How can one estimate the unknown? Arizona State University researcher Marc Mignolet has spent his career taking on the hefty task of modeling uncertainty in engineered structures to promote safety and performance.

To recognize his body of work in this area, Mignolet received an International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability, or IASSAR, Distinguished Research Award.  Marc Mignolet, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, was recognized for his influential work in modeling uncertainty with the International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability Distinguished Research Award. Graphic by Rhonda Hitchcock-Mast/ASU Download Full Image

The award is conferred every four years to two senior researchers who promote the study, research and application of the scientific principles of probability, safety, risk and reliability in the design, construction, maintenance and operations of structures and other engineered systems.

Mignolet, a professor and graduate program chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, earned the award for his contributions to the modeling of uncertainty in structural dynamic systems and their effects. 

This work includes the development of efficient and accurate models for complex structures like bladed disks, such as those used in the turbine engines of aircrafts, and panels of hypersonic vehicles. These structures are often subject to uncertainties in geometry, material properties and other factors.

“The goal is to be able to identify and propagate possible uncertainties that exist in the field due to manufacturing or operation in a simple way and assess their effects, in particular to determine if changes in behavior occur,” Mignolet says.

Experiments in labs are usually conducted meticulously with all parameters precisely measured, but the outside world contains vast amounts of variance. 

For instance, manufacturers of aircraft need to predict the performance and durability of their designs. To do so, they must first have the geometric specifications, such as length and thickness, of all of the aircraft’s components.

However, manufacturing is never perfect, and there will be variance among the size of a structure’s parts. For example, one aircraft and another that was manufactured immediately after will have slightly different dimensions. 

The crux of Mignolet’s research lies in putting these variations into a probabilistic setting, performing a statistical modeling of a structure’s geometric properties and synthesizing them with modern computational abilities available at ASU. These models are not only valuable to assess performance when the design and manufacturing is completed, but they can also assess the tolerance of a design to uncertainties prior to its construction and establish permissible tolerances in the manufacturing process. A component will pass inspection only if it is within the acceptable tolerance limits.

“The benefit of all this modeling is to give a range of values of prediction that can be used to avoid early product failures and effectively produce a component, whatever it is, that’s going to meet expectations even with existing uncertainties,” Mignolet says.

Roger Ghanem, a professor of engineering at the University of Southern California, nominated Mignolet after working in the field of structural uncertainty for many years.

“Tackling these problems and producing engineering solutions of practical significance requires keen engineering insight and mastery of mathematical constructs,” Ghanem says. “Professor Mignolet has made seminal contributions at the confluence of stochastic mechanics (the study of uncertainty in mechanical engineering), nonlinear dynamics and operational feasibility.”

Ghanem understands firsthand the impact that Mignolet has had on the community.

“In addition to his impactful research contributions in the area of rotating machinery, Professor Mignolet has been a thought leader in framing and solving complex problems in stochastic mechanics,” he says. “He has made lasting contributions to the simulation of stochastic processes and to the characterization of parametric and model uncertainties for complex linear and nonlinear dynamical systems. He has organized dozens of workshops and minisymposia on these topics over the past 30 years.”

These key contributions to the study of uncertainty from Mignolet’s research group include explaining and accurately predicting the worst maximum response in bladed disks due to uncertainties. His group was the first to efficiently optimize these disks against uncertainties by combining two different types of blades. 

They were also the first group to effectively model uncertainties in structures undergoing large deformations and the first to effectively model uncertainties in rotordynamics, which characterizes the behavior of rotating mechanical parts. In another innovative development, Mignolet’s group recently published a novel model of uncertainties that has great potential to solve very large computational problems.

For Mignolet, this award is confirmation of a successful career.

“Receiving the award is a wonderful feeling,” he says. “It is the satisfaction that the hard work that my group and I have put in for the last 35 years has been appreciated by the community. It is like getting an 'A' at the end of a hard class, except that the class has not lasted for a semester, but for 35 years.”

In 2021, recognizing the need for a program that would prepare students to meet the complex challenges of an increasingly volatile and uncertain world, Arizona State University’s School of Politics and Global Studies launched an online master’s degree program in international affairs and leadership.

The program set out to empower students to be future leaders in diplomacy, national security and the global arena, providing them with the opportunity to learn from experts who have spent decades in the field as ambassadors, generals and senior U.S. and international officials. Students in ASU's international affairs and leadership master’s degree program during a week of activities in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy the School of Politics and Global Studies Download Full Image

This past December, the program celebrated its first graduating class, a cohort of six students who completed the degree in a little over one year while taking classes in the fall, spring and summer.

“I am incredibly proud of our first graduates,” said Ambassador Roderick Moore, professor of practice at ASU and director of the master’s degree program. “Through their hard work and commitment, they have established a high standard of academic achievement that we hope many future generations of IAL graduates will match. ... We expect to see them in rewarding careers in international affairs in the years ahead.”

