Director and Principal Investigator, Materials for Extreme Environments (MEE)
Professor, J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering
429 Mechanical Engineering Office Building,
3123 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843
Email: telacyjr@tamu.edu
Faculty Webpage
Dr. Thomas E. Lacy Jr. received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He joined the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M as a Professor in 2018. He worked for nearly ten years as a practicing aerospace engineer. Dr. Lacy teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in solid mechanics and materials/structures. His research focuses on multifunctional composite materials for extreme environments, multiscale modeling, hypervelocity impacts, aerospace structures, computational solid mechanics, and durability and damage tolerance. Dr. Lacy has published 62 refereed journal articles, two book chapters, 59 conference proceedings, and over 25 technical reports in these areas and has been recognized for his contributions to both teaching and research. He received a 2009 SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award and was selected to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and Who’s Who in Engineering Education. Dr. Lacy has received a number of university-level awards for outstanding teaching, is a member of the Mississippi State University (MSU) Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE) Academy for Distinguished Teachers, received a 2012-2013 MSU Faculty Leadership Award, and won the 2017 MSU BCoE Outstanding Researcher Award. He has received over $3.5M dollars in external research as PI from the DoD, FAA, NSF, Boeing, and other sources. Dr. Lacy chaired 13 doctoral and 12 masters committees and currently advises 12 graduate students. He served as a scientific advisor to Golf Digest magazine. Dr. Lacy is a fellow in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and is an associate fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Dr. Lacy is a member of the Sigma Gamma Tau National Aerospace Engineering Honor Society and is a founding university partner/ collaborator with the NASA Glenn Multiscale Analysis Center of Excellence. While at MSU, Dr. Lacy served as interim Head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering (2013-2016) and Chief Technology Officer in the Advanced Composites Institute (2018).
Education
- Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1998
- M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1992
- B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of New Mexico, 1983
Awards
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers Fellow
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow
- Sigma Gamma Tau National Aerospace Engineering Honor Society Member
- SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, 2009
Publications
- Lee, J., Gharghabi, P., Boushab, D., Ricks, T.M., Lacy, T.E., Pittman Jr., C.U., Mazzola, M.S., and Velicki, A., 2018, “Artificial Lightning Strike Tests on PRSEUS Panels,” Composites Part B, 154, 467-477, (DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2018.09.016).
- DuPont, J., Yamada, Y., Lacy, T.E., and Newman Jr., J.C., 2018, “Prediction of Fatigue-Crack Growth for 7075-T7351 Aluminum Alloy Under Various Flight-Load Spectra,” Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 177, 79-94, (DOI: 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2017.03.023).
- Warren, J., Offenberger, S., Toghiani, H., Pittman Jr., C.U., Lacy, T.E., Kundu, S., 2015, “Effect of Temperature on Shear-thickening Behavior,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 7, 18650−18661, (DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b05094).
- Jang, C., Lacy, T.E., Gwaltney, S.R., Toghiani, H., and Pittman Jr., C.U., 2012, “A Relative Reactivity Volume Criterion for Crosslinking: Application to Vinyl Ester Resin Molecular Dynamics Simulations,” Macromolecules, 45(11), 4876−4885, (DOI: 10.1021/ma202754d).
- Lacy, T.E., McDowell, D.L., and Talreja, R., 1999, “Gradient Concepts for Evolution of Damage,” Mechanics of Materials, 31(12), 831-861, (DOI:10.1016/s0167-6636(99)00029-0).