Dana M. Elzey
About
After graduating with a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering, and working on the R&D staffs of IBM and General Electric, Elzey accepted an offer to conduct research in the area of high temperature fatigue failure of Ni-base superalloys at the Max-Planck Institute for Materials Research in Stuttgart, Germany. With this research as the subject of his dissertation, he obtained a Doctor of Science degree from the Universitaet Stuttgart in 1989. Elzey joined the UVA Department of Materials Science & Engineering as a post-doctoral fellow in 1990, working on the modeling and processing of advanced, fiber-reinforced composites and smart, cellular materials. He was appointed Research Assistant Professor in 1993 and promoted to Research Associate Professor in 2001. He has published two books and more than 70 technical articles in these areas.
The Engineering In Context (EIC) Program, which he created together with Prof. Kathryn Neeley in 2001, is a multidisciplinary capstone program, bringing students together from all of the engineering disciplines, medicine, commerce, architecture and environmental sciences. The EIC Program has taught more than 300 engineering students in a client-driven, multidisciplinary environment, with a number of projects in global engineering development (e.g. in Yaounde and Bahmendi, Cameroon, South Africa, Guatemala and Nicaragua). In 2004, Elzey was appointed Director of the Rodman Scholars (honors engineering) Program, in which he provides teaching, advising and administration. Having created a study abroad program for engineering students in 2005, Elzey was called on to create and become the first director of Engineering International Programs in 2007. This office, dedicated to providing a wide range of opportunities for engineering undergraduates to gain international experience, now sees more than 25% of students studying abroad by the time they graduate.
Elzey has served on the Faculty Senate and continues to serve a number of organizations across Grounds, including the Jefferson Scholars Foundation undergraduate advisory board, Center for Global Health Fellows, and the Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation. He has been recognized for his teaching and service through the Mac Wade Award, Raven Society, Z Society, Harold S. Morton Award, inaugural Kinnier Award, University Academy of Teaching Fellow, and the Hartfield-Jefferson Scholars Teaching Prize.