AUSTIN R.J. DOWNEY
WORK ADDRESS
137 Town Engineering, Iowa State University
Ames Iowa, 50011
HOME ADDRESS
1107 Lincoln Way
Ames Iowa, 50010
Contact information:
(319) 830-0848
austindowney@gmail.com
adowney2.public.iastate.edu
INTEREST
Real-time structural health monitoring and diagnostics of large structures, practically in remote and
extreme locations.
EDUCATION
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
PhD Student, Wind Science Engineering and Policy / Civil Engineering, Current
Minor in Engineering Mechanics
Concentration in Health Monitoring
NSF - IGERT Fellow
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, May 2014
cum laude
Concentration in Structures
Iowa Central Community College, Fort Dodge, Iowa
Associates, Industrial Mechanics, May 2007
EXPERIENCE
Research Assistant
Iowa State University
Summer 2013-Present
Ames, Iowa
Lead research assistant for sensor development group. Manage all testing and prototype manufacturing for research group. Develop and oversee an electronics lab for the design of specialty data
acquisition.
President
IESS LLC
Ames, Iowa
Fall 2015-Present
Startup based on elastic sensors.
Field Engineer
Kotzebue Electric Association
Summer 2014
Kotzebue, Alaska
Managed wind turbine maintenance in the Arctic for Kotzebue Electric Association.
Proprietor
Texas Imports
Spring 2009-Spring 2014
Ames, Iowa
Automotive repair, services and sales. Mainly German imports, Audi, VW, BMW.
Intern
Project estimator and scheduling.
Mass Electric Company
San Bernardino, California
Summer-Fall 2011
PATENTS
Downey, A. Laflamme, S. Taylor, D. 2015. Apparatus, Method, and System for High Capacity Band
Brake Type Variable Friction Damping of Movement of Structures. U.S. 14/936,357, filed November,
9th 2015. Patent Pending.
JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
Austin Downey, Liang Cao, Simon Laflamme, Douglas Taylor, James Ricles (2016), High capacity variable friction damper based on band brake technology, Engineering Structures, 113 doi:
10.1016/j.engstruct.2016.01.035
Hussam Saleem, Austin Downey, Matthias Kollosche, Filippo Ubertini (2015), Investigation of
dynamic properties of a novel capacitive-based sensing skin for nondestructive testing, Materials
Evaluation 73, No. 10, 1384-1319.
Liang Cao, Austin Downey, Simon Laflamme, Douglas Taylor, James Ricles (2015), Variable
friction device for structural control based on duo-servo vehicle brake: modeling and experimental
validation, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 348(21), 41-56. doi:10.1016/j.jsv.2015.03.011
Jingzhe Wu, Chunhui Song, Hussam Saleem, Austin Downey, Simon Laflamme (2015), Network
of flexible capacitive strain gauges for reconstruction of surface strain, Measurement Science and
Technology, 26, 055103. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/26/5/055103
Simon Laflamme, Filippo Ubertini, Hussam Saleem, Antonella D’Alessandro, Austin Downey,
Halil Ceylan, Luigi Materazzi (2014), Dynamic Characterization of a Soft Elastomeric Capacitor for Structural Health Monitoring, ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, published online.
doi:10.1117/12.2045324
COMPUTER SKILLS
Proficient - MATLAB, LATEX, SolidWorks, LabVIEW, and Microsoft Office.
Competent - C, G-code, CSS, HTML, XML, Abaqus, and INKSCAPE.
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Expert - troubleshooting (mechanical and electrical).
Proficient - manufacturing, machining, welding, and CNC operation.
Competent - micro-controller programming, PCB-layout, and electronics repair.
UNDERGRADUATE MENTEES
• ISU Honors Program (Fall 2015 - Present) - Heather Murphy, Connor Theisen, Nicholas
Anastasi
Developing novel damper for structural control.
• Undergraduate research (Fall 2015 - Present)- Jordan Schlak
Testing of elastic sensors on wind turbine blade.
• Undergraduate research (Spring 2016)- Quiqi Cai
Research on fatigue cracks in bolted connections.
• Undergraduate research (Spring 2016)- Anzhe Wang
Development of long term sensor test.
• NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) (Summer 2015) - Garrett Bird,
Paola Armada-Rodriguez
Developing novel sensors for use on wind turbines.
• Undergraduate Research (Spring 2015) - Danial Soto, Enrique Delgado
Looking at the effects of carbon black particle size on conductivity.