Melih Eriten

Melih Eriten is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with affiliations in the College of Engineering and the Materials Science & Engineering program. He holds a PhD and MA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2012 and 2008) and a BS from Sabanci University (2005). His research focuses on multiscale mechanical characterization, contact mechanics, soft matter mechanics, and nonlinear dynamics, with particular emphasis on interfaces, adhesion, and vibration-based material analysis.

Education:

• PhD in Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2012)
• MA in Applied Mathematics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2008)
• BS in Mechanical Engineering, Sabanci University (2005)

Research Interests:

• Adhesion and slip mechanisms in soft materials
• Vibration-based characterization of multiphasic soft materials
• Evolution of interfacial slip and wear in presliding friction
• Biomechanics of cartilage and tissue interfaces
• Design of damping systems inspired by biological materials

Awards:

• 2023 ASME Burt L. Newkirk Award
• 2016 NSF CAREER Award
• 2013 Madison Teaching and Learning Excellence Fellowship
• 2012 ASME Marshall B. Peterson Award

Grants & Advising:

• Lead researcher on NSF-funded projects including “CAREER: Designing Novel Structural Surfaces”
• Collaborative MRI acquisitions for advanced material characterization
• Advises PhD/Master’s students in mechanical and biomedical engineering

His work integrates experimental, computational, and theoretical approaches to advance understanding of material behavior across scales, with applications in biomedical devices, soft robotics, and vibration control systems.