Brief Biographical Sketch
Craig A Steeves is an associate professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Associate Director for Graduate Studies at UTIAS and Associate Director of the Centre for Research in Sustainable Aviation. His research revolves around combining high-performance materials with complex geometry to enable light, strong and stiff structures that are enhanced with additional functionality. This is made possible by the large design space created by the complex geometry. Dr Steeves has both a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Trinity College, University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in 2002 from the Cambridge University Engineering Department, studying composite mechanics and sandwich panel failure modes in Prof Norman Fleck's Micromechanics Group. In particular, this work focused on minimum-weight design of composite structures. Subsequently Dr Steeves joined the Applied Physics Group of the Princeton University Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering where he worked with Prof Richard Miles on the use of multifunctional sandwich structures in the context of magnetohydrodynamic power generation on reentering space vehicles. Finally, Dr Steeves worked with Prof Tony Evans at the Materials Department of the University of California, Santa Barbara on a variety of topics related to airbreathing hypersonic flight, including morphing structures, low thermal expansion lattices and heat pipe leading edges. Dr Steeves joined UTIAS in January 2009.