P.S. Theocaris Award

P.S. Theocaris was a legendary figure in the mechanics community in Greece. He also was one of the most outstanding experimental stress analysts in the world during the second half of the twentieth century. He was member of the Academy of Athens, the most prestigious distinction of professionals in Greece. He also served as corresponding or, foreign member to other Academies in Europe. He was the recipient of many awards and distinctions. He was elected as SEM Fellow in 1979. As an experimentalist, he is known primarily for his work in moiré, photoelasticity and caustics.

The award in question is designed to recognize a senior individual for distinguished, innovative and outstanding work in optical methods and experimental mechanics.

Criteria for Selection:

1. The recipient should be recognized for outstanding contributions during his/her career. 
2. The recipient should be a Fellow of SEM.

Award Guidelines

Past Recipients

2011 P.S. Theocaris Award: Cesar Sciammarella

In recognition of his pioneering efforts in developing and applying moiré, holography, speckle interferometry methodologies, and microscopic versions of these techniques to experimental mechanics.

Cesar Sciammarella was the Director of the world renowned Experimental Mechanics Laboratory at the Illinois Institute of Technology for more than 30 years. This year he became Professor Emeritus in the MMAE Dept at IIT. He is currently doing research at Northern Illinois University as Adjunct Professor. He recently completed a five year project funded by the Italian government to help the Politecnico of Bari develop its experimental mechanics lab and increase its future talent. In this time he has taken his pioneering developments in applying moiré, holography, and speckle interferometry methodologies as an experimental tool down to the nanometric level. This effort has taken him beyond the Rayleigh limit that traditionally was considered as the maximum resolution that could be obtained in optics in far field observations. His recent work has yielded measurements in the far field of nano crystals and nano spheres with accuracies on the order of ±3.3 nm. His recent discoveries will no doubt lead this field as he has done in the past. He has received many awards, including the Hetenyi, Lazan, and Frocht awards and the William M. Murray Medal from the Society for Experimental Mechanics.