Understanding physics of wave propagation in structures and materials is important for designing next-generation material systems.  Different material systems respond differently to incident disturbances and as a result exhibit different wave characteristics in terms of wave number and wave speeds. Many waves exhibit evanescent or diffusive characteristics and some exhibit non-periodic frequency band gaps. In addition, interaction of waves with boundaries results in new types of waves. This talk will present wave propagation behavior in different material systems – isotropic and anisotropic materials, porous media, nanostructured materials, bio-inspired sutures and hyperelastic materials. New modeling methods for wave propagation problems will also be highlighted.

Srinivasan Gopalakrishnan got an M.S. in Engineering Mechanics from IIT Madras, India; and a Ph.D (1992) from the School of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Purdue University. Subsequently, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. In 1997, he moved to the Aerospace Engineering Department at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, where he currently holds the KSIIDC Chair Professor. He was Chairman of the Aerospace department at IISc between 2015 and 2019.

Professor Gopalakrishnan works in the areas of wave propagation, computational mechanics and structural health monitoring (SHM). He has mentored 23 Ph.D and 25 Masters Theses. He is Associate Editor of the two major international SHM Journals - Structural Health Monitoring and Smart Materials and Structures. He has attracted significant research funding, ~ 4 million US dollars over the last 15 years, from agencies such as Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, ONR, AFOSR, and the Aeronautical Research and Development Board (India). Prof. Gopalakrishnan has authored 200+ international journal papers, 9 books and 150+ conference articles. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, and Associate Fellow of AIAA. Other honors and awards include Distinguished Alumnus (IIT Madras), IISc Alumni award for excellence in research, U. K Royal Academy of Engineering Distinguished Visiting Fellow, and the Satish Dhawan Young Scientist Award (India). In 2016, he received the prestigious Structural Health Monitoring Person of Year Award instituted by Sage Publications.