Alison C. Dunn

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• Materials Tribology Laboratory

Education

• PhD Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida 2013
• MS Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida 2006
• BS Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida 2004

Academic Positions

• Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering (100%), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Aug 2021 - present
• Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering (100%), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Aug 2014 - 2021
• Collegiate Teaching Scholar and Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Aug 2013 - Jul 2014
• Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Aug 2009 - Aug 2013

Research Interests

• Frictional Morphological Adaptations in the Insect World
• In Situ Friction and Wear Instrumentation Design
• Wear of Materials
• Soft Matter Tribology (Friction and Lubrication)

Chapters in Books

• Dunn, A.C. and W.G. Sawyer, Tribology of an Epithelial Cell Monolayer, in Q.J. Wang and Y.-W. Chung (eds) Encyclopedia of Tribology. 2013, Springer, Boston, MA. p. 3846-3850.
• Dunn, A.C., W.G. Sawyer, M. Sarntinoranont, and R. Tran-Son-Tay, Mechanical Response of Living Cells to Contacting Shear Forces, in A. Gefen (ed) Cellular and Biomolecular Mechanics and Mechanobiology. Studies in Mechanobiology, Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials, vol 4, 2010, Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 125-141.

Selected Articles in Journals

• Rennie, A.C., P.L. Dickrell, and W.G. Sawyer, "Friction coefficient of soft contact lenses: measurements and modeling," Tribology Letters, 2005. 18(4): p. 499-504.
• Chen, X.M., A.C. Dunn, W.G. Sawyer, and M. Sarntinoranont, "A biphasic model for micro-indentation of a hydrogel-based contact lens," ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 2007. 129(2): p. 156-163.
• Dunn, A.C., T.D. Zaveri, B.G. Keselowsky, and W.G. Sawyer, "Macroscopic friction coefficient measurements on living endothelial cells," Tribology Letters, 2007. 27: p. 233-238.
• Cobb, J.A., A.C. Dunn, J. Kwon, M. Sarntinoranont, W.G. Sawyer, and R. Tran-Son-Tay, "A novel method for low load friction testing on living cells," Biotechnology Letters, 2008. 30: p. 801-806.
• Dunn, A.C., J.G. Steffens, D.L. Burris, S.A. Banks, and W.G. Sawyer, "Spatial geometric effects on the friction coefficients of UHMWPe," Wear, 2008. 264(7-8): p. 648-653.
• Dunn, A.C., J.A. Cobb, A.N. Kantzios, S.J. Lee, M. Sarntinoranont, R. Tran-Son-Tay, and W.G. Sawyer, "Friction coefficient measurement of hydrogel materials on living epithelial cells," Tribology Letters, 2008. 30: p. 13-19.
• Colbert, R.S., B.A. Krick, A.C. Dunn, J.R. Vail, N. Argibay, and W.G. Sawyer, "Uncertainty in Pin-on-Disk Wear Volume Measurements Using Surface Scanning Techniques," Tribology Letters, 2011. 42: p. 129-131.
• Angelini, T.E., A.C. Dunn, J.M. Uruena, D.J. Dickrell, D.L. Burris, and W.G. Sawyer, "Cell friction," Faraday Discussions, 2012. 156: p. 31-39.
• Dunn, A.C., J.A. Tichy, J.M. Uruena, and W.G. Sawyer, "Lubrication regimes in contact lens wear during a blink," Tribology International, 2013. 63: p. 45-50.
• Dunn, A.C., J.M. Uruena, Y. Huo, S.S. Perry, T.E. Angelini, and W.G. Sawyer, "Lubricity of Surface Hydrogel Layers," Tribology Letters, 2013. 49: p. 371-378.
• Dunn, A.C., J.M. Uruena, E. Puig, V.L. Perez, and W.G. Sawyer, "Friction Coefficient Measurement of an In Vivo Murine Cornea," Tribology Letters, 2013. 49: p. 145-149.
• Dunn, A.C., W.G. Sawyer, and T.E. Angelini, "Gemini Interfaces in Aqueous Lubrication with Hydrogels," Tribology Letters, 2014. 54: p. 59-66.
• Pitenis, A.A., J.M. Uruena, K.D. Schulze, R.M. Nixon, A.C. Dunn, B.A. Krick, W.G. Sawyer, and T.E. Angelini, "Polymer fluctuation lubrication in hydrogel gemini interfaces," Soft Matter, 2014. 10: p. 8955-8962.
