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L. Catherine Brinson
Sharon C. and Harold L. Yoh, III Distinguished Professor
The Brinson lab’s research objective is to characterize and model advanced materials systems, bridging across scales, to develop new understanding of material mechanisms and transfer knowledge into FAIR datasets towards novel material design. The research activities include nanoscale experimental investigations, especially using AFM methodologies, computational predictions of material behavior using finite element analysis and micro mechanics approaches, and application of AI methods including surrogate modeling, optimization, and natural language processing. Target material systems include multiphase polymer systems, nancomposites, bioplastics, metamaterials and 3d printing materials.
Appointments and Affiliations
- Sharon C. and Harold L. Yoh, III Distinguished Professor
- Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
- Donald M. Alstadt Chair of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Contact Information
- Office Location: 3379 Fciemas Building, Duke Campus, Durham, NC 27708
- Office Phone: +1 919 660 5310
- Email Address: cate.brinson@duke.edu
- Websites:
Education
- Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, 1990
- M.S. California Institute of Technology, 1986
- B.S. Virginia Polytech Institute and State University, 1985
Research Interests
Mechanics of materials, with emphasis on complex hierarchical materials and polymer based systems, and merging concepts of data science into materials. Nanoscale and bulk scale experimental characterization, modeling and simulation of the behavior of materials, including physics based and machine learning approaches. Current research foci include nanostructured polymers, interfacial behavior, structural metamaterials and data platforms for material query and design.
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
- A.C. Eringen Medal. Society of Engineering Science (SES). 2022
- Fellow. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 2020
- Nadai Medal. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). 2014
- Fellow. American Academy of Mechanics. 2013
- Fellow. American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 2009
- Fellow. Society for Engineering Science. 2007
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Prize. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. 2006
- Thomas JR Hughes Young Investigator Award. American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 2003
- National Science Foundation CAREER Awards - Multiple Sciences. National Science Foundation (NSF). 1995
Courses Taught
- ME 758S: Curricular Practical Training
- ME 592: Research Independent Study in Mechanical Engineering or Material Science
- ME 591: Research Independent Study in Mechanical Engineering or Material Science
- ME 555: Advanced Topics in Mechanical Engineering
- ME 491: Special Projects in Mechanical Engineering
- ME 392: Undergraduate Projects in Mechanical Engineering
- ME 391: Undergraduate Projects in Mechanical Engineering
- CEE 521: Elasticity (GE, BB)
- BME 526: Elasticity (GE, BB)
In the News
- A Fun, Free Crash Course on How Modern Materials Shape Our World (Feb 7, 2022 | Pratt School of Engineering)
- Brinson Named 2022 A.C. Eringen Medalist (Jan 13, 2022 | Duke Engineering News)
- Innovative Textile Vents to Release Heat When You Sweat (Jan 5, 2022 | Pratt School of Engineering)
- Duke MEMS: Writing New Recipes for High-Performance Materials (Feb 26, 2021 | Duke Engineering News)
- Brinson Named Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Nov 25, 2020 | Duke Engineering News)
- Six From Duke Elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Nov 24, 2020)
- Cate Brinson: In the Kitchen with NanoMine (Nov 19, 2020 | Rate of Change Podcast | Duke Engineering)
- aiM: AI for Understanding and Designing Materials—Filling an AI and Materials Science Training Gap (Sep 21, 2020 | Duke Engineering News)
- Women’s History Month 2020: Reflections from Duke Women (Mar 4, 2020 | Duke Today)
- DNA-Based Nanobots Earn Duke MEMS Its Fifth DMREF Award for Materials Science (Sep 9, 2019 | Duke Engineering News)
- New Yoh Professorship Is a Gift to Future Engineers (Jun 25, 2019 | Duke Engineering News)
- Duke Adds 21 Faculty to Distinguished Faculty Rank (May 7, 2019)
- $5M NSF Project: Liberating Data to Discover New Polymer Nanocomposites and Metamaterials (Feb 13, 2019 | Duke Engineering News)
- Catherine Brinson: Finding Hard Answers for Soft Matter (Aug 25, 2017)
Representative Publications
- Zhang, H; Mahabadi, RK; Rudin, C; Guilleminot, J; Brinson, LC, Uncertainty quantification of acoustic metamaterial bandgaps with stochastic material properties and geometric defects, Computers and Structures, vol 305 (2024) [10.1016/j.compstruc.2024.107511] [abs].
- Sheridan, RJ; Zauscher, S; Brinson, LC, BOTTS: broadband optimized time-temperature superposition for vastly accelerated viscoelastic data acquisition., Soft matter, vol 20 no. 39 (2024), pp. 7811-7820 [10.1039/d4sm00798k] [abs].
- Circi, D; Khalighinejad, G; Chen, A; Dhingra, B; Brinson, LC, How Well Do Large Language Models Understand Tables in Materials Science?, Integrating Materials and Manufacturing Innovation, vol 13 no. 3 (2024), pp. 669-687 [10.1007/s40192-024-00362-6] [abs].
- Hu, B; Lin, A; Brinson, LC, Tackling Structured Knowledge Extraction from Polymer Nanocomposite Literature as an NER/RE Task with seq2seq, Integrating Materials and Manufacturing Innovation, vol 13 no. 3 (2024), pp. 656-668 [10.1007/s40192-024-00363-5] [abs].
- Slates, AM; L McAlexander, S; Nolan, J; de Pablo, J; Chen, J; Johnson, HT; Brinson, LC, Partnerships and collaboration drive innovative graduate training in materials informatics., Science advances, vol 10 no. 18 (2024) [10.1126/sciadv.adp7446] [abs].