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Duffield Hall at sunset.
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Students walking along Ho Plaza

Nilolaos Bouklas

Assistant Professor
Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Biography

Dr. Bouklas joined the Cornell MAE faculty in January 2018. Prior to that, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, following a postdoctoral appointment at the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES) at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his PhD in Engineering Mechanics from the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics department at the University of Texas at Austin in 2014, and obtained his Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 2008.

Research Interests

Dr. Bouklas’ research focuses in the fields of theoretical and computational solid mechanics. Developing theoretical frameworks and advanced computational methods, he aims to improve the fundamental understanding of materials and structures, and enhance the predictive capabilities in relevant engineering applications. He is interested in the fundamental study of soft materials, active materials and biomaterials, fracture and instabilities, as well as multiscale modelling in coupled multi-physical systems.

Teaching Interests

Mechanics of materials, solid mechanics, continuum mechanics, computational mechanics / finite element methods/ boundary element methods, mechanics of soft and active materials.

Selected Publications

  • Bouklas, Nikolaos, R. Huang. 2012. “Swelling kinetics of polymer gels: comparison of linear and nonlinear theories.” Soft Matter 8(31): 8194-8203.
  • Wu, Z., Nikolaos Bouklas, R. Huang. 2013. “Swell-induced surface instability of hydrogel layers with material properties varying in thickness direction.” International Journal of Solids and Structures 50 (3): 578-587.
  • Bouklas, Nikolaos, C. M. Landis, R. Huang. 2015. “A nonlinear, transient finite element method for coupled solvent diffusion and large deformation of hydrogels.” Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids 79: 21-43.
  • Bouklas, Nikolaos, C. M. Landis, R. Huang. 2015. “Effect of solvent diffusion on crack-tip fields and driving force for fracture of hydrogels.” Journal of Applied Mechanics 82 (081007).
  • Wu, Z., Nikolaos Bouklas, Y. Liu, R. Huang. 2016. “Onset of swell-induced surface instability of hydrogel layers with depth-wise graded material properties.” Mechanics of Materials 105: 138-147.

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Travel Award from the Center for Mechanics of Solids, Structures and Materials, University of Texas at Austin 2014
  • Hellenic Professional Society of Texas Scholarship 2014
  • John & Mary Wheeler Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Engineering 2012
  • Cockrell School of Engineering Graduate Scholarship 2009

Education

  • B.S. & M.Eng. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2008
  • Ph.D. (Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics), University of Texas at Austin, 2014

Websites