Robert L. Clark
Thomas Lord Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Contact Information
Office Location: 3379 CIEMAS
(PH) 919-660-5359
(FX) 919-660-5409
rclark@duke.edu

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Education

	PhD	Advanced Sensing Techniques for Active Structural Acoustic Control, Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992
	MS	A Study of the Large-Scale Structure in a Supersonic Slot Injected Flow Field, Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988
	BS	Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1987

 

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Experience

	2003-present	Thomas Lord Professor of Engineering, Duke University
	2001-present	Sr. Associate Dean for Research, Pratt School of Engineering
	2001-present	Director, Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems
	2001-present	Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University
	1999-2000	Chief Technology Officer, Imeron, Cary, NC
	1998-2000	Assoc. Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University
	1996-2001	Director, Center for Applied Control, Duke University
	1992-1997	Asst. Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University
	1993-1996	Vice President and Senior Research Scientist, Adaptive Technologies Incorporated, Blacksburg, VA

 

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Selected Publications

1. Cole, D.G. and R.L. Clark, 1994. “Adaptive Compensation of Piezoelectric Sensoriactuators," Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, 5, pp. 665-672.
2. Vipperman, J. S. and R. L. Clark, 1996 “Implementation of an Adaptive Piezoelectric Sensoriactuator,” AIAA Journal, 34(10), 2102-2109.
3. Clark, R.L., Fleming , M.R. and Fuller, C.R., 1993. "Piezoelectric Actuators for Distributed Vibration Excitation of Thin Plates: A Comparison Between Theory and Experiment," ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, 115(3), pp. 332-339.
4. Clark, R.L., S.E. Burke, 1996. “Practical Limitations in Achieving Shaped Modal Sensors with Induced Strain materials,” ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics. 118, 668-675.
5. Smith, G. C. and R. L. Clark, 1999. “Tradeoffs in design complexity—spatial versus temporal compensation,” Journal of Sound and Vibration, 228(5), 1182-1194.
6. Clark, R. L., and Cox, D. E., 1999. “Experimental Demonstration of a Band-Limited Actuator / Sensor Selection Strategy for Structural Acoustic Control,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 106(6), 3407-3414.
7. Clark, R. L., and Cox, D. E., 1999. “Band-Limited Actuator and Sensor Selection for Disturbance Rejection: Application to Structural Acoustic Control,” AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 22(5), 740-743.
8. Vipperman, J. S., and R. L. Clark, 1999. “Implications of Using Colocated Strain-Based Transducers for Active Structural Acoustic Control,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 106(3), pp. 1392-1400.
9. Vipperman, J. S., and R. L.Clark, 1999. “Multivariable feedback active structural acoustic control using adaptive piezoelectric sensoriactuators,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 105(1), 219-225.
10. Clark, R. L. and D. S. Bernstein, 1998. “Hybrid Control: Separation in Design,” Journal of Sound and Vibration, 214(4), 784-791

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Patents

1. Clark, R. L., Vipperman, J. S., and D. G. Cole, “Adaptive Piezoelectric Sensoriactuator,” United States Patent Number 5,578,761, Nov. 26, 1996.
2. Goldfarb, B. S., and Clark, R. L., “Compact Full-Range Loudspeaker System,” United States Patent Number 5,664,020, Sep. 2, 1997.
3. Clark, R. L., and D. G. Cole, “Feedback Acoustic Energy Dissipating Device with Compensator,” United States Patent Number 5,848,169, Dec. 8, 1998.

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Short Research Interest Descriptor

My research efforts stand at the intersection between mechanical engineering and materials science, mining new methods of engineering at the nanoscale through the development of instruments aimed at characterizing material properties of single molecules and manufacturing through scanning probe lithography and stamping to provide new enabling technologies for applications of benefit to society.

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Research Interest

The overarching theme of my research is biologically inspired materials and material systems. Biological products have been designed through evolutionary pressure and in order to fully understand the mechanisms of biology, a link between the evolved choice of composition, and the created and optimized structures, to the functions through the properties of the materials involved is needed.

As such, the approach taken is to study the biology specific to a desired application area and “reverse engineer” the system as appropriate, and from this experience, gain new insights and perspectives required to “forward engineer” new processes or products inspired by the way that “nature did it.”

One current focus of my efforts is devoted to nanoengineering and in particular, the research and development required to bring new forms of instrumentation to the nanoscience community that allows for the characterization of single molecules as well as the deposition and manipulation of single molecules for nanomanufacturing processes. Building upon this effort, another focus is biosensors for diagnostic applications and detection of pathogens of interest in biodefense.

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