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Mechanical Engineering Prof. Leseman Receives NSF CAREER Award

September 20, 2011

zaydZayd Leseman, associate professor of mechanical engineering, recently received a CAREER award to develop methods for modeling and characterizing Phononic Crystals (PnCs).  PnCs are a type of micro/nanostructure capable of manipulating the manner by which elastic waves travel through a material by a periodic patterning of a material’s geometry. 

Because the inherent geometry of PnCs give them their ability to process elastic waves (signals), these types of devices will be in a position to replace traditional digital signal processing techniques which consume relatively large amount of power in comparison to PnCs. Leseman anticipates that this research will lead to a wide range of technological advances in the areas of signal processing and thermo-electric devices.