Faculty Profiles

Professor Kosmatka is known worldwide for his innovative design, analysis, and experimental testing of lightweight advanced composite structures for aircraft, military and sports structures. Most recently, he designed an unmanned atmospheric research aircraft (UAV) for the National Science Foundation, developed health monitoring systems for UAVs sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory, and conducted aircraft vibration and aeroelastic studies for Northrop Grumman and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. His work on composite fan blades for NASA recently resulted in a turbine blade design for improved safety, performance and noise reduction. Kosmatka has also developed a composite army bridge for DARPA and the U.S. Army, and composite in-field bridge manufacturing systems for the Office of Naval Research. His work on sports structures includes design of high performance golf clubs and America s Cup sailboats.

Capsule Bio:

John Kosmatka, professor of composite and aerospace structures, holds the Callaway Golf Chair in Structural Mechanics at UCSD. Before coming to UCSD in 1991, Kosmatka was an assistant professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and held senior engineer positions at TRW and the Aerospace Corporation. He was named Jacobs School Structural Engineering "Teacher of the Year" in 1998, and has been honored with numerous professional distinctions and was named Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, as well as a NASA/ASEE Fellow. Kosmatka has authored more than 100 papers on composite structures, holds 24 U.S. patents, and is a technical reviewer for several companies and government laboratories.

Education:

• B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin (1978)
• M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan (1980)
• Ph.D, Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles (1986)

Awards:

• Who's Who in the West, 1996
• Who's Who in American Education, 5th Edition, 1996-1997
• Men of Achievement, 17th Edition, 1996
• Who's Who in the World, 14th Edition, 1996
• International Who Who's of Professionals, 1998
• UCSD School of Engineering, Teacher of the Year, Structural Engineering, 1997-1998
• Associate Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1999
• Awarded Callaway Chair of Structural Mechanics, First Chair-Holder, 1999
• Who's Who in America Science and Engineering, 5th Edition
• Who's Who in Plastics and Polymers, 1st Edition
• Faculty Advisor, AIAA Cessna/ONR Student Design/Build/Fly Competition - Electric (UAV) Class Aircraft, 6th Place, April 2000
• Faculty Advisor, Materials Research Society - Undergraduate Materials Research Initiative (UMRI), "Electroviscoelastic damping materials in structural Composites," Phu Nguyen, 2000-2001
• Invited Expert Judge on Portable Bridges, The Learning Channel (TLC) "Junkyard Wars," 2001
• AIAA Outstanding Contribution to the Community, San Diego Section Award, 2005
• Outstanding Technical Paper Award, SAMPE 37th International Fall Technical Conference, 2005

Selected Publications:

• Kosmatka, J.B., and Lee, D.G. (2002). “Damping Analysis of Composite Plates with Zig-Zag Triangular Elements”, AIAA Journal, Vol. 40, No. 6, pp. 1211-1219.
• Dong, S.B., Kosmatka, J.B., and Lin, H.C., (2001). “On Saint-Venant’s Problem for an Inhomogeneous, Anisotropic Cylinder – Part III: End Effects,” Journal of Applied Mechanics – Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 392-398.
• Dong, S.B., Kosmatka, J.B., and Lin, H.C., (2001). “On Saint-Venant’s Problem for an Inhomogeneous, Anisotropic Cylinder – Part II: Cross Sectional Properties” Journal of Applied Mechanics – Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 382-391.
• Dong, S.B., Kosmatka, J.B., and Lin, H.C. (2001). “On Saint-Venant’s Problem for an Inhomogeneous, Anisotropic Cylinder – Part I: Methodology for Saint-Venant Solutions” Journal of Applied Mechanics – Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 376-381.
• Kosmatka, J. B., and Lee, D. G., (2000). "Passively Damped Vibration of Composite Plates with Zig-Zag Elements," Proceedings, 41st IAA/ASME/ASCEC/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, Atlanta Georgia, paper AIAA-2000-1473, pp. 1- 11.
• Friedman, Z., and Kosmatka, J. B., (2000). "Torsion and Flexure of A Prismatic Isotropic Beam Using the Boundary Element Method," Computers and Structures, Vol. 74, No. 4, pp. 479-494.
• Kosmatka, J. B., and Ricles, J. M., (1999). "Damage Detection in Structures by Modal Vibration Characterization," Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 125, No. 12, pp. 1384-1392.
• Kosmatka, J. B. and Policelli, F. J., (1999). "The Development of the DARPA/BIR Composite Army Bridge: Phase I Accomplishments," Journal of Advanced Materials, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 23-36.
• Appuhn, G., and Kosmatka, J. B., (1999). "Design and Fabrication of Integrally Damped Composite Fan Blades," Proceedings, 1999 SPIE Smart Structures and Materials, Vol. 3672, No. 38, pp. 358-367.
• Biggerstaff, J. M., and Kosmatka, J.B., (1999). "Damping Performance of Cocured Graphite/Epoxy Composite Laminates with Embedded Damping Materials," Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. 33, No. 15, pp. 1457-1469.