Resume - Dr. Yoseph Bar-Cohen

 

Dr. Yoseph Bar-Cohen, JPL, is a Senior Research Scientist, the supervisor of the Electroactive Technologies Group (x355N), as well as in-charge of the Nondestructive Evaluation and Advance Actuators (NDEAA) Lab that he established in 1991. He received his Ph. D. in Physics (1979) and M.Sc. in Materials Science (1973) from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.  He is a physicist specializing in electroactive materials/mechanisms (including sample handling technologies), biomimetics and ultrasonic Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE).  He is listed as Subject Matter Expert (SME) in NDE as well as Piezoelectric Actuators and Sensors on the JPL’s Procurement Quality Assurance List. Under his leadership, many innovative concepts and mechanisms were initiated, analytically modeled, simulated, developed, and experimentally tested for planetary exploration, commercial, medical, and other applications.  He made two notable discoveries of ultrasonic wave phenomena in composite materials: the polar backscattering (1979) and the leaky Lamb waves (LLW) (1983).  From Nov. 2009 to Sept. 2011, he served as the Chair of the JPL’s Senior Research Scientists Council.  Dr. Bar-Cohen is a Fellow of two technical societies: The International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) and the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT). 

His scientific, engineering and technology accomplishments and leadership have earned him two NASA Honor Award Medals - NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal (2001), and NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement (2006); two JPL’s Magellan Award: (2016) for extraordinary work in advancing the field of electroactive materials and mechanisms, and (2020) for his vision and development of Break the Chain (BTC) for MSR; two SPIE’s Lifetime Achievement Awards – NDE (2001) and Smart Materials and Structures (2005), the ASNT’s 2002 Lester Honor Lecture Award, the 2006 ASNT Sustained Excellence award, the 2007 SPIE President’s Award as well as many other honors and awards. Dr. Bar-Cohen is listed on 34 Who’s Who Biographic Directories and his brief bio is listed on Wikipedia with links to his websites at JPL.  Also, the Nov. 2001 issue of Tech Briefs featured him as a Who’s Who in NASA.  His research and accomplishments with his teams received extensive media coverage including interviews with radio and TV stations, NASA Press Releases, JPL's Universe, as well as articles in daily newspapers, magazines, and technically related websites. 

He joined JPL on May 21, 1991.  His prior affiliations include Principal Specialist, McDonnell Douglas Corp., Long Beach, CA (1983-1991); Sr. Physicist, Systems Research Lab (SRL), Dayton, Ohio, at the Air Force Materials Lab. (AFML) (1980-1983); Post-doctorate, National Research Council (NRC) at AFML (1979-1980); and Sr. NDE Specialist, Israel Aircraft Industry (IAI) (1971-1979). 

Currently, he is responsible for developing electroactive mechanisms, ultrasonic drills and planetary samplers, ultrasonic NDE and health monitoring methods. His conceived sample containerization method using inductively heated brazing (for simultaneously performing separation, seaming, sealing, and sterilization of double-wall containers) has been one of the primary factors in NASA decision to proceed with the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission under JPL’s lead.  This containerization method addressed the critical requirement for extremely strict planetary protection of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission to prevent contamination of Earth.  His professional expansion into the field of electroactive technologies started from his initiated collaboration with MIT to apply his elastic plate wave related expertise to jointly develop piezoelectric motors under a NASA Telerobotic task.  He followed his success with numerous initiatives and tasks leadership funded by JPL, NASA, and reimbursable sources including AFOSR, AGA, Army, Boston Scientific, Consolidated Edison, DARPA, the Federal Highway Administration, PaR Systems, General Dynamics, NIH, Placidus and Teleflex.

He made significant contributions to NDE of composites and bonded solids as well as aging aircraft structures.  He initiated and led the development of real time monitoring of composites curing, broadband transducers, and a device for nondestructive determination of elastic properties of composites. Using the expertise that he established in electroactive technologies, he pursued innovation and R&D in biomimetics and robotics, including the Multifunctional Automated Crawling System (MACS), and an on-command exoskeleton.  The crawler MACS was designed to serve as a robotic platform for PC-board base instruments.  As a follow-on effort, he edited and co-authored an ASNT book about robotics for NDE (published by ASNT in 2000).  Since 1995, he has actively pioneered technology for applications in the field of medicine. He initiated and led developments of novel devices for noninvasive diagnostics and treatment using piezo-sensors and actuators resulting in many NTRs and registered patents. His co-innovation led to the development of the Ultrasonic Sonic Driller and Corer (USDC) that was later developed into a lithotripsy device that was licensed by his partner, Cybersonics, to Olympus.  Moreover, under a subcontract from Placidus a piezoelectric drilling mechanism was developed and patented as a tool for rapidly opening blocked arteries.

