Rate My Professor Jan D. Achenbach

Achenbach specialized in applied mechanics and quantitative nondestructive evaluation. He developed pioneering methods for flaw detection and characterization using contact transducers, imaging techniques, laser-based ultrasonics, and acoustic microscopy, with applications to aircraft structures, bridges, and nuclear reactors. His research also encompassed fracture mechanics, structural acoustics, and mechanical behavior of composite materials, establishing the field of quantitative nondestructive evaluation. He was founding editor and editor-in-chief from 1979 to 2012 of the journal Wave Motion and authored key books including Wave Propagation in Elastic Solids (1973), Reciprocity in Elastodynamics (2003), Ray Methods for Waves in Elastic Solids (1982), and A Theory of Elasticity with Microstructure for Directionally Reinforced Composites (1975). Achenbach's impact is evidenced by the National Medal of Technology (2003) for ultrasonic crack detection in aircraft, National Medal of Science (2005), ASME Medal (2012), Theodore von Kármán Medal (2010), William Prager Medal (2001), election to the National Academy of Engineering (1982), National Academy of Sciences (1992), American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and honorary doctorate from Zhejiang University (2011).