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What do we do?

At the Laboratory for Virtual Experiments in Mechanics we advance the state of the art of numerical tools and models for the simulation of the mechanical response of solids. This is the research group of Professor Adrian Lew. Computer simulations are pivotal tools in today's scientific and engineering endeavors, and their relevance will only grow in the future. The confidence in simulations gained after tackling the hard problems of yesteryear is quickly shattered when faced with the hard problems of nowadays. Novel computing paradigms that exploit new computer architectures, construct more faithful models, facilitate design space exploration, and quantify uncertainty are needed, and this need makes the field a vibrant and dynamic one. The shortcomings of current tools are laid bare when, for example, designing hydraulic fracturing strategies in shale gas and geothermal reservoirs, and evaluating their environmental impact, or when assessing the injury to crew members in a military vehicle blasted by an improvised explosive device. In these pages you will find a brief description of our activities.

Latest News and Headlines

• Honorable Mention of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman's 2012 Awards for Advancement in Accessibility for the Virtual Braille Keyboard.
• IACM Young Investigator Award 2012: Prof. Adrian Lew was awarded the International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM) Young Investigator Award 2012, at the World Congress on Computational Mechanics in Sao Paulo, on July 12, 2012. From IACM: "This award recognizes outstanding accomplishments, particularly outstanding published papers, by researchers 40 or younger."
• LavXm Reunion for Commencement on 06/16/12: Some former and current members of the group together for lunch before commencement. From left to right: Maurizio Chiaramonte, Ramsharan Rangarajan, Alex Ten Eyck, Raymond Ryckman, Adrian Lew, Michael Hunsweck, Haneesh Kesari, Evan Gawlik, Jean-Antoine Bechara.

• Universal Meshes: Ramsharan Rangarajan showcases the idea behind Universal Meshes, to construct high-order immersed boundary methods and simulate complex cracking problems, such as thermally-induced cracking and hydraulic fracture.
• Virtual Braille Keyboard: A result of a summer project in the context of AHPCRC
  • Stanford News: Stanford summer course yields touchscreen Braille writer
  • Stanford Daily: Tablets for the blind
  • BBC: Tablets turned into Braille keyboard by US researchers
  • Endgadget: Student spends summer turning a tablet into a Braille writer, says mowing lawns is for chumps
  • Gizmodo: This App Could Make Tablets Accessible to the Blind
  • Wired: Braille keyboard prototype turns tablet into touchscreen for the blind
  • Popular Science: Summer School at Stanford Yields a Way to Write Braille on Your iPad
  • NPR Marketplace: Bringing tablets and smartphones to the blind
  • Stanford Magazine:Summer program yields a cheaper, more versatile Braille writer

• The XII Pan American Congress of Applied Mechanics took place on Jan 2-6, 2012. Prof. Lew is the North American co-chair.

• Sohan Dharmaraja and Ramasharan Rangarajan defended their PhD Theses.