Jonathan_B._Hopkins
Jonathan B. Hopkins
American professor
Jonathan Brigham Hopkins is a professor of mechanical engineering at UCLA where he serves as Director of the Flexible Research Group and Vice-Chair for Graduate Affairs. Hopkins created the Freedom and Constraint Topologies (F.A.C.T.) system of mechanical design,[2][3] especially for the design of compliant mechanisms.
Dr. Jonathan Brigham Hopkins | |
|---|---|
| Education | Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ph.D. 2010, M.S. 2007, B.S. 2005 |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Employer(s) | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Known for | Compliant mechanism and metamaterials research and design |
| Notable work | Creator of F.A.C.T. mechanical design framework |
| Title | ASME Fellow and Director of the Flexible Research Group at UCLA |
| Awards | Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2013)[1] |
| Website | https://flexible.seas.ucla.edu/ |
In February 2016 Hopkins was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers by President Barack Obama as part of the award class of 2013.[4][5]
In 2021 Hopkins was elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).[6][7]
Hopkins' publication "Compliant Mechanisms That Use Static Balancing to Achieve Dramatically Different States of Stiffness" was selected for the 2021 Best Paper Award by the ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics.[8]
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Hopkins introduced his Freedom and Constraint Topology (FACT) design paradigm in his 2007 Masters thesis.[2] The paradigm was further refined in his 2010 PhD thesis.[3] The paradigm synthesizes concepts from screw theory and projective geometry along with Maxwell's criterion for structural rigidity. FACT establishes a finite set of exactly 50 topologies which describe every possible configuration of flexure systems except for hybrid interconnected systems.
FACT is featured in chapter 6 of the Handbook of Compliant Mechanisms[9] edited by Hopkins' mentor Larry Howell.
Dr. Hopkins recorded his graduate level compliant mechanisms design course to offer virtual instruction to his students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hopkins self-published the course as a free lecture series on YouTube. His channel is called "The FACTs of Mechanical Design", named after his FACT design paradigm. As of 2024, the channel contains a wide range of content on the principles and applications of compliant mechanisms, along with an additional free lecture series on traditional rigid body mechanisms.[10]
"Array directed light-field display for autostereoscopic viewing"[11]
"Compliant mechanisms for orthopaedic joint replacement and implanted prostheses"[12]
"Compliant self-anchoring screw with auxetic properties"[13]
Hopkins has well over 50 academic publications. Only a subset is included here. "Design, material, function, and fabrication of metamaterials"[14]
"Compliant Mechanisms That Use Static Balancing to Achieve Dramatically Different States of Stiffness"[15]
"Phase-Changing Metamaterial Capable of Variable Stiffness and Shape Morphing"[16]
- Hopkins, Jonathan. "Design of Parallel Flexure Systems via Freedom and Constraint Topologies (FACT), M.S. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology". MIT Libraries. hdl:1721.1/39879.
- Rutter, Michael Patrick (19 February 2016). "Four MIT faculty win Presidential Early Career Awards". MIT.edu. MIT News.
- Chin, Matthew; Kisliuk, Bill. "Three UCLA Engineering faculty win nation's highest honor for young researchers". UCLA.edu.
- "Engineering Fellows - ASME". ASME.org.
- Krovi, Venkat. "Announcing the 2021 Best Paper Award and Honorable Mention". JOURNAL OF MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS.
- Howell, Larry; Magleby, Spencer; Olsen, Brian (April 2013). Handbook of Compliant Mechanisms. Wiley. ISBN 978-1-119-95345-6.
- "The FACTs of Mechanical Design". YouTube.
- Zapdoor; et al. "Design, material, function, and fabrication of metamaterials". pubs.aip.org. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
- Kuppens; Bessa; Herder; Hopkins. "Compliant Mechanisms That Use Static Balancing to Achieve Dramatically Different States of Stiffness". asme.org. J. Mechanisms Robotics.
- Poon, Ryan; Hopkins, Jonathan (2019). "Phase-Changing Metamaterial Capable of Variable Stiffness and Shape Morphing". Advanced Engineering Materials. 21 (12). doi:10.1002/adem.201900802.