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 I am
currently stationed in the Washington, D.C. area preparing for an
assignment to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel. Previously,
I was a projects engineer at the 98th Range Wing at Nellis Air Force
Base, Nevada, where I was in charge
of
coordinating the construction and move into a new air traffic control
facility as well as other facilities. In 1993, I graduated from the
U.S. Air Force Academy with a B.S. in engineering sciences, followed
in 1994 with an M.S. in aeronautical
engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. Since then,
I've served as an Air Force officer in various engineering assignments
throughout
the country.
My professional life as an engineer has only heightened my passion for writing in general and science fiction in particular. I enjoy the process of wondering "what if," extending what I'm doing today to visions of tomorrow, all the while touching on the timeless nature of knowing ourselves. The following is intended for those who would like to know further
about my scientific and engineering pursuits. To read more about my
life in writing, including two novels as well as published short stories,
please
visit my Fiction pages. |
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My field of specialization is materials engineering. I
have worked primarily in fatigue of composite materials. My past work
includes fatigue life studies of metal matrix composites as well as
the structural integrity of smart structures. In the latter, I have
expanded the limited body of work to include the electromechanical fatigue
of a Biography In June 1993 I graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a B.S. degree in Engineering Science. Immediately upon graduation, I was assigned to work on a master's degree, receiving a M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering in December 1994 from the Air Force Institute of Technology. My thesis work, under the head of Prof Shankar Mall, focused on fatigue life studies of metal matrix composites. In January 1995, I worked at Arnold Air Force Base testing aircraft turbine engines. Large test chambers simulated altitude flight conditions for engines ranging from those for the F-15 and F-16 to the B-1 and Tier 2 Plus unmanned aerial vehicle.
In summer 1997, I was selected for assignment to the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA). I was an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Mechanics where I taught everything from statics and strength of materials to fracture mechanics and fatigue. My final year combined many disparate elements of teaching at USAFA as I taught two different courses (course directing one of these), served as the department's executive officer, worked on the Junior Faculty Council for the Dean, acted as the Squadron Professional Ethics Advisor to Cadet Squadron 25, and wrote the core engineering textbook, Introduction to Mechanics: An Integration of Mechanics of Materials and Statics. The Academy was ranked ninth in the country by U.S. News and World Report for top mechanical engineering programs in the country. In January 2000 I left USAFA as a teacher to become a student. I had been selected for the Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program, assignment soon to follow to Israel. I first had to learn Hebrew at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. Seven months of intense language training preceded my assignment as Visiting Scientist to the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. For two years I focused on smart structures research, extending the small body of knowledge regarding structural integrity of smart structures. I was assigned as a systems engineer to the 98th Range Wing, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in October 2002. I currently help with the technical support of aircrew training missions on the Nevada Test and Training Range. Degrees and Military Duty
Assignments Held Degrees · Master of Science - Aeronautical Engineering Military Duty Assignments · June 1993 - Dec 1994, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson
AFB, OH Courses Taught · EM 120 Fundamentals of Mechanics Papers, Reports, and Conference Proceedings · THESIS: "Investigation
of Tension-Compression Fatigue Behavior of a Notched Cross-Ply Metal
Matrix Composite at Elevated Temperature" · CONFERENCE PROCEEDING: 2002 Israel Conference on Aerospace
Sciences, "Finite Element Modeling and Static Experimental Behavior
of Piezoactuated Beams" · REPORT: TAE Technion Report 881, "Finite Element Modeling
and Experimental and Behavior of Piezoactuated Beams" · TEXTBOOK: Introduction to Mechanics: An Integration of Mechanics
of Materials and Statics (Forbes Custom Publishing)
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Home | Fiction | Science | Nonfiction | About the Author ©Matthew Wade Yocum, 2006 |
composite with embedded piezoelectric (PZT) actuator/sensor. Little
is known about the effect of structural loads on the ability of the
embedded PZT to continue actuation or sensing. My studies have focused
on gathering experimental results to determine PZT limits for a graphite/epoxy
laminate. 
Nov
1996 saw me venture to 