Nicholas Wierschem

Associate Professor

Biography

Nicholas Wierschem joined the University of Tennessee (UT) as an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in fall 2015. Wierschem is a native of Tucson Arizona and received his BS in Civil Engineering with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Arizona in 2007. He completed his graduate studies in Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois with an MS in 2010 and a PhD in 2014.  Before joining UT, he held a one year appointment as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Illinois.

Research

• Structural Engineering
• Structural Dynamics
• Structural Control
• Structural Health Monitoring
• Sustainability
• Nonlinear Dynamics
• Experimental Methods
• Laser Metrology for Accelerated Steel Bridge Girder Fabrication

Education

BS Civil Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 2007
MS Civil Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 2010
PhD Civil Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 2014

Awards and Recognitions

2019, UT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Outstanding Teaching Award

2016, ASCE ExCEEd Teaching Fellowship

2014-2016, Top 5 Highest Cited Paper in International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics

Fall 2014 / Spring 2015, University of Illinois List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent

2015, University of Illinois Structural Engineering Instructional Fellowship

2014, Young Researcher Travel Fellowship, Sixth Kwang-Hua Forum, Shanghai, China

2013, EKS Annual Research Retreat Best Presentation Award

2011, NSF APSS Fellowship for Summer Study in Shanghai, China

2010, Liu Huixian Earthquake Engineering Scholarship

2009, NSF EASPSI Summer Research/Travel Fellowship, Tokyo, Japan

2004 - 2005, 2005 – 2006, Highest Academic Distinction, University of Arizona

2003 – 2007, University of Arizona Provost Scholarship

Publications

For a more complete and up-to-date list of Wierschem’s publications, please see his Google Scholar page.

Selected Publications

Wierschem, N.E.; Hubbard, S.; Luo, J.; Fahnestock, L.A.; Spencer Jr., B.F.; McFarland, D.M.; Quinn, D.D.; Vakakis, A.F.; and Bergman, L.A. “Response attenuation in a large-scale structure subjected to blast excitation utilizing a system of essentially nonlinear vibration absorbers,” Journal of Sound and Vibration, 389, 52-72, 2017

Wang, J.; Wierschem, N.E.; Spencer B. F. Jr.; and Lu, X., “Numerical and experimental study of the performance of a single-sided vibro-impact track nonlinear energy sink," Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 45, 635–652, 2016.

Wierschem, N.E.; Luo, J.; Al-Sudeifat, M.A.; Hubbard, S.; Ott, R.; Fahnestock, L.A.; Quinn, D.D.; McFarland, D.M.; Spencer Jr., B.F.; Vakakis, A.F.; and Bergman, L.A.  “Experimental Testing and Numerical Simulation of a Six-Story Structure Incorporating a Two Degree of Freedom Nonlinear Energy Sink,” ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, 140 (6), 2014.

Luo, J.; Wierschem, N.E.; Fahnestock, L.A.; Spencer Jr., B.F.; Quinn, D.D.; McFarland, D.M.; Vakakis, A.F.; and Bergman, L.A., “Design, simulation and large-scale testing of an innovative vibration mitigation device employing essentially nonlinear elastomeric springs,” Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 43 (12), 1829–1851, 2014.

Al-Sudeifat, M.A.; Wierschem, N.E.; Quinn, D.D.; Vakakis, A.F.; and Bergman, L.A.; and Spencer Jr., B.F. “Numerical and Experimental Investigation of a Highly Effective Single-Sided Vibro-Impact Nonlinear Energy Sink for Shock Mitigation,” International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics, 52, 96-109, 2013.

Phillips, B.M.; Wierschem, N.E.; and Spencer Jr., B.F., "Model-based multi-metric control of uniaxial shake tables," Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 43 (5), 681-699, 2013.

Wierschem, N.E.; Quinn, D.D.; Hubbard, S.; Al-Sudeifat, M.A.; Luo, J.; McFarland, D.M.; Fahnestock, L.A.; Vakakis, A.F.; Bergman, L.A.; and Spencer Jr., B.F. “Passive Damping Enhancement of a Two-degree-of-freedom System Through a Strongly Nonlinear Two-degree-of-freedom Attachment,” Journal of Sound and Vibration, 331 (25), 5393-5407, 2012.

Wierschem, N.E. and Andrawes, B. “Superelastic SMA–FRP composite reinforcement for concrete structures,” Smart Materials and Structures, Volume 19 (2), 1-13, 2010.

Treece, Z.; Smith, M.; Wierschem, N.E.; Sweeney, S.; and Spencer, B. F. Jr. "Development of the USACE Automated SMART Gate System for Lock Gates: Part 1 - Structural Monitoring and Analysis in Real Time for Gates," International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring, Stanford, CA, September 1-3, 2015.