Department of Mechanical Engineering

People - Vibration and Noise Control Laboratory

Dr. Wickert’s research interests focus on the dynamics of discontinuous and gyroscopic systems, specialties that encompass nonlinear vibration and the interplay between flexible and rigid-body motions.  He is the author of 125 technical papers—articles that have been referenced over one thousand times—and the inventor of two U.S. patents.  He has directed 30 public and private sector research grants and contracts, and served as a consultant to 15 companies.  Dr. Wickert’s research has advanced the technology of high-density computer data storage, and improved the design of automotive disk brakes, gas turbine blades, and production equipment for sheet metal, polymer web, and chopped fiber materials.  His research and technology transfer accomplishments have been recognized through the Curtis McGraw Research Award from the American Society for Engineering Education, and the Technical Achievement Award from the Information Storage Industry Consortium.

Dr. Wickert has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Vibration and Acoustics and the Journal of Information Storage Systems.  He is a member of the Department Chair Executive Committee of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers;  was a founding member of the executive committee for ASME’s Information Storage and Processing Systems Division;  and served as the division’s chair, vice-chair, secretary, and program chair.  Dr. Wickert has organized symposia comprising hundreds of technical papers at ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congresses and Expositions, and at ASME Mechanical Vibration and Noise Conferences.  He was the local chair of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences, and he has served on organizing committees for the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, for ASME/JSME Joint Conferences on Micromechatronics for Information and Precision Equipment, and for the International Symposium on the Mechanics of Slender Structures.  He is a four-time invited contributor to the Information Storage Industry Consortium’s technical road-mapping team.

Prior to his appointment at Iowa State, Dr. Wickert served on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University where he led his department’s undergraduate program;  served as a faculty senator, on the senate’s executive committee, and as vice-chair of the university’s education council;  was a research thrust leader in the Data Storage Systems Engineering Research Center;  and was a member of the university’s budget, financial affairs, and faculty review committees.  The university recognized him with the George Tallman Ladd Research Award, Marsha and Philip Dowd Faculty Fellowship, Theodore Ahrens Associate Professorship, and Benjamin Teare Educational Award.

Dr. Wickert is the author of the textbook An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, which has been translated into the Korean, Chinese, and Portuguese languages.  He has mentored thirty graduate students, and taught 2000 students in the classroom.  He is the recipient of the Ralph Teetor Educational Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the Curriculum Innovation Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for his work on integrating computer-aided engineering tools into undergraduate engineering curricula.

He earned the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and he was an NSF/NATO postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge, UK.  A Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Dr. Wickert is also member of the American Society for Engineering Education, Society of Automotive Engineers, American Academy of Mechanics, American Association of University Professors, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, and Pi Tau Sigma.

 

Former Doctoral Students

  1. Dr. John Collinger, “Adaptive Vibration Control using Magnetically Mounted Piezoelectric Elements,” 2008.
  2. Dr. Matthew Brake, “Lateral Vibration of Moving Media With Frictional Contact and Nonlinear Guides,” 2007.
  3. Dr. Annie Tangpong, “Friction Damping of Traveling Wave Vibration in Axisymmetric Structures,” 2006.
  4. Dr. Elizabeth Ervin, “Repetitive Impact Response of Beam Structures Through Constraint and Modal Mapping Methods,” 2006.
  5. Dr. Venkataraman Kartik, “In-Plane and Lateral Vibration of Axially-Moving Media With Advanced Actuation and Guiding Elements,” 2006.
  6. Dr. Parker Lin, “Core and Interlayer Buckling Defects in Wound Roll Manufacturing,” 2004.
  7. Dr. Yu-Min Lee, “Finite Width Model for Stresses in Wound Rolls,” 2001.
  8. Dr. Jen-Yuan Chang, “Response of Modulated Doublet Modes in Rotationally Periodic Structures,” 2001.
  9. Dr. Kevin Tzou, “In-Plane and Bending Vibration of Arbitrarily Thick Disks,” 1998.
  10. Dr. Manoj Keshavan, “Air Entrainment and Discharge in Web Winding,” 1998.
  11. Dr. Joonho Moon, “Imperfection-Generated Vibration and Noise in Power Transmission Belts,” 1997.
  12. Dr. James Tseng, “Split Vibration Modes in Annular Disk Structures and Assemblies,” 1996.
  13. Dr. Anand Lakshmikumaran, “Dynamics of Transverse and Lateral Web Guiding,” 1996.
  14. Dr. Weileun Fang, “Determining Residual Stresses in Thin Film Materials by Using Micromachined Structures,” 1995.
  15. Dr. Wen-Te Wu, “Vibration of Parametrically Excited Multi-Degree of Freedom Systems,” 1993.

Former Master’s Students

  1. John Collinger, “Energy Harvesting by Using Smart Materials,” 2006.
  2. Matthew Brake, “Vibration of Flex Circuits in Hard Disk Drives,” 2004.
  3. Hsiao-fen Cheng, “Lateral Tape Motion and Servo Dynamics,” 2004.
  4. George Coppinger, “Disk Brake Rotor Ring Dampers,” 2003.
  5. Takahiro Machida, “Lateral Tape Motion Simulation,” 2002.
  6. Jong-Seung Park, “Dynamics of Magnetic Tape Scatterwinding,” 2000.
  7. Jun-Chul Bae, “Three Dimensional Vibration of Disk-Hat Structures,” 1999.
  8. Kenneth Hyde, “Lateral Dynamics of Tapes and Webs,” 1999.
  9. Jen-Yuan Chang, “Forced Response of Rotationally Periodic Structures,” 1998.
  10. Brian Guzzi, “Friction Damper Design for Disk Brake Rotors,” 1998.
  11. Mintae Kim, “Spatial Modulation of Vibration Modes in Rotationally Periodic Structures,” 1997.
  12. Blair Echols, “Web Wrinkling Under General Guide Misalignment,” 1997.

Former Undergraduate Students


Over 45 undergraduates have participated in research projects in the Laboratory, during either academic years or summers.