Dr. Altmann joined the Mechanical Engineering department in August 2020 as an Assistant Professor.  Prior to coming to VMI he received his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in May 2020 for his research involving vehicle terrain interactions, specifically identification and modeling of damaging events for vehicle durability analysis.  In addition to his research in the automotive field, he led a project with the Federal Highway Administration where he authored multiple standard practices for testing and validating equipment used to measure roadways across the U.S.  Dr. Altmann has always had a passion for cars, for this reason he is the advisor of the Baja SAE team at VMI.  This is a team of M.E. cadets that design and build an open-wheeled off-road car to complete against other engineering universities.  More details on the Baja SAE competition can be found here: https://www.bajasae.net/.

Professor

Mechanical Engineering

Resume

Selected Publications

COL Blandino received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering under the direction of Dr. Earl Thornton. His primary area of specialization is investigating thermal-mechanical behavior of spacecraft structures using both experimental and numerical modeling techniques.  COL Blandino has a broad engineering background that includes designing HVAC systems for Special Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIF), designing control algorithms for micro air vehicles, evaluating structural dynamics for weapon system integration, and developing novel measurement and modeling approaches for characterizing the behavior of flexible structures. COL Blandino has been a visiting researcher in residence within the Structural Dynamics Branch of the NASA Langley Research Center and the Air Force Research Lab at Wright Patterson AFB. NASA, the National Institute of Aerospace, the United States Air Force, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center-Dahlgren have funded his research. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force and a registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. COL Blandino currently holds the Benjamin H. Powell Jr., ’36 Institute Professorship in Engineering.

Professor
Mechanical Engineering

COL Joyce Blandino received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia.  She joined the Mechanical Engineering Department in 2010.  She established the Biomechanics Lab at VMI in 2015.  The lab has a Vicon camera system integrated with force platforms and electromyography equipment.

Adjunct Professor
Mechanical Engineering

Resume

Professor & Head
Mechanical Engineering

Ph.D. - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.S. - University of South Carolina
B.S. - University of South Carolina

709 Nichols
Virginia Military Institute
Lexington, VA  24450

P:  (540) 464-7533
F:  (540) 464-7663
E:  hardinj@vmi.edu 

Resume

Professor
Mechanical Engineering

Professor
Mechanical Engineering