Raymond D. Mindlin
Encyclopedia
Mechanician
A mechanician is an engineer or a scientist working in the field of mechanics, or in a related or sub-field: engineering or computational mechanics, applied mechanics, geomechanics, biomechanics, and mechanics of materials...
who made seminal contributions to many branches of applied mechanics
Applied mechanics
Applied mechanics is a branch of the physical sciences and the practical application of mechanics. Applied mechanics examines the response of bodies or systems of bodies to external forces...
, applied physics
Applied physics
Applied physics is a general term for physics which is intended for a particular technological or practical use.It is usually considered as a bridge or a connection between "pure" physics and engineering....
, and engineering sciences
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
.
Education
In 1924 he enrolled at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where he received a B.A. followed by a B.S. in 1931, and in 1932 by a C.E. and the Illig medal for "proficiency in scholarship." During his graduate study, Mindlin attended a series of summer courses organized by Stephen Timoshenko
Stephen Timoshenko
Stanford University:* Bergman, E. O., * Kurzweil, A. C., * , * Huang, Y. S., * Wang, T. K., * Weber, H. S., * , * , * , -Publications:...
in 1933, '34, and '35, and there is no doubt that the experience at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
served to confirm him in his choice of his life's work.
Career
For his doctoral research Mindlin set himself a fundamental problem in theoretical elasticityElasticity (physics)
In physics, elasticity is the physical property of a material that returns to its original shape after the stress that made it deform or distort is removed. The relative amount of deformation is called the strain....
: determining the stresses in an elastic half-space subjected to a sub-surface point load. The results, nowadays referred to as "Mindlin's problem", represent a generalization of the two classical 19th century solutions respectively associated with the names of Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...
and Boussinesq, and have become the basis for analytical formulations widely employed in geotechnical engineering
Geotechnical engineering
Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. Geotechnical engineering is important in civil engineering, but is also used by military, mining, petroleum, or any other engineering concerned with construction on or in the ground...
. His paper was published in Physics (now the Journal of Applied Physics
Journal of Applied Physics
The Journal of Applied Physics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published since 1931 by the American Institute of Physics. Its emphasis is on the understanding of the physics underpinning modern technology....
) in 1936, the year Mindlin received his Ph.D. degree.
Mindlin remained an assistant for another two years, at which point he was elevated to instructor in civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
, and only in 1940 did he receive promotion to assistant professor.
In 1942 Mindlin was co-opted by the Applied Physics Laboratory
Applied Physics Laboratory
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , located in Howard County, Maryland near Laurel and Columbia, is a not-for-profit, university-affiliated research center employing 4,500 people. APL is primarily a defense contractor. It serves as a technical resource for the Department of...
in Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
, an institution engaged in naval ordnance work, where he contributed in the development of the proximity fuze
Proximity fuze
A proximity fuze is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive device automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane...
. For his part in its success, he was presented with the Presidential Medal for Merit
Presidential Medal for Merit
The Medal for Merit was, during the period it was awarded, the highest civilian decoration of the United States, awarded by the President of the United States to civilians for "exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services ... since the proclamation of an emergency by...
.
He came back to Columbia in 1945 as an associate professor, and two years later attained the rank of professor. In 1967 he was appointed James Kip Finch Professor of Applied Science until his retirement in 1975.
Mindlin died on November 22, 1987, in Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....
.
Contributions to research
The Collected Papers of Raymon D. Mindlin (2 vols, Springer-Verlag, 1989) collected 129 papers authored or co-authored by Mindlin. The major contributions of Mindlin were summarized in 8 papers by his students and friends in a book dedicated to his retirement, R.D. Mindlin and Applied Mechanics (Pergamon, 1974). These include:- PhotoelasticityPhotoelasticityPhotoelasticity is an experimental method to determine the stress distribution in a material. The method is mostly used in cases where mathematical methods become quite cumbersome. Unlike the analytical methods of stress determination, photoelasticity gives a fairly accurate picture of stress...
and experimental mechanics - Classical three-dimensional elasticityElasticity (physics)In physics, elasticity is the physical property of a material that returns to its original shape after the stress that made it deform or distort is removed. The relative amount of deformation is called the strain....
