Dr. Ramana M. Pidaparti
VCU Professor of Mechanical Engineering
presenting:

“Bridging Cultures for Innovation:  Design, Art and Nature”

Friday, January 19th, 2007
12:00 to 1:30 pm

Student Commons, 907 Floyd Avenue
Commonwealth Ballroom B

Dr. Pidaparti has been involved in exploring the role of Art and Nature in engineering design.  He will discuss the history, present parallels and differences, and use examples to demonstrate the richness in bridging the cultures of design, art and nature for engineering innovation.  Several design project examples dealing with art, green design, and biological motors will be presented.  Dr. Pidaparti has published over 170 technical papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings in the areas of composites, fracture mechanics, biomechanics, design and computational mechanics.  He received a Research Initiation Award from the National Science Foundation and the Young Investigator Award from the Whitaker Foundation.  His current research interests include biological composites and self-assembly, soft computing, and smart materials and structures. 

For additional information, please contact: Dr. Karen Rader, 828-9642 or karader@vcu.edu
Light lunch will be provided on a first-come, first served basis.