Knowles Lecture

Tuesday, February 3, 2026, 9:00am - 4:30pm
135 Gates•Thomas, Jim & Sandy Hall Auditorium

The 15th annual James K. Knowles Lectures and Caltech Solid Mechanics Symposium will be held on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, in the Jim & Sandy Hall Auditorium in Gates•Thomas. The James K. Knowles Lecture will be followed by the Solid Mechanics Symposium with presentations by current Caltech graduate students and postdocs.

The Lectures and Symposium are in memory of James K. Knowles, William J. Keenan, Jr. Professor of Applied Mechanics, Emeritus, who passed away on November 1, 2009. He is well known for his research contributions to the theory of nonlinear elasticity and the mathematical theories of materials and structures. Dr. Knowles inspired and influenced generations of students and scholars and authored over one hundred journal publications, as well as a textbook for graduate students entitled Linear Vector Spaces and Cartesian Tensors (Oxford University Press).

The Lectures and Symposium will be held annually and are made possible by the Division of Engineering and Applied Science and the support of family, friends and colleagues through donations to the James K. Knowles Memorial Fund.

James K. Knowles Lecture

Laura De Lorenzis, Full Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich

Prof. De Lorenzis and her group develop mathematical models and computational methods and perform experiments to observe, describe and predict complex phenomena involving the mechanics of solid materials.