Evolution of Phase Transitions: A Continuum Theory

This work addresses development and application of continuum-mechanical models that describe the macroscopic response of certain materials.

Rohan Abeyaratne is the Quentin Berg Professor and Department Head of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Among his many honors are: E.O.E. Pereira Gold Medal, 1975; Den Hartog Distinguished Educator, 1995; Fellow, American Academy of Mechanics; 1996 Fellow, ASME, 1998; MacVicar Faculty Fellow,
2000. His research focuses include Continuum Mechanics; Finite Elasticity and Plasticity; Material Instability and Non-Equilibrium Behavior of Solids; Stress-Induced Phase Transformations in Solids, and Cavitation.

Prof. James K. Knowles is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Applied Mechanics. He received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, D.Sc.h.c., National University of Ireland, and has received the following awards: Goodwin Medal for Effective Teaching, MIT (1955), Award of the Associated Students of Caltech for Excellence in Teaching (1984, 1985), Award of the Caltech Graduate Student Council for Exceptional Teaching (1993); Fellow, American Academy of Mechanics; Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers; President of the American Academy of Mechanics, 1985-86; Eringen Medal, Society of Engineering Science (1991). He is the author of Linear Vector Spaces and Cartesian Tensors (1997) and numerous articles in refereed journals.