News from the Spearot research group:
2024
- Kimia Ghaffari wins 3rd Place in the MAE Graduate Student Poster Competition.
- Former undergraduate researcher Joshua Kempfert selected for the Rickover Fellowship to support his Ph.D. at Georgia Tech.
- Former undergraduate researcher Joshua Kempfert receives MAE Knox T. Millsaps Outstanding Undergraduate Technical Paper Award.
2022
- Undergraduate researcher Katelyn Campbell receives IDEA Fellowship to support her research on shock in metallic materials.
- Spearot selected for sabbatical at IMDEA Materials Institute in Madrid, Spain.
2021
- Spearot named as the Newton C. Ebaugh Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering.
- Spearot awarded a University of Florida Term Professorship for 2021-2024.
- Darshan Bamney successfully defesnd his Ph.D. Dissertation: Towards Physically Representative Dislocation Dynamics Models for Polycrystalline Plasticity.
- Spearot named an Associate Editor of the Elsevier journal Mechanics of Materials. Journal Website
2020
- Darshan Bamney is selected for an Outstanding Achievement Award from the UF International Center. Announcement
- Spearot promoted to the rank of Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida.
- Doruk Aksoy successfully defends his Ph.D. Dissertation: The Role of Grain Boundary Structure on Segregation Induced Embrittlement and Fracture in FCC Nickel.
- Ke (Lucas) Luo sucessfully defends his Ph.D. Dissertation: Shockwave Propagation and High Strain Rate Loading of Hydrogels via Molecular Dynamics Simulation.
- Spearot named Teacher of the Year in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering.
- Publication by Lucas Luo with Charity Wangari, Ghatu Subhash and Spearot selected for a "Online Cover" in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B. Article Cover
- Publication by Brandon Witbeck and Spearot in the Journal of Applied Physics selected as an "Editor's Pick" and a "Scilight". Article Scilight
- Brandon Witbeck successfully defends his Ph.D. Dissertation: Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Crystal Defects in Ni/Al Nanolaminates and their Influence on Combustion.
- Spearot wins the TMS MPMD Distinguished Service Award.
2019
- Spearot chosen by Editors to receive Excellence in Reviewing Award from Acta and Script Materialia.
- Spearot named 2019 Anderson Scholars Faculty Honoree. Website
- Madison Rodriguez win University Scholars Program Award to conduct undergraduate research.
2018
- Khanh Dang successfully defends his Ph.D. Dissertation: Atomistic Simulation of Dislocation Properties and the Role of Stress State in Aluminum.
- Spearot gives invited lecture at the Colorado School of Mines.
- Spearot delivers keynote lecture at the TMS Annual Meeting.
- Alex Kamentz and Darren Tio win University Scholars Program Awards to conduct undergraduate research.
- Publication by Brian Demaske with Peng Wen, Simon Phillpot and Spearot selected as an "Editor's Pick" in the Journal of Applied Physics. Article
2017
- Spearot gives invited lecture at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Website
- Spearot wins grant from the Army Research Office to study dislocation - grain boundary interactions.
- Mehrdad Mirzaei Sichani successfully defends his Ph.D. Dissertation: Characterization of Plastic Deformation Evolution in Single Crystal and Nanocrystalline Cu During Shock by Atomistic Simulations.
- Kanis Bootsita and Noah Yudewitz win University Scholars Program Awards to conduct undergraduate research.
- Spearot named as Co-Chair of the Graduate Recruitment and Admissions Committee in the Department of Mechancal & Aerospace Engineering.
2016
- Spearot selected to attend the Emerging Leaders Alliance Conference supported by TMS. Website
- Spearot gives invited presentation at the USACM Nano Workshop at the University of Michigan. Website
- Brandon Witbeck wins DoD SMART Fellowship.
- Spearot and Subhash win grant from the National Science Foundation to study wave propagation and fracture in hydrogels. NSF
- James Stewart successfully defends his Ph.D. Dissertation: Phase-Field Models for Simulating Physical Vapor Deposition and Microstructure Evolution of Thin Films.
- Arturo Sucre Melfi successfully defends his Undergraduate Honors Thesis: Influence of Hydrogen Concentration and Distribution on Fracture in Nickel.
- Paper by James Stewart with Spearot selected as an "Editor's Choice" in Computational Materials Science. Website
2015
- Spearot delivers invited seminar in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida.
- Spearot and Georgia Tech professor Laurent Capolungo receive research grant from the Army Research Office.
- Arturo Sucre Melfi wins Honors College Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
- Keaton Jaramillo successfully defends his Undergraduate Honors Thesis: Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Force-Controlled Nanoindentation.
