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Meredith Silberstein

Director of Graduate Studies for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics

Associate Professor

Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Meredith Silberstein
Meredith Silberstein
Graduate Field Affiliations
Aerospace Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Materials Science and Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Theoretical and Applied Mechanics

Biography

Meredith Silberstein received her Ph.D. in June 2011 from the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering with a major in solid mechanics and a minor in energy. Afterward, she served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, investigating mechanochemically active materials.

Research Interests

Meredith Silberstein’s Mechanics for Materials Design (MMD) Lab is devoted to using mechanical experiments and modeling methods in material design, with particular focus on multifunctional, active, and polymeric materials.

  • Computational Solid Mechanics
  • Materials Design
  • Micro Nano Systems
  • Solid Mechanics
  • Advanced Manufacturing and Materials

Teaching Interests

Statics, mechanics, mechanical properties of materials, and polymers

Select Publications

  • Silberstein, Meredith, L. D. Cremar, B. A. Beiermann, S. B. Kramer, J. S. Moore, T. D. Martinez, SR White, N. R. Sottos. 2013. “Modeling Mechanophore Activation within a Viscous Rubbery Network.” Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids.

  • Diesendruck, Charles E., Brian D. Steinberg, Sugai Naoto, Meredith Silberstein, Nancy R. Sottos, Scott R. White, Paul V. Braun, Jeffrey S. Moore. 2012. “Proton-Coupled Mechanochemical Transduction: A Mechanogenerated Acid.” Journal of the American Chemical Society 134 (30): 12446-12449.

  • Silberstein, Meredith, C L. Pai, G C. Rutledge, M C Boyce. 2012. “Elastic-plastic behavior of non-woven fibrous mats.” Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 60: 295-318.

  • Chen, N., M K. Koker, S. Uzun, M N Silberstein. 2016. “In-situ X-ray study of the deformation mechanisms of non-woven polypropylene.” International Journal of Solids and Structures 97-98: 200-208.

  • Van Meerbeek, I M., B C. Mac Murray, J W. Kim, S S. Robinson, P X. Zou, M N. Silberstein, R F Shepherd. 2016. “Morphing Metal and Elastomer Bicontinuous Foams for Reversible Stiffness, Shape Memory, and Self-Healing Soft Machines.” Advanced Materials 28 (14): 2801-2806.

Select Awards and Honors

  • DARPA Young Faculty Award 2020
  • AFRL Summer Faculty Fellowship 2019
  • Sonny Yau '72 Teaching Award, College of Engineering, Cornell University 2018
  • DOE Early Career Award 2018
  • Sonny Yau ‘72 Excellence in Teaching Award 2018
  • NSF Career Award, National Science Foundation 2017
  • Hetényi Award for best research paper published in Experimental Mechanics in 2014 2015
  • Haythornthwaite Research Initiation Grant from ASME Applied Mechanics Division 2013
  • Mills Family Faculty Fellow 2013
  • International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Travel Fellowship 2012
  • Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship 2011

Education

  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2005
  • M.S., Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2008
  • Ph.D., Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2011

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