“This laboratory mission is to help students to seek endeavours in areas of computational mechanics, visualization, design verification, and validation.”
The research interests are devoted to advanced applied mechanics. Dr. Czekanski established an Innovative Design and Engineering Analysis Laboratory to support high-caliber research and promote design and innovation. These interests fall well within his knowledge and expertise gained in academia and industry.
Current research interest includes the multi-scale modeling and optimization of meso-macro structures and their applications towards hybrid multi-contact systems and biomedical engineering. These include the development of a novel mathematical framework and its finite element solution techniques and multi-objective optimal design problems. Activities in this field cover fundamental research in multi-scale modeling and contribute to the body of knowledge in solid mechanics of heterogeneous materials.
Constitutive Modelling of Hyper-Elastic Materials under Impact
Elastomers constitute an important element in many engineering design and applications such as rubber components used in tires, engine mounts, door latched, and suspension dampers, among others. Very limited work, however, exist in a nascent stage to simulate the behaviour of elastomer under impact loading. Current research interest is in the development of rate and temperature dependant constitutive modeling of elastomers. This research can provide fundamental understanding and knowledge in the field of material constitutive modeling as well as failure mechanics including damage and fatigue prediction analyses of rubbers under impact loadings.
Additive Manufacturing (AM)
In biomedical engineering: Current biomedical applications such as dental and orthopaedic implants encounter a number of challenges including but not limited to bone-implant stiffness mismatch and the lack of fusion or bone cell ingrowth and absence of vascularization. Additive manufacturing (AM) can offer great potentials to greatly reduce the impact of such drawbacks. Current research interest is in the development of implants produced by AM, future additive manufacturing of biodegradable materials, functionally graded materials and hybrid biomaterials. These activities include the design of implants produced by AM, finite element modeling of implants and their bone integration during healing duration and material characterization. Knowledge gained from this research field will open the door to explore new applications and innovations in bioengineering and clinical sciences.
In space: This research program offers fundamental information for additive manufacturing in space and future space exploration including the remote building of structures in space, immediate repair in space, reduced risk and cost of repairs and improvement in space. This research can provide a unique and fundamental understanding of AM under zero gravity and extreme space environments.
For mass production: The current research interest is dedicated to developing new technologies of additive manufacturing for mass production of advanced and complex components. This is interdisciplinary research where manufacturing process, laser technology, closed-loop control system, product quality and control, mechanical characterization and finite element modeling of AM process get integrated to contribute to a promising field for future advanced manufacturing.
Engineering Design Education
The current research program is focused on the evaluation of the Engineering Design Education at the Mechanical Engineering Department, Lassonde School of Engineering, York University. It constitutes of data mining and analysis, criteria development and decision making, and optimization including Neural Networking, Art Colony Optimization, and Simulated Annealing. Currently, the main evaluation techniques of an engineering program and undergraduate students are based on success rates. This can sometimes be misleading and/or does not provide early informative data for program development, especially for new programs. The objectives of this research program are to provide both qualitative and quantitative information for a justified outcome to build a better education system, support industry with more qualified students and support community. Stakeholders in this research program include the institution, faculty, students, and industry with high interest towards excellence in design, engineering, leadership, and teaching (with assistance from Faculty of Education and Teaching Commons).