Journal of Materials Science and Nanotechnology

Dr. John J. (Jack) Mecholsky, Jr., Ph.D, is a Professor at the University of Florida in the Materials Science and Engineering Department.He served as the Associate Chair from 2005-2010, the Chair of the Faculty Senate in the 2009-2010 academic year and served on the Board of Trustees for the University of Florida (2009-2010).He is known as an international expert in the fractographic analysis of brittle materials. While on sabbatical leave (1995-1996) he served as the Associate Director for Materials at the Office of Naval Research in London (UK) and (in 2006) as a Guest Researcher at the National Institute for Standards and Technology. As a recipient of the UF’s Faculty Enhancement Opportunity (FEO) award he spent two months at Imperial College in London (2010) as a visiting researcher. He won the Teacher of the Year Award in 2006 and the Graduate Advisor of the Year Award in 2009. Prior to 1990 he held a joint appointment at the Penn State University in the Materials Science Department as an Associate Professor and as a Research Associate in the (U. S. Navy’s) Advanced Research Laboratory. From 1979-1984 he was a member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque NM. He worked at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. from 1972 – 1979 as a Ceramic Research Engineer. While finishing his graduate degrees he was a structural research engineer at the Naval Ship Research & Development Center (formerly the David Taylor Model Basin) from 1967-1972. He briefly worked at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command as an Engineer-in-training from 1966-1967. He helped design the pressure hull for the Deep Submergence Search Vehicle (DSSV) and the escape hatch for the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) [shown in the movie “Hunt for Red October”]. He developed new fractographic techniques used in the failure analysis of optical fibers, of infrared transmitting radome materials, and of ferroelectrics. He also developed equations for the analysis of failure by laser irradiation of ceramic materials. He holds patents for the development of a laser hardened composite material and a bioactive tapecast multi-layer ceramic/metal composite.

Microstructure/Mechanical Property Interactions in Glass Ceramics, Ferroelectrics and Ceramic Composites; Application of Fracture Mechanics to Brittle Materials; Fractal Fracture.