Konstantin A. Lurie of Paxton, Mass., the John E. Sinclair Professor of Mathematical Sciences at WPI, is the recipient of a Fulbright grant for research and teaching in Denmark. As a Fulbright Scholar, Lurie will lecture and conduct research into topics in spatio-temporal material design, one of his research specialties, at the Technical University of Denmark in Lyngby, Denmark, from February through May of 1999. Lurie was notified of his selection by the U.S. Information Agency and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
"I'm extremely pleased to have this opportunity in Denmark," says Lurie who was born and raised in the former Soviet Union and holds degrees from Leningrad Polytechnic Institute and the A.F. Ioffe Physical Technical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. "I have personal ties to members of the Mathematical Institute and the Department of Solid Mechanics at the Technical University; I spent a productive period there and was able to publish my work. I'm looking forward to working with colleagues in Denmark." Lurie's research in spatio-temporal material design has application in the construction industry as well as the electrical engineering profession. His work particularly examines strong and weak materials in space and time that can be used to protect buildings during earthquakes.
Lurie, a WPI faculty member since 1989, is one of approximately 2,000 grantees who will travel abroad this next academic year through the Fulbright Program. Established in 1946 under Congressional legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program is designed to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the Unites States and the people of other countries." The program works through a number of educational exchange activities that includes students, teachers, lecturers, and research scholars.
