The Applied Mechanics Division (AMD) is a division in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The AMD was founded in 1927, with Stephen Timoshenko being the first chair. The current AMD membership is over 5000, out of about 90,000 members of the ASME. AMD is the largest of the six divisions in the ASME Basic Engineering Technical Group.
The mission of the Applied Mechanics Division is to foster fundamental research in, and intelligent application of, applied mechanics.
The Division participates annually in a Summer Meeting by programming Symposia and committee meetings. The principal organisers of the Summer Meetings rotate among several organizations, with a period of four years, as described below.
These awards are conferred every year at the Applied Mechanics Division Banquet held during the annual ASME (IMECE) conference. Awards other than those mentioned above are also celebrated during this banquet, such as the Haythornthwaite Research Initiation Grant Award and the Eshelby Mechanics Award for Young Faculty.
The responsibility for guiding the Division, within the framework of the ASME, is vested in an Executive Committee of five members. The Executive Committee meets twice a year at the Summer Meeting and Winter Annual Meeting. Members correspond throughout the year by emails and conference calls. Three members shall constitute a quorum, and all action items must be approved by a majority of the Committee.
Each member serves a term of five years, beginning and ending at the conclusion of the Summer Meeting, spending one year in each of the following positions:
New members of the Executive Committee are sought from the entire membership of the Division. Due considerations are given to leadership, technical accomplishment, as well as diversity in geographic locations, sub-disciplines, and genders. At the Winter Annual Meeting each year, the Executive Committee nominates one new member, who is subsequently appointed by the ASME Council.
The executive committee has an additional non-rotating position, the Recording Secretary. The responsibility of the Recording Secretary is to attend and record minutes for the Executive Committee Meeting at the Summer and Winter Annual Meeting and the General Committee Meeting at the Winter Annual Meeting. The Recording Secretary serves a term of two years and is selected from the junior members (i.e. young investigators) of the AMD.