{"id":5003,"date":"2021-03-22T10:25:40","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T14:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/?p=5003"},"modified":"2021-03-22T10:25:40","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T14:25:40","slug":"brett-kuwik-jhu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/brett-kuwik-jhu\/","title":{"rendered":"Brett Kuwik, JHU"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”5004″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]Name:\u00a0<\/strong>Brett Kuwik
\nOrganization:\u00a0<\/strong>Johns Hopkins University
\nHometown:\u00a0<\/strong>Pittsburgh, PA
\nHobbies\/Interests Outside of Work:\u00a0<\/strong>Hiking, being outdoors, playing soccer<\/p>\n

Research Area\/Focus Area (as it relates to the MSEE URA):\u00a0<\/strong>Research Area 1 \/ Focus Area 2:\u00a0Material Properties and Failure<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Materials Constitutive Laws<\/a><\/p>\n

How does the MSEE URA and its collaborative nature benefit you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In MSEE URA, many renowned researchers, each highly respected in their individual fields, are coming together for a common goal of better understanding and predicting materials and chemistries under extreme conditions.\u00a0 There are many hurdles that come when working in large groups; it can be challenging to fully communicate ideas and ensure that everybody is on the same page.\u00a0 This is especially true for MSEE URA where 40 PIs across 18 institutions are coming together.\u00a0 However, with these challenges there are many opportunities.\u00a0 In collaborative projects each individual brings a unique background and skill set, and a different method of thinking.\u00a0 Working in groups changes the mind set of individuals, fostering an environment where ideas can flow freely and openly, leading to innovative solutions.\u00a0 By working with MSEE URA I will be able to meet and collaborate with many researchers and understand and discuss different solutions strategies to research problems.\u00a0 With this collaboration I will be able to grow as a researcher and these skills to future projects after my PhD.<\/p>\n

During my undergraduate studies I learned about the benefit of working on collaborative projects. I attended a small university where it was highly encouraged and necessary to collaborate both within the school and with collaborators in industry.\u00a0 During collaborations within the school, I often had the pleasure of working with artists who used ceramics as their media of choice.\u00a0 I was fascinated with artists, who would bring a different mindset than academics to a project.\u00a0 Often times, fully examining the different solution methods to a problem allows for a better understanding of the problem and the best path towards the solution can be seen.\u00a0 Within MSEE URA I will be able to collaborate with multiple individuals and will be encouraged to examine different solution methods.\u00a0 What excites me the most about MSEE URA is the open collaboration across multiple universities and labs and learning how different individuals approach research problems.<\/p>\n

How will the MSEE URA will be improved through your involvement?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My contribution towards the MSEE URA is a unique set of skills and background that most researchers do not have.\u00a0 My background is quite unique as I am not a \u201ctypical\u201d mechanical engineering; I would consider myself more of a ceramic engineer.\u00a0 This is because my undergraduate university (Alfred University) is one of the few universities that offers degrees in ceramic engineering and glass science.\u00a0 Although I was a mechanical engineering major, many of my classes were heavily influenced by the ceramics program.\u00a0 Gaining knowledge in mechanical and ceramic engineering was complementary and I was able to understand both the mechanics and processing of materials.\u00a0 I am able to understand how ceramic materials failed with a mechanical background and understand why objects failed with a ceramics background.\u00a0 These set of skills will be useful in the MSEE URA where I will work in the Material Properties and Failure and specifically the Materials Constitutive Models focus area.<\/p>\n

After my time at Alfred University, I spent a year working at Oak Ride National Lab (ORNL) as a post-bachelor\u2019s research associate mentored by Andy Wereszczak.\u00a0 During my yearlong appointment, I was able to build upon my previous lab experience that I obtained in undergrad and obtain a better fundamental understanding of research.\u00a0 While being mentored I was able to think more critically as a researcher and understand the type of questions that needed to be asked and what directions to take.\u00a0 One specific project I worked on was understanding the mechanical response of glasses as a function of their Poisson\u2019s ratio using spherical indentation.\u00a0 The project encountered unexpected problems that were not foreseen.\u00a0 However, by learning how to overcome unexpected problems, I was able to mature as a researcher and I will be able to bring this skill set to the MSEE URA.<\/p>\n

Describe your plans for collaboration within and external to the URA.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My plan for collaboration within and external to URA is to understand and learn the skills and background that each individual researcher brings.\u00a0 With over 40 PIs across 18 institutions it can be difficult for individual voices to be heard, but by better understanding the skills and background of individuals, a greater sense of community can be established and individuals can feel open to expressing ideas.\u00a0 In addition, it is also extremely important to constantly make sure everybody is on the same page, speaking the same language and feeling open to contributing to discussions.\u00a0 To accomplish this, communication chains will be established through email and regular focused meetings that allow for group discussions.\u00a0 With successful communication, successful collaborations within the URA will be established.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”5004″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]Name:\u00a0Brett Kuwik Organization:\u00a0Johns Hopkins University Hometown:\u00a0Pittsburgh, PA Hobbies\/Interests Outside of Work:\u00a0Hiking, being outdoors, playing soccer Research Area\/Focus…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":5004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5005,"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5003\/revisions\/5005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hemi.jhu.edu\/mseeura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}