Ballarini appointed head of Civil Engineering

Institute of Technology Dean Steven L. Crouch has appointed Professor Roberto Ballarini as head of the Department of Civil Engineering effective July 1, 2007. He will succeed Professor John Gulliver, who has served as department head for 10 years.

A leader in the field of structural engineering and solid mechanics, Ballarini joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota in the fall of 2006 after more than 20 years at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. His research focuses on the development and application of theoretical and experimental techniques to study the response of materials to mechanical, thermal and environmental loads.

Ballarini’s cross-disciplinary approach to research has led him into some areas atypical for civil engineers including aerospace materials, microelectromechanical systems, biological structures and prosthodontics. For example, Ballarini’s recent research funded by the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation is pioneering the use of microelectromechanical systems to measure the strength of collagen, the constituent of bone and connective tissue, at the nanoscale. Using his tools of mechanical theories, mathematical and experimental techniques, Ballarini hopes to enable improved procedures for assessing and mitigating the risk of bone fractures.

Ballarini and his research colleagues are also interested in developing bio-inspired replacement of bone that could be used when the bone is damaged or when a bone breaks. Ballarini’s interest in the fracture mechanics of bone developed from his reverse engineering of the structure of conch shells, in which he determined why they are the toughest ceramic composites known to researchers. His research on the conch shell gained national and international media attention in publications such as Nature, New York Times Science Times, BusinessWeek, Science News, and the London Financial Times.

Ballarini has written more than 60 journal papers on structural engineering and mechanics, and has given an equal number of invited lectures around the world. He also has served as a visiting professor at universities in Italy, Taiwan and the University of Minnesota.

In addition to his research, Ballarini has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on fracture mechanics and the mechanics of materials. He received the John S. Diekhoff Award for Distinguished Graduate Teaching at Case Western Reserve University. At the University of Minnesota, he has been named the James L. Record Professor of Civil Engineering.

Ballarini emigrated with his family from Italy to Brooklyn, New York at age nine. He went on to receive his Bachelor of Engineering degree in civil engineering in 1980 from City College of New York. He received his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering from Northwestern in 1981 and 1985, respectively.