About
Dr. von Lockette was born in New York, but oddly, spent his early childhood in Gaithersburg, MD. When he was 8, he and his mother moved to Duncanville, TX where they lived down the street from the local feed store (really!). He met his wife in college; they have been together ever since. His daughter was born while they lived in NJ, grew up in PA, and is now loving the DMV.Dr. von Lockette graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, with a BS in Engineering Science, then continued for a PHD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Growing up in TX did not prepare him for the cold in MI, so after the PHD he started at Rowan University in NJ. While in NJ her also spent a year as a visiting faculty at Rutgers in New Brunswick. In 2012 he joined Penn State in University Park, his last position before arriving at UMBC.
Dr. von Lockette’s personal interests, in which he engages, are science fiction, electric blues, and good barbeque (in thar order). He finds it oddly satisfying that his journey has lead him back to MD and welcomes the opportunity to contribute to UMBC.
Research interests
Dr. von Lockette’s work lies in the topical area of electromagnetically sensitive polymer composites and their applications, tying macroscale performance to its basis in fabrication / processing methods and solid-state physics. Succinctly put, his work lies at the intersection of classical electromechanics and the nonlinear mechanics of active materials. His long-term goal is to uncover and exploit multiscale mechanisms of transduction between elastic strain energy and electromagnetic energy for an array of soft-magnetic and biomedical applications. Given the increased usage of electromagnetic fields as the mechanisms that drive and power engineering solutions, these applications have ranged from cardiac assist devices and integrated structural health monitoring; to soft-robotic actuators and magnetic separation techniques that support next generation cancer therapies. To these ends, the work of his group in the ElectroMagnetically-Active Composites and Structures (eMACS) Laboratory, has been equal parts applications- and science-driven experimentation; polymer processing, fabrication, and analytical characterization; classical electromechanics and nonlinear solid mechanics theories; and computational multiphyiscs simulation and nonlinear optimization.Teaching interests
Dr. von Lockette's teaching interests are, topically, all areas of solid mechanics; computational methods including computational mechanics, finite element analysis and optimization; and smart materials processing, structures, and properties.Education
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Ph D, Mechanical Engineering
— University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1999) Experimental, analytical and computational investigation of bimodal elastomer networks.
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MS, Mechanical Engineering
— University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1996) Experimental, analytical and computational investigation of bimodal elastomer networks.
- BS, Engineering Science — Trinity University (1993)