• Rowe, K.G., K.L. Harris, K.D. Schulze, S.L. Marshall, A.A. Pitenis, J.M. Uruena, S.R. Niemi, A.I. Bennett, A.C. Dunn, T.E. Angelini, and W.G. Sawyer, "Lessons from the Lollipop: Biotribology, Tribocorrosion, and Irregular Surfaces," Tribology Letters, 2014. 56: p. 273-280.
• Zehnder, S.M., M.K. Wiatt, J.M. Urueña , A.C. Dunn, W.G. Sawyer, and T.E. Angelini, “Multicellular density fluctuations in epithelial monolayers,” Physical Review E, 2015. 92:032729.
• Kim, J. and A.C. Dunn, "Soft hydrated sliding interfaces as complex fluids," Soft Matter, 2016. 12: p. 6536-6546.
• Schulze, K.D., A.I. Bennett, S. Marshall, K.G. Rowe, and A.C. Dunn, “Real area of contact in a soft transparent interface by particle exclusion microscopy,” ASME Journal of Tribology, 2016. 138(4): 041404.
• Pitenis, A.A., J.M. Urueña, R.M. Nixon, T. Bhattacharjee, B.A. Krick, A.C. Dunn, T.E. Angelini, and W.G. Sawyer, “Lubricity from Polymer Entangled Networks on Hydrogels,” ASME Journal of Tribology, 2016. 138(4): 042102.
• Reale, E.R. and A.C. Dunn, "Poroelasticity-driven lubrication in hydrogel interfaces," Soft Matter, 2017. 13: p. 428-435.
• Fu, H., K. Nan, P. Froeter, W. Huang, Y. Liu, Y. Wang, J. Wang, Z. Yan, H. Luan, X. Guo, Y. Zhang, C. Jiang, L. Li, A.C. Dunn, X. Li, Y. Huang, Y. Zhang, and J.A. Rogers, "Mechanically-Guided Deterministic Assembly of 3D Mesostructures Assisted by Residual Stresses," small, 2017. 13(24):p. 1700151.
• Pitenis, A.A., J.M. Urueña, E.O. McGhee, S.M. Hart, E.R. Reale, J. Kim, K.D. Schulze, S.L. Marshall, A.I. Bennett, S.R. Niemi, T.E. Angelini, W.G. Sawyer, and A.C. Dunn, "Challenges and opportunities in soft tribology," Tribology-Materials, Surfaces & Interfaces, 2017. 11(4): p. 180-186.
• Kim, J. and A.C. Dunn, “Thixotropic Mechanics in Soft Hydrated Sliding Interfaces,” Tribology Letters, 2018. 66(102)
• Nan, K., S.D. Kang, K. Li, K.J. Yu, F. Zhu, J. Wang, A.C. Dunn, C. Zhou, Z. Xie, M.T. Agne, H. Wang, H. Luan, Y. Zhang, Y. Huang, G.J. Snyder, and J.A. Rogers, “Compliant and stretchable thermoelectric coils for energy harvesting in miniature flexible devices,” Science Advances, 2018. 4(11):P. eaau5849
• Bolmin, O., L. Wei, A.M. Hazel, A.C. Dunn, A. Wissa, and M. Alleyne, “Latching of the click beetle (Coleoptera: Elateridae) thoracic hinge enabled by the morphology and mechanics of conformal structures,” Journal of Experimental Biology, 2019. 222: p. 1-10
• Yang, S., D. Bahk, J. Kim, A. Kataruka, A.C. Dunn, and S.B. Hutchens, "Hydraulic Fracture Geometry in Ultrasoft Polymer Networks," International Journal of Fracture, 2019. 219: p. 89-99
• Bonyadi, S.Z, M. Atten, and A.C. Dunn, "Self-regenerating compliance and lubrication of polyacrylamide hydrogels," Soft Matter, 2019. 15: p. 8728-8740.
• Johnson, C.L., and A.C. Dunn, “Wear Mode Control of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) by Load and Composition,” Wear, 2019. 438-439: p. 203066
• Wei, L., K.E. Reiter, T. McElrath, M. Alleyne, and A.C. Dunn, "Diffraction gratings alter the surface friction of iridescent beetle cuticle against fibrous surfaces," Biotribology, 2019. 20:p. 100108
• Bonyadi, S.Z and A.C. Dunn, "Brittle or ductile? Abrasive wear of polyacrylamide hydrogels reveals load-dependent wear mechanisms," Tribology Letters, 2020. 68(16): p. 1-14

Articles in Conference Proceedings

• Bolmin, O., C. Duan, L. Urrutia, A.M. Abdulla, A.M. Hazel, M. Alleyne, A.C. Dunn, and A. Wissa, "Pop! Observing and Modeling the Legless Self-righting Jumping Mechanism of Click Beetles," Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems: 6th International Conference, Living Machines 2017, Stanford, CA, USA, July 26–28, 2017, Proceedings. Springer, Jul 14, 2017.

Other Honors

• University of Illinois College of Engineering Engineering Council Award for "Excellence in Advising," April 2020
• University of Illinois College of Engineering Engineering Council Award for "Excellence in Advising," April 2017 (April 2017)
• University of Florida College of Engineering Attributes of a Gator Engineer "Award for Professional Excellence," August 2013 (August 2013)

Recent Courses Taught

• ME 371 - Mechanical Design II
• ME 472 - Introduction to Tribology