Dr. Bar-Cohen played a key role in establishing the field of Electroactive Polymers (EAP), edited the defining book, and he defined the sub-disciplines of ionic and field or electronic driven types EAP materials.  For many years, he has been leading instructor of annual SPIE course on EAP.  In an effort to promote rapid advances in the development of EAP, his initiatives and proactive efforts led to the SPIE’s EAPAD annual conference (which he has been chairing for 22 years (1999 - 2019), as well as publishing the semi-annual WW-EAP Newsletter (ended in 2019 after publishing 42 issues), and maintaining the WW-EAP Web hub.  In 1999, Dr. Bar-Cohen posed a challenge to the worldwide research and engineering community to develop a robotic arm that is actuated by EAP (also known as artificial muscles) to win an arm-wrestling match against a human opponent. He held the first wrestling match between EAP actuated arms and human on March 7, 2005 as part of the SPIE Annual International EAPAD Conference.  Three arms wrestled with a high school female student and she won against all of them.  This loss of the EAP actuated arms highlighted the complexity and significance of the challenge that he posed and it attracted enormous professional and public attention to the field.  The graphic representation, which he created to illustrate the arm-wrestling challenge, has become the icon of the field of EAP in technical presentations worldwide.  He held a second match in 2006 but this time it was made using a measuring fixture that was produced by students from UCLA.  The fixture allows to measure the speed and force and in comparing the EAP actuated robotic arms’ performance to the female student, their capability have been two orders of magnitude lower.

For his contributions to the field of EAP, Business Week named him, under the category Gurus of Technology, as one of “Five People Pushing Tech's Boundaries” and “The Brain behind Plastic Muscle”; Popular Science (mirrored by CNN) named him the “Artificial Muscle Man”; SPIE’s OE magazine described him as “redefining robotics” and Scientific American described him as the “unofficial coordinator” of the field of EAP.

His teaching and mentoring activity includes his serving as an Adjunct Full Professor at the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dept., UCLA (1989 – 1993).  At JPL, he served as a mentor of 82 students and 9 postdocs, where four of postdocs he hired as full-time JPL employees.  In addition, he taught many EAP courses during the annual SPIE Smart Structures symposia and other forums.  Dr. Bar-Cohen had established and has been maintaining a large international network of peers (over 2,600 worldwide) from the academia, NASA and industry to whom he has been disseminating his Edited Newsletters till 2019. These Newsletter issues consisted of scientists and engineers’ inputs from NASA, DoD, academia, and industry.  His first Newsletter series was about NDE NASA-wide (13 issues), then about Materials and Processes NASA-wide (2 issues), and his latest are about EAP and Biomimetics worldwide (between 1999 to 2019, he published 42 issues).

 

Publication record: He (co)edited/(co)authored 12 books, (co)authored over 460 publications of which 69 in refereed professional journal and 93 book chapters, served as Editor of 30 conference proceedings, and made hundreds of presentations at national and international conferences (including 48 Plenary, Keynote, and Invited papers).  Also, he is the Biomimetics Book Series Editor for CRC Press; as well as the Book Series Editor of Smart Materials, Structures and Systems for Artech House.  He is a member of the Editorial Board of 5 journals (of robotics and biomimetics).  He served as a Guest Editor for 4 special issues of professional journals (on topics related to EAP, Smart Materials, and Biomimetics). He (co)Chaired 56 national and international Conferences/Symposia, served as Symposia Track Coordinator of 6 Conferences, co-Chaired 55 Symposia Sessions and served on 113 International Symposia organization committees.  Moreover, he has made over 63 colloquia presentations at academic institutes and lectures at local societies’ monthly chapter meetings.  He gave two lectures (on Feb. 21 and 22, 2002 and Feb. 18 and 19, 2010) at the JPL’s Theodore von Kármán Lecture Series, which are held at von Karman, JPL, and Pasadena City College (PCC). In addition, as Newsletters Editor he published 57 issues of which 42 about electroactive polymers and the issues included inputs from individuals worldwide.

 

Member of Professional Journals Editorial Boards

·         Editorial Board of the Journal of Bionic Engineering (JBE) since December 2009.

·         Editorial board of the Advances in Materials Research Journal since May 2011.

·         Editorial Board (EB) of the Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part L: Journal of Materials: Design and Applications (JMDA) for the period 2020-2023. 

·         Editorial Board of the Biomimetics Journal Since October 2019 (@mdpi extended on Feb. 7, 2023) https://www.mdpi.com/journal/biomimetics/editors till 02/2024

 

According to the Google Scholar (checked on December 19, 2023), his publications have a high number of citations (18,690); a Hirsch's Index of 57; and i10-index of 228.

