Irene Beyerlein, the Mehrabian Interdisciplinary Endowed Chair at UC Santa Barbara, has received one of the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer, election to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). A professor of materials and mechanical engineering, Beyerlein was cited by the NAE for “methodologies predicting the mechanics of complex engineering materials to improve their stability and strength.”

Beyerlein’s research lies at the intersection of mechanics and materials, bringing together multiscale modeling, experimentation, and theory to guide the design of materials by controlling microstructures through manufacturing processes. She has studied how plastic deformations propagate through materials and how strain localization can give rise to the initiation of slip bands. Beyerlein is particularly interested in materials that can withstand extreme conditions, including high stress, temperature and strain, as well as how lightweight materials can improve fuel economy in aircraft.

After receiving her PhD in theoretical and applied mechanics at Cornell University, she began a postdoctoral appointment as a J.R. Oppenheimer Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she remained on the scientific staff of the Theoretical Division. She has published more than 500 academic manuscripts and been cited more than 30,000 times. Other notable honors received by Beyerlein include the Brimacombe Medal and Distinguished Scientist/Engineering Award from The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS), and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) Champion H. Mathewson Award. She is also a fellow of the TMS, and the Materials Research Society. 

Beyerlein was among the 114 members in the newly elected class. They will be formally inducted during the NAE’s annual meeting in late September.