T.A. Wilson Professor of Aerospace Engineering Ashraf Bastawros will join an elite group of researchers who have significantly impacted engineering and science. He has been named recipient of the prestigious 2024 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Electronic and Photonic Packaging Division (EPPD) Excellence in Mechanics Award.
He was selected in recognition of his pioneering research in fracture and failure analysis of complex material systems, coupled with leadership in the study of size effects in mechanical responses.
The EPPD’s objectives are international cooperation, understanding, and promotion of efforts and disciplines in microelectronics, photonics, microwave and microelectromechanical systems packaging engineering.
His nomination for the award included praise of his specific technical contributions to advance thermo-mechanical electronics packaging and promoting best engineering practices in that area. His work focuses on thermomechanical degradation of electronic devices or systems at operating temperatures, and how to best maintain their operational reliability.
He was also singled out for his work in advising and mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students and young faculty.
Bastawros coordinates the Micro and Nano Mechanics Laboratory at Iowa State University. In addition to his professorship in the Department of Aerospace Engineering he holds courtesy appointments in Iowa State’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering and is an Associate with Ames National Laboratory and Center for Nondestructive Evaluation. He holds a Ph.D. in engineering from Brown University, an M.S. in applied mathematics from Brown, and an M.S. and B.S. in mechanical engineering from Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
The ASME EPPD Excellence in Mechanics Award will be officially presented at the 2024 ASME InterPACK Conference in October in San Jose, California.