Scott A. Smith, PhD

Scott A. Smith, PhD, joined the mechanical engineering faculty in the David Crawford School of Engineering in 2020 after graduating with his doctorate.

Professor Smith is passionate about teaching students about the phenomena engineers can come across to the next generations of engineers. He believes hands-on learning is the best foundation for any engineer’s career. It allows the students to visualize the concepts taught in lectures and make decisions based on their experiences. He earned degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Wilkes University (bachelor’s), the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (master’s), and Rice University (PhD.).

While Professor Smith has not had much industry experience, he has held a couple of internships. His first internship was with Hexcel Corporation (in Pottsville, PA). He worked with manufacturing workers on updating processes to enable more comfortable, faster manufacturing, and more accurate parts. He investigated different manufacturing techniques to improve cost-savings and reduce waste production. During the process of earning his doctorate, he worked at Sandia National Laboratories for approximately two years. During his time at Sandia, he performed research on bolted joint dynamics, failure detection of small components, and linear and nonlinear vibrations of structures. His research interests are in the best practices for Nonlinear Vibration Testing, effects of environmental dynamics on nonlinear responses, and experimental boundary conditions that best match environmental conditions.