A pioneer in fracture mechanics

Professor Emeritus Albert Kobayashi reflects on his prolific career of research, teaching and industry collaboration.

Professor Emeritus Albert Kobayashi, who recently turned 100, has seen UW Mechanical Engineering (ME) through multiple decades of change. One of the first researchers in UW Engineering to gain global recognition, he’s also played a significant role in the department’s modernization and expansion into research.

“Albert’s outstanding research contributions helped ME gain a reputation for excellence in the U.S. and across the world,” says ME Chair and PACCAR Endowed Professor Alberto Aliseda. “His work in fracture mechanics set the foundation for rigorous theory and application to modern engineering designs, and his work with industry partners paved the way for the department’s close collaborations with industry for the last five decades.” 

While collaborating with industry and government partners, Kobayashi became a world-renowned expert in fracture mechanics, which involves studying how crack initiation and propagation determine a material’s structural integrity. Fracture mechanics is key to ensuring parts of airplanes, buildings, cars and medical devices are robust and safe for decades in service.

Kobayashi’s achievements led to his election to the National Academy of Engineering. He also received the Order of the Rising Sun award, given to individuals who have demonstrated distinguished service to Japan.

A global education

Kobayashi’s path to becoming a faculty member at the UW started with studying engineering in Japan. Born in Chicago, Kobayashi and his brother moved to Japan as kindergartners to live with their grandmother. He attended the American School in Japan (ASIJ) and a Japanese private school before enrolling in the University of Tokyo.

The horrors of World War II colored Kobayashi’s first year of college. Banned from returning to the U.S., he lived with his uncle at the time, but their home was fire-bombed, forcing them to relocate. During school, Kobayashi remembers going to shelters during the constant air raids, where they played games like mahjong. “I don’t think I learned much that year,” he says.

Kobayashi had dual citizenship and was almost drafted into the Japanese army. “The government deferred people studying science or engineering until they finished their education,” he says.

The war ended, and the rest of his undergraduate education went smoothly. After graduation, he worked briefly as a tool engineer at Konishiroku Photo Industry, a Japanese company that made cameras and photographic supplies.

Three years later, when Kobayashi returned to the U.S., he was accepted into the UW for graduate school. He had received a unique letter of recommendation from his kindergarten teacher from ASIJ — a unique full-circle moment.

“I was the first Japanese student they accepted since the war started,” he says.

He went on to receive a master’s degree in mathematics. At the UW, he wrote a paper about experimental mechanics that led him to pursue his Ph.D. in the subject at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He took a break from school, during which he got married and worked as a design engineer at Illinois Tool Works, applying his knowledge of differential geometry. He completed his Ph.D. and worked as a research engineer before returning to the UW, this time as a faculty member.

Making an impact with research and teaching

Kobayashi became a professor in ME in 1965, and received the Boeing-Pennell Professorship in 1989. His pioneering fracture mechanics research focused on crack propagation, also known as metal fatigue, as well as combining experimental and numerical stress analysis techniques.

“You need to be able to test the material to see if it’s strong enough, find out when it might break and have procedures to repair it,” Kobayashi says.

As a faculty member, Kobayashi did research funded by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the National Eye Institute and The Boeing Company on structural mechanics. Working with Boeing enabled him to gain valuable insights into aerospace industry needs.

“Through consulting, I learned about industry problems, which I brought back to campus so we could research solutions,” he says. “I’m grateful to the department and to Boeing for supporting my research.”

Many ME faculty members would eventually follow in Kobayashi’s footsteps, collaborating with industry to advance their research.

“Albert Kobayashi put the UW and ME research on the map internationally,” says Ramulu Mamidala, the current Boeing-Pennell Endowed Professor in ME and one of the UW Ph.D. students mentored by Kobayashi. “He dedicated his life to fracture mechanics, and was also a pioneer in the intersection of engineering and health.”

Kobayashi’s research projects led him abroad with his late wife, Elizabeth. He was a visiting professor at Université de Poitiers in France for a month, and he spent two sabbatical leaves in Japan to collaborate with researchers at the University of Tokyo.

Tasked with helping to modernize ME’s graduate programs, Kobayashi played a major role in developing and teaching courses like plasticity and dynamics. He also applied his expertise to topics such as solid mechanics and biomechanics, including research on the mechanics of the cornea. Throughout his academic career, he published more than 500 papers.

“Albert had the ability to collaborate across disciplines,” Mamidala says. “For one project about space shuttles, he worked with faculty in aerospace engineering, materials science and more.”

Mamidala remembers his mentor’s dedication. Kobayashi worked from early morning until evening, and made sure his students felt welcomed and comfortable.

“I am fortunate that Albert was my mentor,” Mamidala says. “He had the ability to encourage his students and educate them on how to do research. He learned words in international students’ native languages to teach them concepts. Working in his laboratory led me to my interest in the manufacturing industry.”

Another one of Kobayashi’s former mentees, Savio Woo, went on to become an international pioneer in sports biomechanics, receiving an award from the International Olympic Committee for applying his knowledge of mechanics to repairing broken tendons frequently experienced by elite athletes. He was honored with the College of Engineering Diamond Award in 2008.

When he wasn’t teaching, researching or working on one of the various national committees or advisory boards he served on, Kobayashi enjoyed going to UW football games with his family, including his three daughters.

In 1997, Kobayashi retired and became professor emeritus, though he continued to serve on Ph.D. committees and conduct research for funded projects until 2005. The Albert S. Kobayashi Endowed Fund in Mechanical Engineering provides support for ME graduate education and scholarship related to the areas of engineering mechanics, experimental mechanics and mechanics of materials.

Since officially retiring from the UW, Kobayashi has stayed connected to ME through attending events, tuning into seminars and staying in touch with former colleagues. In recent years, Kobayashi has witnessed the department’s research advancements in composites, nanomaterials, biomedical engineering and machine learning. Fracture mechanics is now a core part of engineering education and research.

“When I started out, fracture mechanics was new and on the rise. I was lucky to ride on the wave,” he says, adding that fracture mechanics remains important for industry: “You still have to do the work that makes airplanes fly.”