Lorna J. Gibson

Associate Provost, MIT
Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Affiliated with Health Sciences and Technology

BASc University of Toronto, 1978
PhD University of Cambridge, 1981

Rooms 3-240 (Associate Provost's Office) and 8-135 (DMSE), 77 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA  02139
617-253-2503 (Associate Provost's Office phone) or 617-253-7107 (DMSE phone), 617-258-6275 (fax)
ljgibson(at)mit.edu

Many materials have a cellular structure. Natural cellular materials include wood, cork, and trabecular bone. Engineering materials, in the form of honeycombs and foams, can be made from polymers, metals, ceramics, and glasses. The cellular structure gives rise to a unique combination of properties which can be exploited in engineering design. Prof. Gibson's research is focused on relating the mechanical properties of cellular solids to the mechanisms by which they deform and fail. Current research on cellular materials is focused on three areas: the mechanical properties of foamed metals for use in structural applications; the mechanical behavior of trabecular bone, of clinical interest in understanding the consequences of osteoporosis and the mechanical interactions between cells and porous scaffolds used in tissue engineering.

Selected Publications

Cellular Solids: Structure and Properties, Second Edition, Cambridge University Press, Lorna J. Gibson and Michael F. Ashby (1997).

Metal Foams: A Design Guide. Butterworths Heinemann, MF Ashby AG Evans NA Fleck LJ Gibson JW Hutchinson HNG Wadley (2000)

“The Influence of Cracks, Notches and Holes on the Tensile Strength of Cellular Solids.” Acta Materialia, 49, 2975–2979.Andrews, E. W., Gibson, L.J. (2001)

“Sandwich beams with metallic foam cores,” Int. J. Solids and Structures, 38, 4901–20, McCormack T. M., Miller R., Kelser G., Gibson L. J. (2001).

"Mechanical behaviour of a three-dimensional truss material," Int. J. Solids Struct., 38, 7181–7196, Wallach, J.C. and Gibson, L.J. (2001).

“Microdamage accumulation in bovine trabecular bone in uniaxial compression,” J. Biomech. Eng., in press. Arthur Moore, T.L. and Gibson, L.J.

“Micromechanics of Fibroblast Contration of a Collagen-GAG Matrix,” Exp. Cell Research, 269, 140–153. Freyman, T.M., Yannas, I.V., Pek, Y-S., Yokoo, R. and Gibson, L.J. (2001)

Prof. Gibson wrote on LGBT Issues in the 2004 Winter/Spring MIT Faculty Newsletter (click here for a pdf of the article).