 

Innovation record: His innovation is documented in 43 registered patents, 3 Provisional Patent, 139 New Technology Reports (NTR), 73 Class 1 NASA Tech Brief Awards, 92 Tech Briefs publications, and 14 NASA Board (Space Act) Awards. 

 

Book Series Editor

1.      Biomimetics Book Series Editor for CRC Press/ Taylor & Francis Group https://www.crcpress.com/Biomimetics-Series/book-series/crcbioser  

a.          Y. Bar-Cohen (Book Editor and author of 5 chapters out of 20), Biomimetics: Nature-Based Innovation, ISBN: 9781439834763, ISBN 10: 1439834768, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida (Sept. 2011), pp. 1-788.

b.         I. Mazzoleni, “Architecture Follows Nature-Biomimetic Principles for Innovative Design”, ISBN 9781466506077 (March 21, 2013), 264 Pages.

c.          I. A. Anderson, J. Vincent, J. Montgomery, “Ocean Innovation: Biomimetics Beneath the Waves”, ISBN 9781439837627 (June 1, 2016), 202 pages

 

2.   Smart Materials, Structures and Systems Book Series Editor for Artech House:

2.1  N. White and S. Beeby, “Energy Harvesting for Autonomous Systems”, ISBN-10: 1596937181; ISBN-13: 978-1596937185; Artech House, (June 30, 2010), 292 pages

 

Education

Ph. D. (1979), Physics; (1975-1979), The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

M. Sc. (1973), Materials Science; (1971-1973), The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

B. Sc. (1971), Physics; (1967-1971), The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

 

Affiliation History

1991‑Present   Senior Research Scientist & Group Supervisor*, Electroactive Technologies, 355N, NDEAA Lab, JPL, Pasadena, CA.

1983‑1991       Principal Specialist, McDonnell Douglas Corp., Long Beach, CA. 

1980‑1983       Sr. Physicist, Systems Research Lab, at the Air Force Materials Lab., Dayton, Ohio.

1979-1980       Post-doctorate, National Research Council (NRC) award, at the Air Force Materials Lab.

1971‑1979       Sr. NDE Specialist, Israel Aircraft Industry (IAI), Lod, Israel.

 

 

JPL Promotions history

·      Group Supervisor, Electroactive Technologies, 355N – July 14, 2014 - Present

·      Group Supervisor, Advanced Technologies, 355N – April 4, 2005 - July 13, 2014

·      Acting Group Supervisor, Advanced Technologies, 355N – January 12, 2005– April 4, 2005

·      Section Staff – April 2003 to Dec. 2004

·      JPL Senior Research Scientist – Since June 18, 2001

 

*   On July 14, 2014 – the Section 355 was reorganized and 355N was name Electroactive Technologies instead of Advanced Technologies.

 

JPL Team Studies

·         Design Session for the A Team - MSR Dust Capture Oct. 2018 - A Team Payload & Small Spacecraft Mechanical Engineering.

·         Blue Sky A-Team study “Meta-drones for planetary exploration” - attended half days on June 23 and 25.

 

Teaching

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dept., UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.

1989-1990    Adjunct lecturer

1990-1993    Adjunct full professor

 

Honors and Awards

·      SPIE’s Smart Structures and Materials Founding Chair Award, 23 March 2021

·      JPL’s Magellan Award - For vision and development of new brazing technology that has a central capability to enabling a proper break the chain process for Mars Sample Return, 22 July 2020

·      JPL’s Magellan Award - for extraordinary work in advancing the field of electroactive materials and mechanisms. May 16, 2016

·      Fellow of The International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), 2 July 2002

·      Fellow of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT), 16 October 1996

·      NASA Honor Award Medal for Exceptional Technology Achievement, June 7, 2006

·      NASA Honor Award Medal for Exceptional Engineering Achievement, Aug. 2001

·      SPIE's Smart Materials and Structures Lifetime Achievement Award - March 7, 2005

·      SPIE’s NDE Lifetime Achievement Award, March 6, 2001

·      SPIE President’s Award, Aug. 29, 2007

·      ASNT’s Award for Sustained Excellence, March 15, 2006

·      ASNT’s Lester Honor Lecture Award for Major contributions to the field of NDT, Nov. 2002

·      JPL Senior Research Scientist, June 18, 2001

·      73 NASA Class 1 Technical Brief Awards, between 1992-present

·      14 NASA Board (Space Act) Awards (5 awards in 2002, 2 in 2003, 2 in 2006, 1 in 2008, 1 in 2010, 2 in 2012, 1 in 2013)

·      JPL’s Level-A Bonus Award for achievements in the field of EAP, Nov. 1999

·      JPL’s Nova Award for Technical Innovation and Leadership, March 1998

·      JPL’s Nova Award for Outstanding Achievement in Technology and R&D, May 1996

·      National Research Council (NRC) Fellowship Award, June 1979

 

Team Awards

·      JPL Team Award for the successful development of monitoring instrument for water condensation height in steam pipes thru the hot steel pipe wall at manholes of conEdison in NY, Sept. 2, 2022

·      JPL Team Award for the development of a wireline drill with compact drive electronics that met difficult challenges & drilled 7.52 m exceeding the objectives of the task, July 11, 2019

·      2018 NASA Honor Group Achievement Award: Sample Return Break the Chain of Contact, August 28, 2018.

