Mary Frecker

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Mary Irene Frecker is an American mechanical engineer whose research focuses on topology optimization of adaptive structures, compliant mechanisms, and self-folding origami mechanisms, with applications including the design of medical devices. She is a professor of mechanical and biomechanical engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, Riess Chair of Engineering, head of the mechanical engineering department, and director of the Penn State Center for Biodevices. [1]

Contents

Education and career

Frecker majored in mechanical engineering at the University of Dayton, graduating in 1991. She went to the University of Michigan for graduate study in mechanical engineering, earning a master's degree in 1994 and completing her Ph.D. in 1997. [1] Her dissertation was Optimal design of compliant mechanisms, [2] supervised by Noboru Kikuchi and Sridhar Kota. [3]

She joined the Pennsylvania State University in 1997 as an assistant professor and the Pearce Endowed Development Professor in Mechanical Engineering. [4] In 2020, she was named to the Leighton Riess Chair in Engineering and became the director of the Penn State Center for Biodevices. [5] She was named as head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, succeeding Karen Thole, in 2021. [6]

Recognition

Frecker was elected as an ASME Fellow in 2009. [7] In 2021, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers gave her their Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Award. [4]

Related Research Articles

Topology optimization (TO) is a mathematical method that optimizes material layout within a given design space, for a given set of loads, boundary conditions and constraints with the goal of maximizing the performance of the system. Topology optimization is different from shape optimization and sizing optimization in the sense that the design can attain any shape within the design space, instead of dealing with predefined configurations.

The Penn State College of Engineering is the engineering school of the Pennsylvania State University, headquartered at the University Park campus in University Park, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1896, under the leadership of George W. Atherton. Today, with 13 academic departments and degree programs, over 11,000 enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, and research expenditures of $124 million for the 2016-2017 academic year, the Penn State College of Engineering is in the top 20 of engineering schools in the United States. It is estimated that at least one out of every fifty engineers in the United States got their bachelor's degree from Penn State. Dr. Justin Schwartz currently holds the position of Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering.

Larry L. Howell is a professor and Associate Academic Vice President (AAVP) at Brigham Young University (BYU). His research focuses on compliant mechanisms, including origami-inspired mechanisms, microelectromechanical systems, medical devices, space mechanisms, and developable mechanisms. Howell has also conducted research in lamina emergent mechanisms and nanoinjection. He received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from BYU and master's and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University. His Ph.D. advisor was Ashok Midha, who is regarded as the "Father of Compliant Mechanisms."

Gondi Kondaiah Ananthasuresh is an Indian mechanical engineer and Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. He is best known for his work in the areas of Topology optimization, Compliant mechanism and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS).

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References

  1. 1 2 "Mary Frecker", Directory, Penn State Mechanical Engineering, retrieved 2022-08-31
  2. Frecker, Mary Irene (1997), Optimal design of compliant mechanisms, University of Michigan, hdl:2027.42/130236
  3. Mary Frecker at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  4. 1 2 Professor honored for work in adaptive structures and materials, Pennsylvania State University, 11 June 2021, retrieved 2022-08-31
  5. Hendrick, Erin Cassidy; WennersHerron, Ashley (13 February 2020), Engineering professor named director of the Penn State Center for Biodevices, Pennsylvania State University, retrieved 2022-08-31
  6. Hendrick, Erin Cassidy (21 May 2021), New department head to lead mechanical engineering, Penn State College of Engineering, retrieved 2022-08-31
  7. ASME Fellows list (PDF), American Society of Mechanical Engineers, retrieved 2022-08-31