Wetherhold receives Fulbright for teaching, research in Germany

Robert C. Wetherhold, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has been awarded a Fulbright fellowship to do research and teach in Germany during the 1997-98 academic year.

In August, Wetherhold will travel to Germany for a six-week German language course to be held at the University of Regensburg.

Following an orientation, including a meeting with the U.S. ambassador in Bonn, Wetherhold will begin his research at the University of Kaiserslautern. He will study fracture and fatigue properties of composites, as well as tribology‹the friction and wear‹of composites.

In addition to his research activities, Wetherhold will teach courses in composite materials at the University of Darmstadt.

Wetherhold is one of approximately 1,600 American students, teachers and scholars who will travel abroad to 140 countries for the 1997-98 academic year under the Fulbright program. Established under legislation introduced by former Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program is designed "to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries."

A UB faculty member since 1983, Wetherhold has been active nationally in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

He has authored or co-authored more than 50 articles in scholarly journals and edited several books.

Wetherhold received bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Delaware.