RHU is sharing its immense pride of mechanical engineering alumna, Ms. Iman Gharamti (BS 2013, MS 2015), who has defended her Ph.D. dissertation at Aalto University, Finland end of October. Her thesis, entitled Rate and Size Effects on the Deformation and Fracture of Warm and Floating Columnar Freshwater Ice, gained considerable significance. It received funding through the Finland Distinguished Professor Program and the ARAJÄÄ research project. Both are funded by Business Finland and the industrial partners: Aker Arctic Technology, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, Arctia Shipping, ABB Marine, Finnish Transport Agency, Suomen Hyötytuuli Oy, and Ponvia Oy.
Professors Jukka Tuhkuri (Aalto University, Finland) and John Dempsey (Clarkson University, US) supervised her thesis. She addressed the mechanics of warm ice, taking into account the effects of global warming on ice behavior and updating our conventional understanding, rules, and models.
Her research ensures safe activities in the Arctic, Antarctic, and ice-heavy regions: the building of offshore structures (like wind turbines, bridges, etc.), navigation (ships and icebreakers), and transportation (minerals, oil, etc.).