Professor Erdogan Madenci, of the department of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona College of Engineering, has been named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, or ASME, the highest level of distinction for members of the 135-year-old organization.

He was one of 144 ASME fellows chosen in 2014 and joins an elite group of just 3,305 ASME fellows in an organization with more than 140,000 members. Fellows are nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to engineering and approved by the ASME board of governors.

Madenci is the fourth ASME fellow at the University of Arizona.

The College’s other ASME fellows are Professor Emeritus Henry “Skip” Perkins Jr. and professor Yitshak Zohar, both also in the department of aerospace and mechanical engineering, and professor Tribikram Kundu of the department of civil engineering and engineering mechanics.

A Pioneer in Peridynamics

A member of the UA faculty since 1989, Madenci has conducted research in areas such as structural dynamics, fracture mechanics, failure analysis, and buckling of aerospace structures. In recent years, his research has focused on the emerging field of peridynamics, a theoretical framework for modeling material fracture and failure that can be more accurate than other computational methods.

Madenci is leading a $7.5 million multidisciplinary university research project funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Based in the UA College of Engineering’s Multi-Scale Mechanics Materials Group lab, he and his colleagues are applying peridynamic theory to predict failure in microchips and other electronics components for aircraft and submarines under harsh environmental and loading conditions. The goal is to identify ways to design and build stronger and safer components.

In nominating Madenci, George Kardomateas, professor in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech and also an ASME fellow, called Madenci’s work highly relevant.

“Professor Madenci’s research has a fundamental component, but it is also relevant and connected to the needs of present-day technology,” Kardomateas wrote in his nomination letter.

“The fact that he has so successfully branched into the new field of peridynamics at this stage of his career is an indication of a faculty member with very strong motivation and eagerness to learn and stay atop of the field.”

Madenci’s other honors include being named a University of Arizona College of Engineering faculty fellow and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is the lead author of three books, including Peridynamic Theory and Its Applications (Springer 2014), and author of more than 300 research articles. He delivered the plenary lecture at ASME’s International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in San Diego, California, in 2013.