Each year Professor Alan Wineman looks forward to attending the annual technical meeting of the Society of Engineering Science, an organization to which he's belonged for well over a decade. But this year he had an even greater reason to anticipate the meeting: his colleagues in the society organized a symposium in his honor. "40 Years of Nonlinear Mechanics: Symposium Honoring Alan S. Wineman" was held as part of the 41st Annual Technical Meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska, in October 2004.
Symposium participants presented 25 papers over the course of five sessions. Subject matter covered the areas in which Wineman works, including the modeling of nonlinear materials; nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of polymers; rubber elasticity and molecular modeling of nonlinear material behavior.
Wineman says he was moved by the "token of recognition" and by the "embarrassingly nice" comments about his work and his teaching that the symposium's presenters--comprised of colleagues and former students--made before delivering their papers. "You're not used to having people say these kinds of things...Hearing what they said, it brings a sense of joy. I never expected that my attitude, my approach would have had that influence."
He has had an influence--on thousands of students who've taken his undergraduate and graduate courses on the mechanics of solid materials since he began teaching at U-M in 1964. One former student, Associate Professor John Shaw, earned his PhD and joined the U-M Aerospace Engineering faculty. Now the two are collaborators.
Mehrdad Negahban, a co-organizer of Wineman's symposium and associate professor in Engineering Mechanics at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, was an advisee of Wineman's from 1982 to 1988. "It was an honor organizing the symposium for him. I had wanted to do this for many years and when SES came to Lincoln it seemed the right time and the best place to do it."
Earning such an homage is "not so common," says Negahban. "One would have to have made significant contributions in the field and his work recognized by a large group of peers for such a recognition to be accepted and celebrated. Alan achieved this position long ago. He has been very prolific, leaving a mark on many fields of mechanics."
Even without a symposium to one's name, attending the society's annual meetings is an energizing experience, according to Wineman. "It's nice to see people you've known over the years be successful and do good work. It's not a disparate group of people--it's colleagues and friends getting together. There's a bonding theme. We're all trying to do high-quality research in non-traditional areas, and it's nice to give each other support and encouragement for continuing our fundamental research. We come back [home] with a lot of enthusiasm."
The meeting also provides perspective, he adds. Colleagues "of my age" are "quite active and are now being recognized for their achievements over the course of their careers." At least a half-dozen are between the ages of 65 and 80, he notes. "That's encouraging to all of us, including the young people. You shouldn't think about retirement if you're enjoying what you do so much and you're good at the work you do."
His colleagues, of all ages, are also interesting, multi-dimensional people, he adds. "None could be categorized as boring." Shaw, for instance, is an accomplished concert pianist, and Wineman has performed with U-M's Gilbert and Sullivan Society for 20 years.
In addition to attending the eponymous symposium, Wineman presented three papers in other symposia. And he organized a symposium for a colleague, K. R. Rajagopal, who received the society's prestigious Eringen Medal.
Assistant Professor Ellen Arruda also attended the society's meeting. Arruda served as a past board member and is now the society's president. She presented a paper, Multi-Scale Simulations of the Mechanics of Transport and Growth in Soft Tissue, with colleagues Harish Narayan, a postdoctoral researcher, ME Assistant Professor Krishna Garikipati, Associate Professor Karl Grosh and graduate student Sarah Calve, with whom she also presented Constitutive Modeling of the Non-Linear Mechanics of Soft Tissue.
Last year, U-M hosted the 40th Annual Technical Meeting. Arruda, Wineman and Grosh co-chaired the event for the society, whose mission is to foster and promote the interchange of ideas and information among the various fields of engineering science and the fields of theoretical and applied physics, chemistry, mathematics, bioengineering and related scientific and engineering disciplines.
Clearly Wineman and others commit much of their time and energy to supporting the work of colleagues through the society. But it's all worth it, he says, as he reflected on the honor he recently received. "I was smiling inside."