Page 19 - ASME SMASIS 2017 Program
P. 19
Symposia
Biography the inception of the conference in 2008, and was recently the General
Chair for the 2016 conference. His research projects range from morphing
Henry Fu received a master’s degree in Chemistry concurrently with a structures, bio-inspired underwater vehicles, bio-inspired sensing and
bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Physics with a minor in Mathematics actuation, energy harvesting, and structural health monitoring. When not
from Harvard University. His master’s work included research in the field in the office, he enjoys putting the top down on his Jeep and climbing a
of low-temperature laser spectroscopy. He received his Ph.D. degree in few rocks.
physics from the University of California, Berkeley in December 2006 for
dissertation work on strongly correlated electron systems in condensed SYMPOSIUM 7
matter. He then redirected his research field to biological mechanics and
fluid dynamics as a postdoctoral research associate in the Division of THE ENABLING ROLE OF SMART MATERIALS INNOVATION IN THE
Engineering at Brown University from 2006-2010. From 2010-2016 he was INTERNET OF THINGS ERA
Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering department, and from
2015-2016 also the Ralph E. Hoeper Professor of Engineering at the Tzeno Galchev
University of Nevada, Reno. In July 2016, Dr. Fu joined the University of Staff System Design Engineer
Utah Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research is supported by Analog Devices, Inc.
the National Science Foundation (NSF). Norwood, MA
OVERVIEW OF BIOINSPIRED FLEXIBLE MATRIX COMPOSITE
ACTUATORS AND VARIABLE STIFFNESS ELEMENTS
Michael Philen Abstract
Associate Professor
Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering While there has been a great deal of academic interest around the idea of
Virginia Tech energy harvesting, and many papers and techniques have been
Blacksburg, VA demonstrated in literature, few energy harvesters and self-powered
systems have had commercial success. Has energy harvesting become
Abstract obsolete because of the high pace of electronics innovation, the
reduction in power consumption, and consequently the decrease of the
Inspired by the helical fibers found in soft bodied hydrostats (e.g. worms, cost of providing energy for a given lifetime using primary batteries? This
squid, elephant trunks, and octopus arms) and the fibrillar network found talk will discuss the state-of-the-art in energy harvesting today and how
in plant cell walls, flexible matrix composite actuators are composite tubes smart materials innovations can lead the way and help intersect a number
that consist of multiple layers of oriented, high performance fibers, such as of emerging consumer and industrial applications.
carbon, precisely placed in a flexible matrix resin to form high-mechanical
advantage actuators and variable stiffness materials. The actuators have Biography
been successfully demonstrated in numerous applications ranging from
high mechanical advantage actuators, morphing structures, prosthetic Tzeno Galchev is currently a Staff System Design Engineer at Analog
sockets, adaptive vibration isolation mounts, energy harvesting, and Devices Inc., working on developing self-powered wireless systems. He
active stiffness control. By designing the fiber orientation in the wall of the received B.S. degrees in both Electrical and Computer Engineering in
actuator, one can cause the actuator structure to contract or elongate 2004, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 2006 and
axially due to internal pressurization. Furthermore, when filled with a high 2010 respectively, all from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prior to
bulk modulus fluid, the actuator (termed fluidic flexible matrix composite) joining industry he was a Research Fellow in the Department of
can achieve large changes in stiffness using simple valve control, Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg in
potentially achieving three orders of magnitude in stiffness. This talk is an Germany. His research interests lie in the development of autonomous
overview of the various applications that have been developed and microsystems including the development of energy harvesting devices,
demonstrated using the novel actuators and variable stiffness elements. sensors, actuators, and analog and digital integrated circuits. Dr. Galchev
received a Marie Curie Fellowship award in 2013, an Alexander von
Biography Humboldt Fellowship in 2011, and is the sole recipient of the University of
Michigan Excellence in Engineering Fellowship in 2006. He was bestowed
Michael Philen is currently an Associate Professor and the Assistant the John Atanasoff Award in 2015 by the President of Bulgaria for
Department Head for Laboratory Facilities in the Kevin T. Crofton significant contributions in the development of information technologies
Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech. He by young scientists.
joined Virginia Tech in 2006 after completing a M.S., Ph.D. and Post-Doc
at Penn State. He has been actively involved in organizing SMASIS since 19
