October 13, 2011

Nanshu Lu

Nanshu LuDr. Nanshu Lu will join the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin as an Assistant Professor in August 2011.

Lu received her bachelor's degree in Solid Mechanics from the Department of Engineering Mechanics at Tsinghua University, Beijing in 2005. She obtained her Ph.D. in Mechanics of Materials from Harvard University working with Professors Zhigang Suo and Joost Vlassak in 2009.

Lu then received a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship and became a postdoctoral researcher working with Professor John Rogers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before joining UT. Lu's research focuses on the mechanics of flexible electronics in all aspects such as materials properties, structural design, micro-fabrication, mechanical tests, bio-integration as well as analytical and numerical mechanics modeling. Her representative work includes highly stretchable metal thin films supported by polymer substrates, instrumented balloon catheters for minimally invasive surgeries, and tattoo-like epidermal electronics. Her research has been highlighted by news media such as "Nature News", "ScienceNOW", "Technology Review", "Chemical & Engineering News", and others.

Ryan Russell

Ryan RussellDr. Ryan Russell will join the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics as an assistant professor in spring 2012.

Russell is currently an assistant professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, where his research interests include space
flight mechanics/astrodynamics, efficient software implementation, orbit estimation, optimal control of nonlinear systems, and general trajectory designs for spacecraft missions to low-Earth orbit.

Prior to entering academia, Russell served as a member of the Guidance, Navigation and Control Section of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was involved as mission designer and orbit determination analyst for projects such as Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, Chandra, Spitzer, Ulysses, Terrestrial Planet Finder, and limited roles on Cassini and Dawn.

Russell has worked on proposals and advanced concepts for space missions to Earth, the Moon, Mars, comets, asteroids and the moons around Jupiter and Saturn. He also supported internal research on developing technologies such as low-thrust trajectory optimization and science orbit design at planetary moons.

Russell is the author or co-author of dozens of journal, conference, and other technical publications, and has received awards and honors from NASA, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and American Astronautical Society. He received his doctorate degree in aerospace engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.