Dr. Schwer received his Ph.D. in Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1976. He performed his dissertation entitled, ``A Model for Analytical Investigation of Three Dimensional Spine-Head Dynamics'' (a finite element structural dynamics model of the human upper torso) under Professor Ted Belytschko. He also has a Master of Science in Applied Mechanics (1972) and a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering (1969) also from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Dr. Schwer began his professional career as a Research Engineer in the Engineering Mechanics Group of the Poulter Laboratory at SRI International in 1976. Dr. Schwer provided all of the finite element analysis and development support to a group of about 15 engineers performing experimental mechanics research programs with the common theme of transient loading and response phenomena. In 1982, Dr. Schwer introduced the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory family of finite element codes DYNA/NIKE into Poulter Laboratory; he was one of the first `outside' users of DYNA/NIKE and the motivator for the conversion of the codes to the DEC VAX/VMS computers. During his eight years at SRI International, Dr. Schwer was involved in numerous projects and programs. The following is a representative sampling from these assignments.
Numerical simulation techniques to analyze structural and continuum problems: impact response of frame, plate, shell, and multi-component structures; transient thermal stress analysis in shells; buckling analysis of strips and shells including thermal buckling; plasticity models of soil and rock deformations; simulation of earthquake ground motion via explosively driven sources; simulation of HEST (high explosive simulation technique) induced ground shock; analysis of rigid, elastic, and elasto-plastic inclusions in a finite media; simulation of hydrofracture; fluid-structure interaction; modeling and analysis of reinforced concrete structures.
Dr. Schwer spent one year in the Vulnerability and Hardening group at Lockheed Missile & Space Company (LMSC). He was instrumental in that group's transition from spring-mass models to analyses with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory family of finite element codes DYNA/NIKE. During this period Dr. Schwer became involved in computational penetration mechanics and worked on three LMSC penetration projects as well as several related LMSC sponsored IR&D projects; this work was continued under a consulting agreement for several years after Dr. Schwer left LMSC. Dr. Schwer has co-authored two peer-reviewed papers on the topic of computational penetration mechanics, co-organized an ASME symposium, and has co-edited a book on impact and penetration.
In 1985 Dr. Schwer joined APTEK Inc. as a Staff Scientist in the San Jose, California office. Dr. Schwer's computational mechanics background complemented that office's existing excellent theoretical mechanics capabilities. Besides his work in computational penetration mechanics, which he continued at APTEK under LMSC sponsorship, Dr. Schwer has participated in the DNA sponsored LTH-3 Lethality Assessment. Dr. Schwer's final assignment at APTEK was to serve as Program Manager and Principal Investigator for the DNA sponsored 3D Calculations (Contract DNA 001-91-C-0140) effort of the Underground Technology Program. Dr. Schwer's research under this $750,000 four year program has continued after his separation from APTEK as an employee.
In 1993 Dr. Schwer started Schwer Engineering and Consulting Services (SE&CS) as a full time activity after APTEK decided to close their San Jose office. To provide continuity of service to our major Government client, the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), it was agreed that Dr. Schwer would continue as Principal Investigator on contract DNA001-91-C-0140. SE&CS provides engineering services to Government and commercial clients. These research activities focused on the development of constitutive models for geomechanical materials, especially rocks under dynamic loading. The results of these efforts led to the development of a new cap model which has been incorporated in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories public domain finite element codes DYNA2D and DYNA3D.
In 1994 Dr. Schwer joined U.S. Electricar as Director of OEM Vehicle Crashworthiness. In this position Dr. Schwer is responsible for the development of numerical models of conventional steel-based vehicle designs and new all composite-based vehicle designs for simulation of front and side dynamic impact and quasi-static roof crush tests for compliance with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Representative assignments: roof crush simulation of the Chevrolet S-10 pickup and Geo-Prizm sedan, frontal impact model development for the Ford Ranger pickup, modeling improvements in the Moving Deformable Barrier (MDB) used in side impact simulations, dynamic structural simulation model of 30 foot electric powered passenger bus, conversion of an INGRID based Side Impact Dummy (SID) model to TrueGrid based model, and numerous vehicle component analyses for stress, durability, and vibration response.
In the fall of 1996 Dr. Schwer returned to full time consulting and business development for his firm SE&CS. An alliance was formed between SE&CS and TransMotive Technologies, Inc. an independent high technology engineering services and product development company formed in 1995. Dr. Schwer provides TransMotive with full time consulting services primarily in the application of DYNA3D. Representative assignments: United States Postal Services Electrical Long Life Vehicle (ELLV) crashworthiness model development and analyses, development of a 3D woven textile composite damage model for analysis of bird strike on jet engine fan blades, and design and model development of an inlet valve for a pulse detonation wave engine.
Most recently, Dr. Schwer was a significant contributor to the successful effort leading to the "Advanced Numerical Prediction of Target Response" contract DSWA-97-C-0171 ($1.4 million over 3 years), which will develop mesh free methods for simulation of conventional weapons effects on structures.
Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 1994.
Dr. Schwer has been an invited lecturer at three recent bi-annual Post-SMiRT (Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology) Seminars on Impact:
Served as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Advisory Panelist for the Individual Investigator Award (IIA) in the Mechanics and Materials Program in the Division of Civil and Mechanical Systems (1997).
