William Clark recognized by ASME with lifetime service award

PITTSBURGH (August 26, 2015) … William W. "Buddy" Clark, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering, was recognized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers with its Robert E. Abbott Award. Dr. Clark received the award at the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences in Boston this August from ASME's Design Engineering Division.

The Abbot Award recognizes Dr. Clark "for his outstanding and sustained service to the division, technical committees, conferences and journals in support of the international design engineering community and profession."

Dr. Clark's primary research interest is in the area of smart structures and microsystems, particularly structural vibration control, novel actuators and mechatronics, variable stiffness/damping materials, morphing materials and systems, energy harvesting, and integrated mechanical-electrical systems for communications and signal processing. Much of his current research focuses on piezoelectric systems for actuators, valves, resonators, mechanical filters, biosensors, or energy sources. Examples of current research includes the use of piezoelectric microvalves for improved fuel management in energy systems, the development of piezoelectric energy harvesting devices for wireless sensor systems, and development and use of materials that exhibit controllable change in mechanical properties.

He also is the co-founder of Diamond Kinetics, a Pittsburgh startup company that produces SwingTracker, a sensor-app package that allows baseball and softball players to accurately measure several parameters of a swing. The small half-ounce device and mobile application replicates data gathering previously required by expensive motion-capturing cameras and computers, and can measure bat and hand speed; quickness, or time to impact; power, or momentum generated; and control of the bat during the swing.

Dr. Clark earned his bachelor's, master's and PhD in mechanical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

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Author: Paul Kovach