Engineering the Future

Jonathan Wickert

Monday, 29 Mar 2010 at 8:00 pm – Campanile Room, Memorial Union

Jonathan Wickert, dean of Iowa State's College of Engineering, will speak on how today's students can become leaders for a cleaner, healthier, safer, and more sustainable world. His talk is part of the Triangle Fraternity Last Lecture Series. Wickert, who has nearly twenty years of experience as a mechanical engineer, urges students to view engineering in its social context, as a creative profession that uses technology to improve people's lives. Wickert has served on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University and Iowa State, as a visiting research fellow at the University of Cambridge and as a visiting professor at Helsinki University of Technology. His research has advanced the technology of high-density computer data storage and improved the design of automotive disk brakes and gas turbine blades.
Triangle is a professional organization focused on engineering, architecture, and science. Triangle Last Lecture Series.

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Dr. Wickert serves as dean of the College of Engineering at Iowa State University. The college strives to be a leader in the dimensions of research, education, and professional service, and to exemplify the modern land-grant institution. Prior to his appointment as the college's eleventh dean, Dr. Wickert chaired Iowa State's Department of Mechanical Engineering, where he encouraged an environment of excellence through the hiring and professional development of faculty and staff, strategic research programs, recruiting and diversity initiatives, and accessibility to new educational opportunities.

Dr. Wickert's research focuses on the dynamics of discontinuous and gyroscopic systems, specialties that encompass nonlinear vibration and the interplay between flexible and rigid-body motions. He is the author of 125 technical papers, articles that have been referenced over one thousand times, and the inventor of two U.S. patents. He has directed 30 public and private sector research grants and contracts and served as a consultant to 15 companies. Dr. Wickert's research has advanced the technology of high-density computer data storage and improved the design of automotive disk brakes, gas turbine blades, and production equipment for sheet metal, polymer web, and chopped fiber materials. His research and technology transfer accomplishments have been recognized through the Curtis McGraw Research Award from the American Society for Engineering Education and the Technical Achievement Award from the Information Storage Industry Consortium. Dr. Wickert has served in numerous leadership roles within the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and he is a four-time invited contributor to the Information Storage Industry Consortium's technical road-mapping team.

Dr. Wickert is the author of the textbook An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, which has been translated into the Korean, Chinese, and Portuguese languages. He has mentored thirty graduate students and taught 2,000 students in the classroom. He is the recipient of the Ralph Teetor Educational Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Curriculum Innovation Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for his work on integrating computer-aided engineering tools into undergraduate engineering curricula.

A fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Dr. Wickert is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education, Society of Automotive Engineers, American Academy of Mechanics, American Association of University Professors, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, and Pi Tau Sigma. Prior to his appointments at Iowa State, Dr. Wickert served on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, and he was an NSF/NATO postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Selected Publications

J.C. Collinger, J.A. Wickert, and L.R. Corr, "Adaptive Piezoelectric Vibration Control with Synchronized Switching," ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, 131, 041006, 2009.
X.W. Tangpong, J.A. Wickert, and A. Akay, "Distributed Friction Damping of Traveling Wave Vibration in Rods," Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series A, 366, pp 811-827, 2008.
M.R. Brake and J.A. Wickert, "Frictional Vibration Transmission from a Laterally Moving Surface to a Traveling Beam," Journal of Sound and Vibration, 310(3), pp 663-675, 2008.
E. Ervin and J.A. Wickert, "Repetitive Impact Response of a Beam Structure Subjected to Harmonic Base Excitation," Journal of Sound and Vibration, 307, pp 2-19, 2007.
V. Kartik and J.A. Wickert, "Vibration and Guiding of Moving Media with Edge Weave Imperfections," Journal of Sound and Vibration, 291, pp 419-436, 2006.
P.M. Lin and J.A. Wickert, "Corrugation and Buckling Defects in Wound Roll Processing," ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 128, pp 56-64, 2006.
K.J. Son, V. Kartik, J.A. Wickert, and M. Sitti, "An Ultrasonic Standing-Wave-Actuated Nano-Positioning Walking Robot: Piezoelectric-Metal Composite Beam Modeling," Journal of Vibration and Control, 12(12), pp 1293-1309, 2006.
J.A. Wickert, "Vibration of Disk Brake Rotors," Disc Brake Squeal: Mechanism, Simulation, Test, and Prevention, SAE Press, 2006.

Cosponsored By:

• Triangle Fraternity
• Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)