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).
Kalyan Raj Kota
Research Engineer, Hypervelocity Impact Laboratory
Senior Research Engineer III, TEES – Strategic Initiatives
2336 Center for Infrastructure Renewal, 3476 TAMU, TAMU-RELLIS Campus, Bryan, TX 77807
Hometown: Nellore, AP, India
Email: kkraj@tamu.edu
Cell: (662)617-9196
Dr. Kota is part of Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station working as a Senior Research Engineer. Raj holds MS and Ph.D. from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Mississippi State University. Prior to joining strategic initiatives, he was a Research Engineer for Materials for Extreme Environments in the George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex. His current research focuses on the aspects of hypervelocity impact testing, material characterization, shock physics, and equations of state development for materials modeling. His research interests include hypervelocity impacts, finite element simulations of dynamic events, mechanics of aerospace composites, UAS collision severity evaluation, fatigue and fracture of aerospace materials, non-destructive evaluation, smart materials, and high-strain rate material characterization. He is a member of ASME, AIAA, NSBE, and International Ballistics Society (IBS).