This past summer, funding from the Frank M. Taylor Distinguished Professorship in Civil Engineering provided students with extra financial support and educational opportunities.
Eric Landis, Ph.D. is the Frank M. Taylor Distinguished Professor in Civil Engineering. With support from the professorship he was able to employ several students to assist in his lab over the summer.
Under the direction of Landis, data are being collected in tracking the effects of fracture in concrete-based composites. Cecelia McEachern, a sophomore Civil and Environmental Engineering major from Ellsworth, is one of a group of students who worked with Landis this summer. “I have done a lot of crack tracings of our specimens after they were tested,” McEachern said of her lab experience, “This is so we can find surface area of the fracture and know how our reinforced concrete will react in certain conditions.”
Using a small concrete sample, students perform stress tests to see how deep a crack or fracture will go. The students then trace the fractures and use 3D imaging to map how the concrete was affected by the stress.
“There is no question that what I have done in the lab this summer has contributed to my education at the University of Maine,” said McEachern. Using programs such as MatLab and MeVisLab, the students can track data, develop algorithms and create models and applications as needed from their test data. Using 3D renderings from these programs, the students are able to visualize and track what happens after stress has been put on the concrete sample.
“When I first started working in the lab I hadn’t done anything with 3D imaging . . . Dr. Landis took the time to present some of the seminars he has given in the past about 3D imaging,” McEachern said.
“I have to admit,” said McEachern, “Earlier in the year I had questioned if I was cut out for engineering and Dr.Landis said the only way I could know for sure is to have experience. I was very lucky to be able to have this experience so early in my college career. Now I can go into my sophomore, junior and senior years knowing this is what I want to be doing. I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity.”
The Frank M. Taylor Distinguished Professorship was established at the University of Maine in 2000 with a bequest from Frank M. Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering.
The intention of the fund is to improve excellence in civil engineering education at the University of Maine by appointing a professor every five years who exhibits an outstanding teaching record in the department.
Landis has been at the University of Maine since 1994, and is currently serving as Interim Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Landis has published numerous scientific papers and is a registered professional engineer in Maine.
