Rate My Professor Charles Lu

Y. Charles Lu is the H.E. Katterjohn Professor in Engineering and a Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at the University of Kentucky, where he also serves as Director of the Paducah Campus of the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Materials Engineering from the University of Western Ontario in 2000, complemented by three master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, materials science, and mathematics. Before joining the University of Kentucky in 2006 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Lu worked as a Senior Finite Element Analysis Engineer and Senior Development Engineer at Dana Corporation from 2001 to 2006, and as a Research Scientist at Akron Rubber Development Laboratory from 2000 to 2001. Throughout his career, he has held visiting positions including researcher and scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory from 2007 to 2010, visiting faculty at the University of Dayton Research Institute in 2012, and visiting professor at Case Western Reserve University in 2013.

Dr. Lu’s research interests encompass micromechanics and nanomechanics, polymers, elastomers, composites, advanced materials, finite-element analysis, mechanical design, and computational materials science. He has authored or edited 10 books, such as Design of Automotive Composites (2014), CAE Design and Failure Analysis of Automotive Composites (2014), and Biocomposites for Automotive Applications (2015), along with over 160 technical papers in refereed journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Key publications include Shape memory response of porous NiTi shape memory alloys fabricated by selective laser melting (Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, 2018), Viscoelastic creep of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2010), and Numerical design of shape memory polymer composites reinforced with temperature responsive SMA particles (Composites Part B: Engineering, 2016). His contributions have advanced composites and advanced materials in automotive and aerospace sectors. Dr. Lu has earned the SAE International Fellow designation (2023), Excellence in Engineering Education Award (2017), Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award (2010), Forest R. McFarland Award (2015), multiple University of Kentucky faculty awards including the Wethington Research Award (2011), and U.S. Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowships (2008, 2009). He serves as Associate Editor for SAE International Journal of Materials and Manufacturing and SAE International Journal of Aerospace, is a Fellow of ASME and SAE, and holds a Professional Engineer license in Kentucky.