XI
About the Editor
William N. Sharpe, Jr. holds the Alonzo G. Decker Chair in Mechanical Engineering
at the Johns Hopkins University where he served as department chairman for 11-1/2
years. His early research focused on laser-based strain measurement over very short
gage lengths to study plasticity and fracture behavior. The past fifteen years have been
devoted to development and use of experimental methods to measure the mechanical
properties of materials used in microelectromechanical systems. He is a Fellow and
Past President of the Society for Experimental Mechanics from which he received the
Murray Medal. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers awarded him the Nadai
Award as well as Fellow grade. He has received an Alexander von Humboldt Award
along with the Roe Award from the American Society of Engineering Education.