Theocharis Baxevanis
About Me: I received my Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in 2003 from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Currently, I reside in Houston, Texas, as an associate professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Previously, I worked as a TEES research assistant professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department at Texas A&M University and as director of operations in the Center for Intelligent and Multifunctional Materials and Structures (CIMMS). I also taught at the University of Crete, Greece, in the Department of Applied Mathematics from 2005-2010 and worked as a researcher in Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France, in 2004 and in SINTEF Petroleum, Norway, in 2003.
I have a broad range of interests in the mechanics of materials, including constitutive modeling, fracture mechanics, damage, and micromechanics in active, conventional structural, and composite materials. My current research focus is on the fundamental understanding of the deformation and failure response of shape memory alloys and on accelerating their development cycle for specific applications.
PhD Students
Md Afzal Hossain
About Hossain: Md Hossain is a PhD student in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Houston. Prior to starting his PhD, he worked as a Development and Planning Engineer at an international airline NOVOAIR Ltd for one year. He completed his BSc in Aerospace Engineering from Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Bangladesh in 2016. He was elected as the prestigious president of the University Student Council (MIST Captain) in 2015. In the same year, he got Commandant List award for his academic excellence. Back in 2011, he obtained perfect grade in Higher Secondary School and secured 28th position during his engineering entrance exam. He likes sports and athletics which helped him to furnish his academic career with several prestigious sports awards.
As part of his PhD research, Hossain is now working on the constitutive modeling and deformation mechanism of shape memory alloys. He has a wide range of interests in the constitutive behavior of shape memory alloys, mechanics of materials, application of active materials and designing new materials for future applications.
Md Mehedi Hasan
About Hasan: Md Mehedi Hasan is a current Ph.D. student in the Mechanical Engineering department of the University of Houston. Before that, He worked as a lecturer in the Aeronautical Engineering department of the Institute of Science Trade & Technology (ISTT), Bangladesh from 2016-2017. He got his bachelor degree in Aerospace Engineering from Military Institute of Science & Technology (MIST), Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2016. He secured 18thposition in the engineering entrance exam & achieved the exalted “MIST Scholarship”. He was in the design team of Bangladesh group of 18thAIAA, Cessna/Raytheon Missile systems Design/Build/Fly competition & also took part in the various national competition. He did his undergraduate thesis on static Aeroelasticity and has strong interests in the computational structural analysis, mechanics of materials and active materials.
Emmanuel Tardio
About Emmanuel: Emmanuel Sansusthy is a current Ph.D. student in the Mechanical Engineering department of the University of Houston. Prior to entering this program, he has worked for more than five years in the Oil & Gas industry in major companies such as YPFB Corporation and YPFB Chaco, Bolivia, covering all areas of the whole natural gas processing, from production, conditioning, LNG, and Petrochemicals. He has also lectured in the Industrial Electricity department of the Jose Luis San Juan Institute of Technology, Bolivia from 2019 to 2021.
Dimitrios Kavvadias
About Dimitri: Dimitrios Kavvadias is currently a PhD student in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Houston. Prior to that, he completed his integrated B.Sc. and M.Sc. in mechanical engineering at the University of Thessaloniki. As a student, he was a member of the Engine-Powertrain subgroup of the Formula Student team, Aristotle Racing Team(ART). Moreover, he received a university excellence reward for winning the Engineering Design Report reward on the Formula SAE ATA Italy 2017. He did his internship in the aviation industry and specifically on MTU Aero Engines in Munich, where he performed a fatigue calculation of the High-Pressure Compressor of a GTF Engine. He worked, for six months as a research assistant in the laboratory of machine element and machine design of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, on parabolic leaf springs for heavy-duty vehicles.
Alumni
Jasdeep Makkar
Thesis title: Experimental & Numerical Investigation of the Fracture Toughness of SMAs
Currently at HCL Technologies
Mengqian Zhang
Thesis title: Extended Modeling of the Thermomechanical Response of SMAs
Currently at VIAS 3D