Dr. Schwer serves as a reviewer for the:
Dr. Schwer has been an invited, and active, member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Applied Mechanics Division, Committee on Computing in Applied Mechanics (CONCAM) since 1979. He is currently the committee Chairman (1997-1999) and has served at the Vice-Chairman (1995-1997). During this period he has organized three symposia:
Dr. Schwer authored ``A Guide for Symposia Organizers,'' for CONCAM, which has been recommended for distribution throughout the Applied Mechanics Division (AMD); a copy appears on the AMD web site. He organized (1990) and chaired (1990-1997) the `Honors Subcommittee' within CONCAM to promote recognition of the contributions of computational mechanics researchers to the field of Applied Mechanics; Dr. Schwer has organized the successful nomination petition for seven CONCAM members (Ted Belytschko, Wing Liu, Allan Pifko, David Benson, Nick Salamon, Robert Whirley, and Lorraine Olson), and two non-CONCAM member (Paul Senseny and Woody Ju), to the grade of Fellow of the ASME and the awarding of the 1995 Gustus L. Larson Award to Professor Wing Kam Liu.
In addition to his ASME activities, Dr. Schwer is a member of the following engineering professional organizations
Bammi, D., J. Engel, and L.E. Schwer, ``Introducing Freshmen to Industrial Engineering Through Modeling,'' Engineering Education, Vol. 66, No. 8, p.843, May 1976.
Belytschko, T., L.E. Schwer, and M.J. Klein, ``Large Displacement, Transient Analysis of Space Frames,'' International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 65-84, 1977.
Florence, A.L., and L.E. Schwer, ``Axisymmetric Compression of a Mohr-Coulomb Medium Around a Circular Hole,'' International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 367-379, October-December 1978.
Romander, C.M., L.E. Schwer, and D.J. Cagliostro, ``Response of Water-Filled Thin-Walled Pipes to Pressure Pulses: Experiments and Analysis,'' Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology, Vol. 102, No. 1, pp. 56-61, February 1980.
Lindberg, H.E., M.B. Rubin, and L.E. Schwer, ``Dynamic Buckling of Cylindrical Shells from Oscillating Waves Following Axial Impact,'' International Journal of Solids and Structures, Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 669-692, 1987.
Schwer, L.E., B.S. Holmes, and S.W. Kirkpatrick, ``Response and Failure of Metal Tanks from Impulsive Spot Loading: Experiments and Calculations,'' International Journal of Solids and Structures, Vol. 24, No. 8, pp. 817-833, 1988.
Schwer, L.E., R. Rosinsky, and J. Day, ``Axisymmetric Lagrangian Technique for Predicting Earth Penetration Including Penetrator Response,'' International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 235-262, May-June 1988.
Senseny, P.E., H.E. Lindberg, and L.E. Schwer, ``Elastic-Plastic Response of a Circular Hole to Repeated Loading,'' International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol. 13, No. 5, pp. 459-476, September-October 1989.
Schwer, L.E. and J. Day, ``Computational Techniques for Penetration of Concrete and Steel Targets by Oblique Impact of Deformable Projectiles,'' Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 125, pp. 215-238, 1991.
Schwer, L.E., ``Including Macintosh Graphics in LaTeX Documents,'' TUGboat Communications of the TeX Users Group, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 194-200, June 1990.
Schwer, L.E. and H.E. Lindberg, ``A Finite Element Slideline Approach for Calculating Tunnel Response in Jointed Rock,'' International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol. 16, pp. 529-540, 1992.
Murray, Y.D. and L.E. Schwer, ``Verification of a General Purpose Laminated Composite Shell Element Implementation: Comparisons with Analytical and Experimental Results,'' Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, Vol. 12, pp. 1-16, 1993.
Schwer, L.E., ``A Viscoplastic Augmentation of the Smooth Cap Model,'' Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 150, pp. 215-223, 1994.
Schwer, L.E. and Y.D. Murray, ``A Three-Invariant Smooth Cap Model with Mixed Hardening,'' International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Volume 18, pp. 657-688, 1994.
Schwer, L.E. and R.G. Whirley, ``Lessons Learned in Modeling a Moving Deformable Barrier (MDB) Impacting a Rigid Wall,'' International Journal of Crashworthiness, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.73-92, 1996.
Schwer, L.E. and R.G. Whirley, "Impact of a 3D Woven Textile Composite Panel: Damage and Failure Modeling," Mechanics of Composite Materials and Structures, Volume 6, Number 1, January - March 1999.
Schwer, L.E., C. Gerlach and T.B. Belytschko, “Element-Free Galerkin Calculations for Concrete Failure in a Dynamic Uniaxial Tension Test,'' ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics, Volume 126, Number 5, pages 443-454, May 2000.
``Robot Design Handbook,'' Editor-in-Chief, G.B. Andeen, McGraw-Hill Book Company, ISBN 0-07-06077-X, 1988; (authored Chapter 4: Structural Design Methods).
Schwer, L.E., W. Cheva, and J.O. Hallquist, ``A Simple Viscoelastic Model for Energy Absorbers Used in Vehicle-Barrier Impact,'' in Computational Aspects of Contact, Impact, and Penetration, Edited by R.F. Kulak and L.E. Schwer, Elmepress International, Lausanne, Switzerland, pp. 99-117, 1991.
``Nonlinear Numerical Analysis of Reinforced Concrete,'' American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Publication H00242, 1982.
``Computational Techniques for Contact, Impact, Penetration and Perforation of Solids,'' co-editor with N.J. Salamon and W.K. Liu, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Applied Mechanics Division, Vol. 103, Publication H00540, 1989.
``Computational Aspects of Contact, Impact and Penetration,'' co-editor with R.F. Kulak, Elmepress International, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1991.
``Enhancing Analysis Techniques for Composite Materials,'' co-editor with R.N. Reddy and A.K. Mal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Nondestructive Engineering Division, Volume 10, 1991.