Electroactive soft elastomers require huge electric field for a meaningful actuation. We demonstrate, by means of numerical simulation, that this can be dramatically reduced and large deformations can be achieved with suitably designed heterogeneous actuators. The mechanism by which the enhancement is attained is illustrated with the aid of both idealized and periodic models.

There is a PhD opening in the Dept of Civil Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at the University of Arizona to work with Professor Katerina E. Aifantis. The research topic is not defined yet, but will be in the area of continuum mechanics at the nanoscale. A bachelor in engineering is required and a master's would be preferred. The start date will be in mid August but the position needs to be filled as soon as possible. Those interested can contact katerinaaifantis [at] gmail.com

In today's (May 2) issue of Nature, we report a recent achievement in applying mechanics principles of stretchable electronics and optics to create biologically inspired artificial compound eye cameras. It was also highlighted in the Nature News & Views, "Optical devices: Seeing the world through an insect's eyes".

<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045782513000790&gt;

Dear Colleagues, Co-Workers and Friends,

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the 23rd International Workshop on Computational Mechanics of Materials (IWCMM23) will take place in Singapore, Oct 2-5, 2013.

Ju Liu, from the University of Texas at Austin, is the 2013 Melosh Medalist for his paper "A Thermodynamically Consistent Algorithm for Liquid-Vapor Phase Transitions in Complex Geometries".  Please join me in congratulating Ju!