“Our first graduates delivered a powerful set of recommended solutions in their capstone presentations, ranging from peacekeeping in Africa to reversing democratic backsliding around the world,” added Michael Polt, an ambassador-in-residence at ASU.

Recent graduate Joey Joson had seen several global events that helped shape his worldview, ranging from 9/11 to multiple wars, financial recessions and climate change. He was considering a career change that fit more with his interest in history, social issues and world events when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“I felt compelled to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to help shape future policies that would better serve Americans and the international community alike,” Joson said. “These events, among myriad others, inspired me over the years to be an agent of positive change and policy influence so that future generations would be more safe and secure.”

James Baker, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation based in western North Dakota along the Missouri river, also graduated last December. He chose the program because of the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., and learn from experienced diplomats about real-world problems.

“It was a very rewarding experience to be a part of this inaugural class,” Baker said. “As a proud Native American man who was raised on a reservation, to be in a place like this was very rewarding and eye-opening.”

Throughout their time in the program, Joson and Baker shared that they were able to expand their knowledge as well as receive professional mentorship from instructors — especially during their time in Washington, D.C.

“These movers and shakers were able to confer their lived experiences with us and it will be very useful in our careers,” Baker said. “Learning how to bring your people together for a common goal while also being personable is a valuable skill. This program has taught me this and much more.”

“Experiencing the mentorship and expertise of diplomatic professionals such as Ambassadors Polt, Moore and (Edward) O'Donnell, as well as (Lt.) Gen. Freakley, greatly enhanced my personal commitment to the foreign policy space, and also strengthened my abilities as a character-driven leader,” Joson said.

Courses in the international affairs and leadership master's program are taught by distinguished fellows from ASU's Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab.

“Our MA in International Affairs and Leadership program is unique,” said Magda Hinojosa, School of Politics and Global Studies director, who will soon serve as dean of Social Sciences for The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “Our faculty in this program bring exceptional, real-world experience in international affairs, providing our students with a learning experience unlike any other.”

Joson said the program aided his pursuit of a career in foreign policy by helping him to build a robust skill set in analytical research, critical writing and oral communications. He added that the program’s course in leadership, taught by Lt. Gen. Freakley, taught him the importance of ethics and values in navigating complex global arenas.

“Having such a wide and deep breadth of knowledge about these sectors has helped me better understand the dynamic relationships between each sector, ultimately allowing me to better chart my career path,” Joson said.

“I just want to thank the educators that put this program together,” Baker added. “The many life lessons that I will carry with me and the skills obtained will help me to succeed to be a character-driven leader.”

Jason Bruner, an associate professor of religious studies in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (SHPRS), has been appointed as the new director of the Desert Humanities Initiative at Arizona State University's Institute of Humanities Research (IHR). He will be replacing Ron Broglio, who has moved into the position of director of the IHR. In this new role, Bruner hopes to build on the interdisciplinary nature of Desert Humanities and develop a focus on the critical issue of water.

“We are thrilled to have Jason Bruner join the Institute as the director of the Desert Humanities Initiative,” said Broglio. “Jason brings a wealth of experience to the table with his transdisciplinary background in politics, culture and the arts, and we are excited to have him join the team!” Jason Bruner, associate professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies and director of the Institute for Humanities Research's Desert Humanities Initiative. Download Full Image

Bruner has contributed to collaborative research in the areas of comparative genocide and global health, and he recently began work on a documentary project on urban farmers in the Phoenix metro area. His scholarly books include “Living Salvation in the East African Revival in Uganda” (University of Rochester Press, 2018); “Imagining Persecution: Why American Christians Believe There is a Global War against Their Faith” (Rutgers University Press, 2021); “How to Study Global Christianity” (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022); and “Global Visions of Violence: Agency and Persecution in World Christianity,” co-edited with David C. Kirkpatrick (Rutgers University Press, 2022).

He has also co-authored photo and art books, including “Sonoran Water” (2021, with David Blakeman), “Body of the Earth” (2022, with Keeley Bruner) and “Dreaming along the Laurel” (2022, with Keeley Bruner). His photography and creative work have also been published in “River Teeth,” “Slag Glass City” and the “Oxford American.” 

Bruner has used historical and ethnographic methods to explore Christianity’s complex entanglements, focusing geographically on East Africa and the United States. While he has trained as a historian of modern Christianity, ASU’s ethos of collaborative, engaged and transdisciplinary research has allowed him to explore topics and issues beyond his graduate training in colonial East African religious history. As a result, his research now expands to include comparative genocide and genocide pedagogy, religion and global health, as well as medical humanities.

The Institute for Humanities Research generates and supports transformative, transdisciplinary, collaborative and socially engaged humanities scholarship that contributes to the analysis and resolution of the world’s many challenges. IHR scholars explore such issues and concepts as sustainability, human origins, immigration and natural disasters, and utilize historical, philosophical and creative perspectives to achieve a deeper understanding of their causes, effects and cultural meanings. The IHR encourages transdisciplinary research that contributes to our initiatives and promotes outreach.