Former Professorial Lecturer in Engineering
The George Washington University, Washington, DC
gw(at)geverstine(dot)com

Professional Interests

• computational mechanics, structural acoustics and fluid-structure interaction, structural dynamics, finite element method

• B.S. in Engineering Mechanics, 1964, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
• M.S. in Engineering, 1966, Purdue University, Lafayette, IN
  Major: Engineering Sciences; Minor: Electrical Engineering
• Ph.D., Applied Mathematics, 1971, Brown University, Providence, RI
  Dissertation: "Stress Concentrations and Boundary Layers in Fiber-Reinforced Materials"
  Adviser: Allen C. (Jack) Pipkin (1931-1994)

Selected Publications

Professional Experience

• 1979-2014, Professorial Lecturer in Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
• 1969-2001, Scientist (Computational Mechanics), David Taylor Model Basin, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Bethesda, MD
• 1968-1969, Engineering Duty Officer, U.S. Navy
• 1964-1966, Member of Technical Staff, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., Indianapolis, IN

Awards

• David W. Taylor Sigma Xi Research Award (1983) for "original contributions to the understanding of fluid-structure interaction"
• Washington Academy of Sciences Scientific Achievement Award in the Mathematical and Computer Sciences (1984) for "advances in finite element techniques for mechanics problems"
• Fellow, Washington Academy of Sciences (1984)
• U.S. Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award (1988)
• NASA's Douglas Michel Achievement Award (1989) for "a technical contribution which has been of significant value in the advancement of the aerospace technology program of NASA"

Recent Courses at The George Washington University

• MAE/CE 6207 - Theory of Elasticity
  Introduction to Cartesian tensors; deformation, stress, constitutive relations for linear elasticity; formulation of boundary value problems; variational principles; torsion and bending of prismatic rods; plane problems.
  Course outline Lecture notes

• ApSc 6213 - Analytical Methods in Engineering III (Partial Differential Equations)
  Analytical techniques for solution of boundary-initial-value problems in engineering; wave propagation, diffusion processes, and potential distributions.
  Course outline Lecture notes

• MAE 6286 - Numerical Solution Techniques in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  Development of finite difference and finite element techniques for solving elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic partial differential equations.
  Course outline Lecture notes

• ApSc 6212 - Analytical Methods in Engineering II (Linear Algebra)
  Algebraic methods appropriate to the solution of engineering computational problems; linear vector spaces, matrices, systems of linear equations, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, quadratic forms.
  Course outline Lecture notes

• ApSc 6211 - Analytical Methods in Engineering I (Complex Variables)
  Engineering applications of the theory of complex variables: contour integration, conformal mapping, inversion integral, and boundary-value problems.
• CE 252 - General Structural Dynamics
  Analysis of single and multiple degree of freedom structural systems under steady-state and transient loads; response of discretized structural systems such as rigid frames, plates and thin shells under dynamic loads.
• EngS 284 - Numerical Methods in Engineering
  Eigenvalue problems. Numerical solution of systems of equations and ordinary differential equations. Solution techniques for elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic partial differential equations. Numerical methods for solving finite element equations. Introduction to solution of fluid-flow problems.
• EngS 285 - Finite Element Methods in Engineering Mechanics
  Calculus of variations. Variational formulation of the finite element method. Weighted residual techniques. Computer implementation of the finite element method. Application to problems in heat transfer, stress analysis, fluid flow, and structural analysis.

• GWU:  Academic Calendar  Schedule of Classes  GWeb  Code of Academic Integrity  Course Evaluations  MAE  CEE 
• Acoustics and vibration animations (D. Russell, Pennsylvania State U.)
• Mechanics demonstrations (torsion) (S. Govindjee, U. California, Berkeley)
• Interesting mechanical engineering videos (mechanicalebook.com)
• Math demonstration programs (J. Feldman, U. British Columbia)
• Wolfram Mathworld, Wolfram Alpha Computational Knowledge Engine (Wolfram Research)
• Linear algebra links from The Math Forum (Drexel U.)
• Linear algebra demonstrations (MIT)
• MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (J. O'Connor and E. Robertson, U. St. Andrews, Scotland)
• History of Mathematics (D. Wilkins, Trinity College, Dublin)
• Gilbert Strang's 1999 MIT lecture videos on linear algebra (35 50-minute lectures)
• Gilbert Strang's 2008 MIT lecture videos on Computational Science and Engineering I (49 50-minute lectures)
• Gilbert Strang's 2006 MIT lecture videos on Computational Science and Engineering II (29 50-minute lectures)
• Some disasters attributable to bad numerical computing (D. Arnold, U. Minnesota)
• Brachistochrone demonstration (Alexey Ivanov, Russian Academy of Sciences)
• Compilers:  GNU Fortran G77 for Win32  Fortran 95 (G95)  GNU Fortran 95 (gfortran)  GNU C and C++  Microsoft Visual C++ Express 
• Matlab clones
• LaTeX software for typesetting mathematical documents: MiKTeX