Composite Materials

Composites and advanced materials research within the department covers broad areas encompassing advanced materials for fuel cell applications, nanomaterials and their integration in multifunctional composites, and virtual simulations of manufacturing processes.

Areas of Expertise

Stronger, more durable composite membranes for fuel cell hybrid vehicles and stationary power production
Modeling and simulation for virtual composite manufacturing and process optimization for large-scale structures
Multi-scale modeling of composite structure and performance (e.g., airplane fuselages, automotive hoods)
Multifunctional composites for damage detection and structural health monitoring (e.g., pressurized tanks and bridges)

Affiliated Research Centers

Center for Composite Materials (CCM)

Key Faculty

Suresh Advani, George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Director, Center for Composite Materials
David Burris, Professor
Joseph Feser, Associate Professor
Kun (Kelvin) Fu, Assistant Professor
John Gillespie Jr., Professor
James Glancey, Professor
M. Zubaer Hossain, Assistant Professor
Michael Santare, Professor
Erik Thostenson, Professor
Bingqing Wei (B. Q. Wei), Professor

Spotlight on Research

The TuFF Age

UD researchers tackle new task in making complex material more viable for building aircraft.

A Composite Legacy

Mechanical engineering’s longest-serving faculty member receives ASME’s highest honor.

TuFF Material

Strong, lightweight material invented at UD could be industry disruptor When airplanes and automobiles were newfangled inventions a century ago,...

Student Spotlight: Colleen Murray

Building a stronger world with composite materials Many people spend years or even decades searching for their calling, but Colleen Murray was only...

Novel Sensors Could Enable Smarter Textiles

Next-generation smart textiles with the ability to measure a wide range of pressure are being created by a team of engineers at the Delaware.

Composites Research