural instability pioneered by Kyriakides early in his career. His recognition of the fundamental nature of the underlying mechanics of this problem led him to introduce a rich new field that he named propagating instabilities. In addition to affecting several structures of larger size, propagating instabilities govern the behavior of a diverse variety of material systems including: the propagation of Lüders bands in metal alloys; propagation of phase transition fronts in shape memory alloys; axial propagation of kink bands in fiber composites and in wood; spreading of localized crushing in honeycombs, foams and other cellular materials; neck propagation in polymers, and more recently axial propagation in forests of nanotube pillars under compression. Despite the diversity of microstructures, base material properties, and micromechanical mechanisms involved, each of these problems is governed by the same underlying fundamental mechanism. With 40 years of groundbreaking research, Kyriakides and his students impacted fundamentally this diverse field and received worldwide recognition.
“In addition to his research activities, Stelios is a tireless and dedicated servant to our department, the school, and the university. He is also an outstanding teacher and, even though he is a chaired professor, continues to teach undergraduate service courses, and does it well. In summary, he is a pillar of our department and of the Cockrell School of Engineering,” wrote Clint Dawson, ASE/EM Department Chair, in a nomination letter for the award.
Kyriakides has published over 220 papers, co-authored two books, co-edited five books, and lectured extensively both nationally and internationally. He is an ASME Fellow and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has served on the Cockrell School of Engineering faculty since 1980 and holds the John Webb Jennings Chair in Engineering.
Learn more about Dr. Kyriakides on his research web page.
