Faculty
Director of Research Computing
Solid mechanics, Theoretical and computational materials science, Statistical mechanics, Atomistic simulations, Mechanical behavior of materials
Current Research Topics:
- Statistical mechanics of active matter
- Electromechanical behavior of soft materials
- Statistical mechanics of fluctuating interfaces
- Time-scaling in atomistic simulations
- Mechanical properties of nanocrystalline intermetallics
ASME Materials Division Centennial Mid-Career Award, 2024
President, Society of Engineering Science, 2024
Associate Editor, ASME Applied Mechanics Reviews, 2024-present
ASME Fellow, 2022
Associate Editor, ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics, 2018-2024
Young Observer, US National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, 2022
Diversity Advocate, Applied Mechanics Reviews, 2021-2022
Bill D. Cook Professorship, Mechanical Engineering, UH, 2020 - present
ASME Materials Division Sia Nemat-Nasser Early Career Award, 2017
Elected Board Member, Society of Engineering Science, 2018-2021
W. T. Kittinger Teaching Excellence Award, Cullen College of Engineering, UH, 2016
Junior Faculty Research Excellence Award, Cullen College of Engineering, UH, 2014
Larry Witte Faculty Fellowship, Mechanical Engineering, UH, 2014
Bill D. Cook Professorship, Mechanical Engineering, UH, 2012 - 2017
Outstanding Teacher Award, Cullen College of Engineering, UH, 2012
DARPA Young Faculty Award, 2010
Charles D. Babcock Teaching Assistant Award, Caltech, 2005
Robert T. Knapp Fellowship, Caltech, 2001 - 2002
Institute Silver Medal, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, 2001
Served as President of the Society of Engineering Science, 2024
Served at the Treasurer of the Society of Engineering Science, 2019-2024
Serving on the Executive Committee of the Applied Mechanics Division of the ASME
Co-organizer of symposiums at:
- 10th US National Congress on Computational Mechanics Columbus, OH, July 2009
- 11th US National Congress on Computational Mechanics, Minneapolis, July 2011
- Society of Engineering Science Annual Technical Meeting, Evanston, IL, October 2011.
Selected Publications
- Sreekanth Ramesh, Yashashree Kulkarni. “Statistical mechanics of active vesicles and the size distribution paradox.” Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 191, 105749 (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jmps.2024.105749
- Xu, K., Sheng, X., Mathew, A., et al. “Mechanical Behavior and Thermal Stability of Nanocrystalline Metallic Materials with Thick Grain Boundaries.” JOM, 76, 2914–2928 (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s11837-024-06585-4
- Mathew, A., & Kulkarni, Y. “An Electro-Chemo-Mechanical Theory With Flexoelectricity: Application to Ionic Conductivity of Soft Solid Electrolytes.” ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics, April 2024, 91(4), 041001 (2023). DOI: 10.1115/1.4063897
- Yashashree Kulkarni. “Fluctuations of active membranes with nonlinear curvature elasticity.” Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 173, 105240 (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jmps.2023.105240
- Ruizhe Su, Dajla Neffati, Yifan Zhang, Jaehun Cho, Jin Li, Haiyan Wang, Yashashree Kulkarni, Xinghang Zhang. “The influence of stacking faults on mechanical behavior of advanced materials.” Materials Science and Engineering: A, 803, 140696 (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.msea.2020.140696
- Y. Kulkarni. “Coarse-graining of atomistic description at finite temperature using formal asymptotics.” International Journal for Multiscale Computational Engineering. In Press (Invited).
- T. Sinha, & Y. Kulkarni. “Anomalous deformation twinning in fcc metals at high temperatures.” Journal of Applied Physics, 109, 114315 (2011).
Papers
- Mathew, and Y. Kulkarni, Active matter as the underpinning agency for extraordinary sensitivity of biological membranes to electric fields, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122, e2427255122 (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2427255122
- R. Su, D. Neffati, J. Cho, Z. Shang, Y. Zhang, J. Ding, Q. Li, S. Xue, H. Wang, Y. Kulkarni, and X. Zhang, High-strength nanocrystalline intermetallics with room temperature deformability enabled by nanometer thick grain boundaries, Science Advances, 7, eabc8288 (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc828
- D. Chen, and Y. Kulkarni, Entropic interaction between fluctuating twin boundaries, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 84, 59 (2015).
- Y. Kulkarni, and R. J. Asaro, Are some nano-twinned fcc metals optimal for strength, ductility, and grain stability, Acta Materialia, 57, 4835 (2009).
- Y. Kulkarni, J. Knap, and M. Ortiz, A variational approach to coarse-graining of equilibrium and non-equilibrium atomistic description at finite temperature, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 56, 141 (2008).