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[ Curriculum Vita | Publication list ] POLYMER-BASED COMPOSITES, INTERFACES, MICRO-RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY Professor Schadler received her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering in 1990 from the University of Pennsylvania. She held a post-doctoral research position at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center from 1990-1992 and joined the faculty at Drexel University in 1992 as an assistant professor. While at Drexel she received a National Young Investigator Award. She joined the Rensselaer faculty in 1996. She is a winner of the Bradley Staughton Teaching Award from ASM International and the American Society of Engineering Education Dow Outstanding New Faculty award for the St. Lawrence section. Professor Schadler's research is primarily in the area of mechanical behavior of polymer composites. This includes both fibrous and particle composites. In the area of fibrous composites her interests lie in understanding the micromechanical behavior as a function of fiber-matrix interface properties. The group uses micro Raman spectroscopy to measure the local strain behavior in fiber as a function of external loading. For example, when a fiber breaks in the composite, the neighboring fibers see an overload stress. The overload stress in the intact fibers and the subsequent damage development leading to failure can be mapped using micro Raman spectroscopy. Dr. Schadler also has a strong interest in polymer nanocomposites with both nanoparticle and nanotube fillers. The goal of that work is to understand and control the fundamental interaction of the polymer chains with the reinforcement, and to tailor the dispersion and interface properties to maximize the bulk mechanical properties. Professor Schadler
also has a strong interest in education and participates in outreach
and education programs for high school students and teachers, and research
programs for undergraduates. She is involved in curriculum reform at
Rensselaer.
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