Title: Associate Professor
Dept/Program: Mechanical Engineering
Office: ASEC N113 (Lab ASEC 17E)
Phone: 330-972-7184
Email: ktan@uakron.edu
Website: https://metacomposites.uakron.edu/
Curriculum Vitae: Download in PDF format
Biography
Dr. K.T. Tan (co-PI) joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Akron as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2014. Since Fall 2020, he has been promoted to Associate Professor with indefinite tenure. He was a Research Scientist at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Singapore in 2013-2014. He received his Post-Doctoral training in 2011-2013 at the Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, working with Prof. C.T. Sun in the area of acoustic composite metamaterials. Dr. Tan earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at Tokyo Metropolitan University in 2011, and his B.Eng. and M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Singapore in 2004 and 2006, respectively. Dr. Tan’s primary research interests and expertise lie in the field of advanced composite materials, mechanical metamaterials and biomimetic structures, targeting multi-disciplinary applications in defense, aerospace, energy production and biomedical device development. He has published over 130 research articles in major international conferences and top-tier peer-reviewed journals. He is also the recipient of multiple awards, including the American Society for Composites (ASC) Best Paper Award (2020), UA Faculty Research Committee Summer Fellowship (2021 & 2019), the Firestone Research Initiative Fellowship (2018), the JSPS Invitational Fellowship (2022 & 2016), ICA Young Scientist Grant (2013), the Metamaterials Young Researcher Travel Grant Award (2012), Best Poster Prize (6th International Conference on Fracture of Polymers, Composites and Adhesives in Les Diablerets, Switzerland, 2011), A*STAR International Fellowship (2011), Tokyo Metropolitan Government Scholarship (2008), and NUS Research Scholarship (2006). Dr. Tan is an active journal reviewer (more than 70 international journals) and is presently on the Editorial Board of five international journals. He is also a member of The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), American Society for Composites (ASC), Acoustical Society of America (ASA), American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and International Phononic Society (IPS). Dr. Tan served in the Executive Committee of ASC as a Member-at-large in 2020-2021 and currently serves as the Recording Secretary. Dr. Tan is recently appointed as the Interim Director of the National Center for Education and Research in Corrosion And Materials Performance (NCERCAMP).
Research
Impact, damage and fracture of composite materials, wave propagation in acoustic metamaterials, unique behavior of mechanical metamaterials, bioinspired structures and materials.
Publication
- I. Kaiser, N. Richards, T. Ogasawara and K.T. Tan (2023). Machine Learning Algorithms for Deeper Understanding and Better Design of Composite Adhesive Joints, Materials Today Communications, 34: 105428.
- A. Banik, C. Zhang, D. Panyathong and K.T. Tan (2022). Effect of Equienergetic Low-Velocity Impact on CFRP with Surface Ice in Low Temperature Arctic Conditions, Composites Part B: Engineering, 236: 109850.
- B. Li, C. Zhang, F. Peng, W. Wang, B.D. Vogt and K.T. Tan (2021). 4D Printed Shape Memory Metamaterial for Vibration Bandgap Switching and Active Elastic-Wave Guiding, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 9: 1164-1173.
- M.H. Khan and K.T. Tan (2020). Post-Impact Flexural Collapse Modes of Composite Sandwich Structures in Arctic Conditions: Analytical Prediction and Experimental Validation, Composites Science and Technology, 195: 108187.
- C. Drol, E.B. Kennedy, B.K. Hsiung, N.B. Swift and K.T. Tan (2019). Bioinspirational Understanding of Flexural Performance in Hedgehog Spines, Acta Biomaterialia, 94: 553-564.
- B. Li, K.T. Tan and J. Christensen (2018). Heat Conduction Tuning by Hyperbranched Nanophononic Metamaterials, Journal of Applied Physics, 123: 205105.
- E.B. Kennedy, B.K. Hsiung, N.B. Swift and K.T. Tan (2017). Static Flexural Properties of Hedgehog Spines Conditioned in Coupled Temperature and Relative Humidity Environments, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 75: 413-422.
Education
- Post-Doc Research Training, Purdue University 2013
- Ph.D. Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan 2011
- M.Eng. National University of Singapore, Singapore 2006
- B.Eng., National University of Singapore, Singapore 2004
Courses
Tools for Mechanical Engineering, ME Labs, Aerospace Structures, Aerospace Computations, Engineered Materials for Future Applications, Bioinspired Structures and Materials