·      2017 NASA Honor Group Achievement Award: Pioneering a Streamlined Approach to Delivering Mechanical Systems, Sept. 2017.

·      JPL’s Voyager Team Award for the development of the brazing method for breaking the chain of contact with Mars, Sept. 8, 2017.

·      JPL Team Award for the novel piezoelectric actuated drill that rapidly penetrates calcified plaques (occlusion) in human arteries, Sept. 23, 2016

·      JPL’s Team Bonus Award for leading the highly successful AGA’s Quiet Concrete Drill task, July 2005

·      Co-received the Industrial Robot Highly Commended Award for the paper entitled "Lemur IIb: A Robotic System for Steep Terrain Access," that was presented at the 8th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots (CLAWAR 2005), held in London, UK on Sept. 12 - 15, 2005.

·      Self-initiated and co-developed USDC (Ultrasonic Drill) received the 2000 R&D Magazine Award as one of the 100 most innovative instruments.

 

Membership

American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT), since June 7, 1979

The International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) since March 9, 1998.

 

Committees and Subcommittees Membership

ASNT

·      Ultrasonics Committee (Served as the Chair from 1995 to 2001)

·      Research Council

 

Interesting job offers,

Have been asked to consider becoming Program Director of ARPA-E (October 22, 2019 e-mail from Sharon Tang,

Recruiting Contractor to ARPA-E via Booz Allen Hamilton). 

 

Who’s Who Biographic Directories

1.      American Men and Woman of Science, 1991

2.      Who’s Who in America, 1991, 2018 and 2019 (73rd Edition)

3.      Who’s Who in the West, 1992

4.      Who’s Who Worldwide Business Registry, 1994

5.      International Who’s Who of Professionals, 1996

6.      Dictionary of International Biography, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2015

7.      Lexington Who's Who, 1999

8.      International Man of the Year for 1999/2000

9.      Outstanding Scientists of the 20th Century, 2000 and 2004

10.  Who's Who in Polymers and Plastics, Technomics Publishing Company, 2000

11.  Leaders of Science, Technology and Engineering, 2000

12.  Outstanding People of the 21st Century, 2001, 2002, 2004

13.  International Biography Center’s 21st Century Award for Achievement, April 2001

14.  International Directory of Distinguished Leadership, 10th & 11th edition, Amer. Biographical Inst. (ABI), April 2001, May 2002, and June 2003.

15.  Who’s Who in the 21st Century, First Edition, April 2001

16.  Biography Today, New Delhi, India, page 509, Vol. II, 2001

17.  National Aviation and Space Exploration Wall of Honor in the new National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center – Sept. 7, 2001

18.  International Directory of Distinguished Leadership, 2002

19.  NASA Tech Briefs - Who’s Who in NASA, Nov. 2001, page 22

20.  Outstanding Scientists of the 21st Century, IBC, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008

21.  Asia – Men and Woman of Achievement – Reguerdon Sdn. Bhd., August 2002, October 2003,

22.  Asia/Pacific Who’s Who – 04-2004, 10-2004, 07-2005 (Vol. VI), 04-2007 (Vol. VII), 12-2008 (Vol. IX)

23.  Asian/American Who’s Who, Oct. 2004, April 2008 (Vol. V)

24.  Asian Admirable Achievers, Vol. I, page 43, 2007.

25.  Eminent Scientists of Today – 1st Edition, Oct. 2002

26.  Great Minds of the 21st Century, Nov. 2002, Nov. 2003, Dec. 2006

27.  Empowering Executives & Professional – United Who’s Who, Jan. 2005

28.  Distinguished and Admirable Achievers, July 2005

29.  Biography Today (Vol. III), Rifacimento International, 2005

30.  Who’s Who in American Education, 2006-2007

31.  Dictionary of International Biography, IBC, The Cambridge Blue Book, 32nd, 33rd and 34th (Sept 2007). 35th (2009), 36th (2011)

32.  Expert Elite Frontispiece of the International Directory of Experts and Expertise, July 2007

33.  500 Greats Geniuses of the 21st Century, American Biographical Institute, 2008, 2009

34.  Strathmore's Who's Who, 2009/2010 edition.

 

 

To return to:

Yosi's Biography Website

JPL's Electroactive Technologies Group, NDEAA Webhub