(e.g., Mindlin's problem) - Generalized elastic continua (Strain-gradient and couple-stress theory)
- Frictional contact and granular media
- Waves and vibrations in isotropic and anisotropic plates (Mindlin's Plate Theory)
- Wave propagation in rods and cylinders
- Theory of electro-elasticity and piezoelectric crystal resonators
- Crystal lattice theories
Service
Mindlin served with devotion the profession which he made his life's work, through his research, his teaching, his advisory capacity to numerous government agencies, and his activities in various scientific and technical societies. Among the latter, mention is warranted of the following positions he held at various times: In the American Society of Mechanical EngineersAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
(ASME), chairman, Applied Mechanics Division
Applied Mechanics Division
The Applied Mechanics Division is a division in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers . The AMD was founded in 1927, with Stephen Timoshenko being the first chair. The current AMD membership is over 5000, out of about 90,000 members of the ASME...
; member, Publications Committee, Engineering Societies Monographs Committee, Advisory Board of Applied Mechanics Reviews. In the American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Civil Engineers
The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...
(ASCE), chairman, Committee on Applied Mechanics of the Structural Engineering Division (precursor of the Engineering Mechanics Division). In the Society for Experimental Stress Analysis (SESA), co-founder and president; member, executive committee. In the American Institute of Physics
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics promotes science, the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies...
, associate editor, Journal of Mathematical Physics. Also, he was member of: the U.S. National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; the General Assembly of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
The International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics is believed to have been founded when Aachen professor Theodore von Kármán held a conference in Innsbruck in September of 1922. The purpose of the 1922 conference was to discuss questions of hydrodynamics and aerodynamics. The...
(IUTAM); the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
.
Awards and honors
- Fellow, American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
(1958), - Fellow, ASMEAmerican Society of Mechanical EngineersThe American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
(1962), - Fellow, Acoustical Society of AmericaAcoustical Society of AmericaThe Acoustical Society of America is an international scientific society dedicated to increasing and diffusing the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications.-History:...
(1963); - Member, National Academy of EngineeringNational Academy of EngineeringThe National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
(1966) - Member, National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
(1973); - Honorary Member, ASMEAmerican Society of Mechanical EngineersThe American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
(1969).
- Research Prize (1958) and the von Karman MedalTheodore von Karman MedalThe Theodore von Karman Medal in Engineering Mechanics is awarded annually to an individual in recognition of his distinguished achievement in engineering mechanics, applicable to any branch of civil engineering...
(1961) of the ASCEAmerican Society of Civil EngineersThe American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...
; - Timoshenko MedalTimoshenko MedalThe Timoshenko Medal is an award given annually by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to an individual"in recognition of distinguished contributions to the field of applied mechanics."...
(1964) and the ASME Medal (1976) of the American Society of Mechanical EngineersAmerican Society of Mechanical EngineersThe American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
(ASME). - Trent-Crede Award of the Acoustical Society of AmericaAcoustical Society of AmericaThe Acoustical Society of America is an international scientific society dedicated to increasing and diffusing the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications.-History:...
(1971); - Frocht Award of the SESA (1974);
- Great Teacher Award (1960) and the Egleston Medal (1971) from Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
; - Honorary D.Sc. degree from Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
(1975); - Naval Ordnance Development Award (1945)
- C. B. Sawyer Award of the Army Electronics Command (1967).
- Presidential Medal for MeritPresidential Medal for MeritThe Medal for Merit was, during the period it was awarded, the highest civilian decoration of the United States, awarded by the President of the United States to civilians for "exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services ... since the proclamation of an emergency by...
(1946), - National Medal of ScienceNational Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
, (1979).