When K.T. Ramesh, the Alonzo G. Decker Jr. Chair in Science and Engineering and director of the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute, talks about how materials behave under extreme impact, it’s hard not to imagine asteroids slamming into Earth. But for much of HEMI’s work—theoretical, computational, and basic—few images exist to show how materials change at the atomic level.
Now, through a partnership with the Maryland Institute College of Art, HEMI researchers hope to connect the dots—visually—about what happens when things collide at speeds faster than sound. The HEMI Extreme Arts Program, funded with a $15,000 seed grant, will support an intern as well as a future artist-in-residence. “We’re not sure where this will lead,” says Civil Engineering’s Lori Graham-Brady, associate director of HEMI. “It could be a piece of abstract art, an engaging informational graphic, a sculpture … But we will learn by looking at our research from a completely different perspective.”