Dr. Arun Shukla is Simon Ostrach Professor within the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering University of Rhode Island. Dr. Yapa D. S. Rajapakse is Program Manager, Solid Mechanics Office of Naval Research.   Dr. Mary Ellen Hynes is Director of Research, Infrastructure & Geophysical Division, Science and Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

• Experimental Investigation of Blast Mitigation for Target Protection.- Application of High Performance Computing to Rapid Assessment of Tunnel Vulnerability to Explosive Blast and Mitigation Strategies.- Numerical Analysis of the Response of Biomimetic Cellular Materials under Static and Dynamic Loadings.- Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Fiber-reinforced Composite Panels Subjected to Underwater Blast Loading.- Underwater Explosive Response of Submerged, Air-backed Composite Materials: Experimental and Computational Studies.- Underwater Implosion Mechanics:  Experimental and Computational Overview.- Dynamic Buckling and Fluid-Structure Interaction of Submerged Tubular Structures.- The Use of Tubular Structures as Cores for Sandwich Panels Subjected to Dynamic and Blast loading – a Current “State of the Art”.- Mitigation of Loading on Personnel in Light Armored Vehicles using Small Model Testing.- Blast Response of Sandwich Composites: Effect of Core Gradation, Pre-Loading and Temperature.- Progressive Collapse Resistance of Reinforced Concrete Structures.