Biography
Office Hours
Winter 2024
Tuesday: 3-4 PM
Wednesday: 3-4 PM
To meet outside these times, contact Dr. Allen via email. matt.allen@byu.edu or office phone. (801) 422-4401
Matt Allen is a Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University. Prior to that he taught for 15 years in the department of Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from BYU, M. S. and PhD degrees from the Georgia Tech in 2005 and was a post-doc at Sandia National Laboratories. He enjoys playing sheep’s head (Bavarian card game) during breaks at IMAC, trying new kinds of ice cream and skiing, hiking, biking or almost anything to do with mountains.
Education
2001 – 2005 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia
Ph.D./M.S. in Mechanical Engineering:
Ph.D. Thesis: “Global and Multi-Input-Multi-Output (MIMO) Extensions of the Algorithm of Mode Isolation (AMI)”
Advisor: Dr. Jerry H. Ginsberg
1994 – 95, 98 – 2001 Brigham Young University Provo, Utah
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering:
Research in Vibrations, Materials Science and Heat Transfer.
Professional Experience
Brigham Young University, Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, 2021 – present
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor, Engineering Physics Dept. 2019 – 2021
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Associate Professor, EP Dept. 2013 – 2019
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Assistant Professor, EP Dept. 2007 – 2013
Sandia National Laboratories, Postdoctoral Appointee 2005 – 2006
See https://byusdrg.com/group/ for a listing of current and former students. I am often looking for qualified students; please email me your resume if you are interested.
See https://byusdrg.com/publications/ for an up-to date list, or my Google Scholar profile at https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&hl=en&user=A65TGN4AAAAJ
Courses taught at BYU:
ME EN 335 Dynamic Systems Modeling
ME EN 273 Kinematics
additional courses TBD
Courses taught at UW-Madison
ME/EMA 540 Experimental Vibration and Dynamic System Analysis
EMA 542 Advanced Dynamics
EMA 545 Mechanical Vibrations
EMA 610 Structural Finite Element Model Validation
EMA 642 Satellite Dynamics
EMA 747 Nonlinear and Random Mechanical VIbrations
EMA 615: Nanomechanics
IntEng 102: Introduction to Society’s Engineering Grand Challenges
See https://byusdrg.com/teaching/ for further information.
Dr. Allen is the principal investigator on over $3.3M of funded research ($5.5M if funds expended by others are included). Our research group is focused on experimentally probing and analytically predicting the dynamic motion of structures, especially:
- Nonlinear dynamics of geometrically nonlinear structures, extensions to substructuring for these structures and test and model updating methods
- Nonlinear normal modes and their utility in design and response prediction for nonlinear dynamic systems
- Methods to experimentally characterize and predict damping and nonlinearity in structures due to friction at bolted/riveted/press-fit interfaces
- Test strategies and data analysis procedures to characterize linear, nonlinear and time-varying dynamic systems
- Experimental/analytical substructuring methods and applications to noise and response prediction during product development
Some current projects are described at https://byusdrg.com/research/
Research Interests
My research team seeks to enable the design and modeling of complicated dynamic systems by creating new methods to characterize them experimentally and to accelerate modeling. Our focus is on systems that are too complicated to model using existing methods. For example, even with the advanced modeling tools available today, it is extremely expensive to compute the dynamic response of structures that exhibit large deformations or where friction or contact are important. For example, models of bolted/riveted joints little is known about which physics are dominant and what length scales must be resolved. My research group seeks to develop methods to enable engineers to better understood to design the next generation of structures with improved reliability, lower costs and reduced noise and vibration. Our work also extends beyond engineering structures to more diverse systems such as the human neuromuscular skeletal system during gait, where the material properties and nonlinearities and neural control system are poorly understood.Teaching Interests
Vibrations, dynamics, controls and experimental methods for dynamic systems.Honors and Awards
- Dominick J. DeMichele Award, Society for Experimental Mechanics (2022 - Present)
- NASA NESC Group Achievement Award, “Improved Model Correlation and Identification of Non-Linear Joints Applicable to the MPCV Team, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (2019 - Present)
- Young Investigator Award, Air Force Office of Scientific Research (2008 - Present)
- B. J. Lazan Award , Society for Experimental Mechanics (2023 - 2023)
Memberships
- American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics (AIAA) (2006 - Present)
- Acoustical Society of America (ASA) (2001 - Present)
- Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM) (2001 - Present)
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) (1999 - Present)
Professional Citizenship
- Editor, Associate Editor, Experimental Mechanics (2023 - Present)
- Committee/Council Chair, Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM) (2021 - 2024)
- Editor, Associate Editor, Experimental Techniques Journal (2019 - 2023)
- Committee/Council Chair, Dynamic Substructuring Technical Division of SEM (2020 - 2023)