Second XFEM short course, July 2007, Lausanne, Switzerland
After the success of the course in 2005 (45 participants from 15 countries), the EPFL school of continuing education presents the second XFEM course.
NYT Article "The Ultimate Distance Learning"
I stumbled on this article in the NY Times "The Ultimate Distance Learning" (free registration required to view) about the establishment of University distance learning activities within the Second Life online community.
An infinite whiteboard on the Internet
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We mechanicians like to argue over a whiteboard, but we are often too far apart. Skype allows us to phone each other, and Google Doc allows us to write together. Both Skype and Google Doc work over long distance and free of charge. But still, we'd like to sketch a little figure and write a few equations. We miss our whiteboard.
Helpful Math for Continuum Mechanics
If you would like a copy of my lecture notes (on matrix algebra, indicial notation, vectors, tensors, vector calculus, groups, curvilinear coordinates and calculus of variations) they are available at
Mesoscale modeling of mechanics of carbon nanotubes: Self-assembly, self-folding and fracture
Using concepts of hierarchical multi-scale modeling, we report development of a mesoscopic model for single wall carbon nanotubes with parameters completely derived from full atomistic simulations. The parameters in the mesoscopic model are fit to reproduce elastic, fracture and adhesion properties of carbon nanotubes, in this article demonstrated for (5,5) carbon nanotubes. The mesoscale model enables one to model the dynamics of systems with hundreds of ultra-long carbon nanotubes over time scales approaching microseconds.
Systematization Schemes for Mechanics and Concept Maps
1. Introductory
Recently, there has been some active discussion on topics like:
-- Open-source textbooks
-- Comparing lecture notes
-- Unification of mechanics
-- Wikipedia and Citizendium
iMechanica and Citizendium - the perfect union?
Most visitors/users of iMehanica will be aware of Wikipedia. Well, there is a new project of this kind underway. To quote from its "mission statement":
The Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um), a "citizens' compendium of everything," is an experimental new wiki project. The project, started by a founder of Wikipedia, aims to improve on that model by adding “gentle expert oversight” and requiring contributors to use their real names.
The future role of iMechanica
Since iMechanica went official on 9 September 2006, its growth has always been accelerating. As of 22 February 2007, the total number of hits on iMechanica reaches 1,000,000+, iMechanica has 1252 registered users, 908 posts and 1308 comments.
Notes on Fracture of Thin Films and Multilayers
Lecture note of fracture mechanics of thin films and multilayers given at the Technical University of Denmark.
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