Dr. Gary Leisk

Dr. Gary Leisk is a full-time faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He is serving as a co-Director of the BEND program this summer. He teaches a variety of undergraduate-level courses during the academic year, which include courses that develop skill-sets relevant to the BEND program, such as instrumentation, programming with LabVIEW, basic fabrication, drawing, and machine design. His research interests are largely focused on destructive and non-destructive techniques for material property characterization and defect detection. Specific efforts range from ultrasonic property characterization of granadilla wood (wood used in high-end clarinets), monitoring of surface roughness generated during CNC machining, to a new collaboration with the Biomedical Engineering Department that involves designing and executing various mechanical tests of silk and tissue materials. In his off-campus life, Gary enjoys golfing and road-trips.