Engineering the bridge between basic science and societal impact: The role of composite materials

Dr. Landon Grace is currently an assistant professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Miami, where he also serves as the director of the Composite Materials Laboratory and holds the title of inaugural Junior Faculty Scholar. Dr. Grace is a former Palace Acquire Fellow with the U.S. Air Force, where he worked as an aerospace engineer for 5 years prior to joining the faculty at Miami. His current research projects cross into nearly every engineering discipline, and have been funded by organizations as diverse as the Department of Defense (mechanical/aerospace), the Al Rashid Orbital Vision Research Center (biomedical/electrical), NASA (aerospace), and the Everglades Foundation (civil/environmental). The common thread among these projects is polymer composites and the functionality that can be achieved by multi-phase materials. Dr. Grace focuses his attention on translating the fundamental science of these materials into real-world applications through collaborative, multidisciplinary research.