Diann Brei

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Diann Erbschloe Brei is an American mechanical engineer whose research focuses on smart materials and piezoelectric actuators. She is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan. [1]

Contents

Education and career

Brei is the daughter of Richard "Ross" Erbschloe (1925–2005), an aircraft pilot for the US Air Force who later became a founding faculty member of the statistics department at the United States Air Force Academy and the Arizona Commissioner for Postsecondary Education. [2] She majored in computer systems engineering at Arizona State University, graduating in 1988, and continued at Arizona State for a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, which she completed in 1993. [1] Her dissertation, The Development of a Polymeric Piezoelectric Bimorph Microactuator Based Macroactuator for an Artificial Hand, was primarily advised by James Blechschmidt, but lists Joseph Davidson as its official doctoral supervisor. [3]

She joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1994, and in 2018 was named chair of the university's program in Integrative Systems + Design. She also co-directs the Collaborative Research Laboratories, a joint research program of the university with General Motors. [4]

Recognition

Brei was named as an ASME Fellow in 2011, [5] "for her pioneering work and impact in the field of adaptive materials-based actuators and systems". [6] She was the 2018 winner of the ASME Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Award, [7] the 2019 winner of the SPIE Smart Structures and Materials Lifetime Achievement Award, [8] and the 2022 winner of the ASME Machine Design Award, "for outstanding contributions in novel device design and for supporting engineering science, as well as for mentoring and building communities in the field of smart materials and structures". She became the first woman to win the award since it was founded in 1958. [9]

Related Research Articles

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Piezoelectricity is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials—such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA, and various proteins—in response to applied mechanical stress. The word piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure and latent heat. It is derived from Ancient Greek πιέζω (piézō) 'to squeeze or press', and ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron) 'amber'. The German form of the word (Piezoelektricität) was coined in 1881 by the German physicist Wilhelm Gottlieb Hankel; the English word was coined in 1883.

An actuator is a component of a machine that produces force, torque, or displacement, usually in a controlled way, when an electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic input is supplied to it in a system. An actuator converts such an input signal into the required form of mechanical energy. It is a type of transducer. In simple terms, it is a "mover".

Smart materials, also called intelligent or responsive materials, are designed materials that have one or more properties that can be significantly changed in a controlled fashion by external stimuli, such as stress, moisture, electric or magnetic fields, light, temperature, pH, or chemical compounds. Smart materials are the basis of many applications, including sensors and actuators, or artificial muscles, particularly as electroactive polymers (EAPs).

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References

  1. 1 2 "Diann Brei", Faculty, University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering, retrieved 2022-11-05
  2. "ERBSCHLOE, Dr. Richard "Ross"", Maricopa County Biographies and Obituaries, AZGenWeb, retrieved 2022-11-05
  3. Brei, Diann Erbschloe (1993), The Development of a Polymeric Piezoelectric Bimorph Microactuator Based Macroactuator for an Artificial Hand, Arizona State University, ProQuest   304022441
  4. Diann Brei named next Integrative Systems + Design (ISD) Chair, University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering, 19 July 2018, retrieved 2022-11-05
  5. ASME Fellows List (PDF), American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2014, retrieved 2022-11-05
  6. Brei Named ASME Fellow, University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering, 21 April 2011, retrieved 2022-11-05
  7. Brei receives ASME Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Award, University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering, 30 April 2018, retrieved 2022-11-05
  8. Diann Brei receives the 2019 SSM Lifetime Achievement Award, University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering, 27 February 2019, retrieved 2022-11-05
  9. Diann Brei selected to receive 2022 ASME Machine Design Award, University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering, 31 May 2022, retrieved 2022-11-05