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Romesh Batra

University Distinguished Professor
  • Clifton C. Garvin Professor
Romesh Batra
333-E Norris Hall
495 Old Turner St.
Blacksburg, VA 24061

Research Interests

  • Material/Structural Instabilities (adiabatic shear banding, buckling, thermo-elasto-visco-plasticity)
  • Impact and Penetration Problems
  • Computational Mechanics (Finite Element and Meshless Methods)
  • Functionally Graded Structures (Material Tailoring, Topology Optimization)
  • Soft Materials (Rubberlike Materials, Non-Linear Elasticity)
  • Composites (Laminated and Sandwich Structures)
  • Damage Initiation, Progression and Material Failure  
  • Molecular Mechanics/Dynamics (Atomistic level simulations, Coarse grain models)
  • Smart Structures (Piezoelectricity)
  • Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)

Dr. Batra's publications are available on Google Scholar.

Selected publications:

  • 2019, Belytschko Medal, US Association of Computational Mechanics
  • 2018, Symposium at the 18th US National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics honoring Romesh Batra, Chicago, 2018
  • 2018, Member of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Panel on Mechanical Science and Engineering (Platform Mechanics team leader)
  • 2017, Member of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Panel for Lethality and Protection
  • 2017, Fulbright Specialist in Solid Mechanics, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India, Dec. 2017 – Jan. 2018
  • 2016, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Robert Henry Thurston Lecture Award
  • 2016,   Alumni Award for Excellence in Graduate Advising
  • 2016, Alumni Achievement Medal for Academic Excellence, School of Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada
  • 2015, ASME Honorary Member Award
  • 2013, Fulbright Specialist in Nonlinear Solid Mechanics, Thapar University, Dec. 2013
  • 2011, Fellow of the US Association of Computational Mechanics
  • 2011, Virginia Outstanding Scientist Award (https://www.smv.org/storage/app/media/PDFs/virginiasoutstandingscientists.pdf)
  • 2010, SCHEV (State Council of Higher Education of Virginia) Outstanding Faculty Award (http://www.schev.edu/index/institutional/outstanding-faculty-awards/award-recipients/previous-award-recipients)
  • 2010, Selected for inclusion in the ISI List of Highly Cited Authors
  • 2010, Lee Hsun Research Award, the Institute of Metals Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • 2009, Engineering Science Medal, Society of Engineering Science
  • 2007, College of Engineering Dean’s Award for Excellence in Service 
  • 2006, D.Sc. (Honoris Causa), Thapar University, India
  • 2005, Honorary Professor, Lanzhou University of Technology, China
  • 2005, College of Engineering Alumni Award for Outreach Excellence
  • 2004, Honorary Professor, Nanjing Univ. of Science & Technology, China
  • 2004, Alumni Award for Excellence in Research
  • 2003, Frank J. Maher Outstanding Faculty Award, ESM Department
  • 2002-2006,     Member of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Panel on Survivability & Lethality
  • 2000, Eric Reissner Medal, International Society of Computational Engineering Science (ICCES)
  • 1998, Fellow, Society of Engineering Science, Inc.
  • 1997, College of Engineering Dean's Award for Excellence in Research
  • 1996-2000, Member of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Panel on Armor & Armaments
  • 1993, Elected to the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars
  • 1992, Alexander von Humboldt Award for Senior Scientists
  • 1992, Fellow of the American Society of Engineering Education
  • 1991, Fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics
  • 1990, Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, Faculty Excellence Award, Missouri University of Science and Technology (MUST), Rolla
  • 1986, Halliburton Excellence Award, School of Engineering, MUST
  • Johns Hopkins University: Ph.D., Mechanics and Materials, 1972
  • University of Waterloo,:M.A.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, 1969
  • Punjabi University (India): B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1968