Dr. Nan Hu earned his Ph.D. in civil engineering from Michigan State University (‘15), where he developed approaches to control the postbuckling response of cylindrical shells. Prior to joining OSU in September 2017, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Dartmouth College for two years, where he focused on harnessing mechanical instability to design multifunctional materials for biomedical devices. His current research group (Versatile Structures Lab) at OSU focuses on creating structural components with tailorable properties to achieve shape-changing and adaptive features for the next-generation infrastructure materials and devices.

Dr. Hu is a 2018-2019 Seed Grant Awardee!

• Team Members: Natassia Brenkus, Katrina Cornish, Ajay Shah
• Title: Corn stover (CS)-based biocomposite for sustainable building material characterization, structural durability and life-cycle impact
• Lay Overview: To address the high level of embodied energy in the production of conventional building materials, this collaborative project attempts to evaluate the properties and performance of bio-based composites using corn stover(a major agricultural residue in Ohio) as an alternative material to design modular structural components for sustainable buildings