- Jordan Key sucessfully defends his Undergraduate Honors Thesis: Phase field modeling and simulation of dendritic growth with varying latent heat and seeding distributions.
- Zou, Nair and Spearot win grant from the National Science Foundation to study nanoscale core-shell structures. NSF
- Spearot delivers invited seminar at Michigan State University Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.
- Spearot delivers invited seminar at the University of Florida Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
2014
- Shawn Coleman sucessfully defends his Ph.D. Dissertation: Atomistic Simulation and Virtual Diffraction Characterization of Alumina Interfaces: Evaluating Structure and Stability for Predictive Physical Vapor Deposition Models.
- Khanh Dang sucessfully defends his MS Thesis: Phase Transformation in Monolayer Molybdenum Disulphide (MoS2) with and without Defects Under Tension Predicted by Atomsitic Simulations.
- Spearot receives the Arkansas Alumni Association Rising Teaching Award.
- Spearot receives the John L. Imhoff Outstanding Teaching Award in the College of Engineering. UofA
- Shawn Coleman recognized with the MRS Student Award Silver Medal. MRS UofA
- NCSA Access Magazine article written about Coleman and Spearot's research using XSEDE resources. PDF Online
- Spearot delivers keynote lecture at the 2014 TMS Annual Meeting.
- Spearot delivers keynote lecture at the 2014 International Symposium on Plasticity. Plasticity
- Keaton Jaramillo wins SURF Award from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
2013
- Spearot delivers invited lecture at the International symposium on Strength of Fine Grained Materials at the University of Tokyo. Tokyo
- Spearot named "Outstanding Teacher" in the Department of Mechanical Engineering 2012-2013. UofA
- Spearot and Shawn Coleman awarded supercomputing time on TACC Stampede and SDSC Gordon to perform research on alumina interfaces. UofA
- Spearot receives fellowship to attend the NSF Summer Institute Workshop on The Materials Genome: Current Practice and Future Promise at Northwestern University.
2012
- Spearot awarded the 21st Professorship in Mechanical Engineering for 2012-2015.
- Chase Philpot sucessfully defends his Undergraduate Honors Thesis: Evaluation of Shock induced Spallation in Nanocrystalline Copper.
- James Stewart sucessfully defends his MS Thesis: Atomistic Simulations of Defect Nucleation and Intralayer Fracture in Molybdenum Disulphide During Nanoindentation.
- Spearot named "Outstanding Researcher" in the Department of Mechanical Engineering 2011-2012. UofA
- Spearot named as 2012 TMS Young Leader International Scholar and presents at the spring meeting of JIM. TMS UofA
- Shawn Coleman wins First Place in the Unviersity of Arkansas Graduate Student Poster Competition. UofA
- Varun Ullal sucessfully defends his MS Thesis: Molecular Dynamics Study of Diffusion of O2 Penetrates in Uncrosslinked Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), Crosslinked PDMS and PDMS-Based Nanocomposites.
- Joseph Simpson wins SURF Award from the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority.
2011
- Spearot appointed as Interim Director of the Arkansas High Performance Computing Center for 2011-2012. UofA
- Spearot receives tenure and is promoted to Associate Professor at the University of Arkansas.
- Lucas Brown wins SURF Award from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. UofA
2010
- Spearot and Malshe win grant from the National Science Foundation to study the behavior of MoS2 nanoparticles. NSF
- Alex Sudibjo sucessfully defends his MS Thesis: Molecular dynamics study of diffusion of atomspheric penetrates in polydimethylsiloxane and polydimethylsiloxane-based nanocomposites.
- Spearot part of team that secures National Science Foundation funding to expand the Arkansas High Performance Computing Center. NSF
- Spearot wins NSF CAREER Award to study phase formation during vapor deposition. NSF UofA
- Spearot named "Outstanding Researcher" in the Department of Mechanical Engineering 2009-2010.
- Spearot wins 2010 TMS Young Leader Professional Development Award. TMS
2009
- Rahul Rajgarhia successfully defends his Ph.D. Dissertation: Microstructural stability and plastic deformation behavior of nanocrystalline copper doped with antimony.
2008
- Nikhil Joshi sucessfully defends his MS Thesis: Study of the melting of transition metal nanoclusters and their application to the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) model.
- Valliappa Kalyanasundaram successfully defends his MS Thesis: Fundamental understanding of nanomanufacturing process consistency and the mechanical field assisted organization of a nanoconfined molecular medium.
- Huang and Spearot win grant from the National Science Foundation to study metal particle polymer composites. NSF