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Alan Taylor Zehnder

Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs

Professor

Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Alan Taylor Zehnder
Alan Taylor Zehnder
Graduate Field Affiliations
Aerospace Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Theoretical and Applied Mechanics

Biography

Alan Zehnder received his doctorate in mechanical engineering with a minor in materials science from the California Institute of Technology. He stayed on as a postdoctoral research fellow for one year, and joined the Cornell faculty in 1988. In 1993 he was the faculty member in residence in Hamburg, Germany, for the Cornell Engineering Abroad program. He was a visiting Professor at Caltech in the 1996-97 academic year. In summer of 1998 he served as a Senior Faculty Fellow at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Carderock, Maryland. In 2004 he was a Guest Professor at the Vienna University of Technology. He currently serves as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and has also served as Associate Dean for Diversity and Faculty Development in the College of Engineering. Zehnder is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Society for Experiment Mechanics.

Research Interests

Zehnder’s research focuses on the fracture of nanoscale systems, nonlinear dynamics of nanomechanical oscillators, damage tolerance of polymers and matrix composites.

Nanoscale systems show surprising effects due to their small size, low damping, interaction with light and other effects. A rich range of behaviors such as sub and super-harmonic entrainment and wide tunability have been discovered in nano-scale beams undergoing CW laser driven limit cycle oscillations. Recent work focuses on the behavior of coupled systems of nano-scale oscillators.

Nanoscale structures can have strengths close to the theoretical strength of the material. In such structures the only “defect” is often roughness or oxidation on the surface. Research is underway to fully explore the effects of surfaces on the strength of nano-scale systems and to design tactics for improving their strength.

Composite laminated are well known for their high specific strength and stiffness. Recent work focuses on damage and damage tolerance of sandwich structures and degradation of polyimides exposed to high temperature and moisture.

Please see Zehnder’s group website for additional information and links to publications.

  • Computational Solid Mechanics
  • Energy Systems
  • Materials Design
  • Micro Nano Systems
  • Nanotechnology
  • Solid Mechanics
  • Wind Energy
  • Advanced Manufacturing and Materials

Teaching Interests

My undergraduate teaching interests are in engineering mechanics and materials, and engineering mathematics. At the graduate level I teach solid mechanics and fracture mechanics

Select Publications

Alan Taylor Zehnder's Google Scholar

Select Awards and Honors

  • Sia Nemat-Nasser Award and Medal, Society for Experimental Mechanics 2021
  • Fellow, Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM) 2019
  • Dennis G. Shepherd Teaching Award, College of Engineering, Cornell University 2018
  • Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2013
  • Rudolf Kingslake Medal and Prize, Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers 1988
  • Charles Lee Powell Fellow 1985
  • TRW Advanced Technologies Fellow 1984

Education

  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of California-Berkeley 1982
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology 1983
  • Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology 1987