Rate My Professor Shehla Arif

Dr. Shehla Arif serves as Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Mount Union. She holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University (2010), with a doctoral thesis titled 'Fracture Mechanisms in Quasi-2D Aqueous Foam.' She earned her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University (2004), focusing her master's thesis on 'Pulse-width Control of Revolute-jointed Flexible Robotic Manipulators Subject to Dry Friction,' and a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Pakistan. Her academic trajectory reflects a strong foundation in mechanical engineering principles, transitioning from control systems and robotics to advanced studies in fracture mechanics and multiphase flows.

Dr. Arif's research specializations encompass fluid dynamics, fracture mechanics, soft matter, thermo-fluids, foam dynamics, rheology, and multiphase systems. She explores topics such as brittle-to-ductile transitions in foams and crack propagation speeds. Key publications include 'Spontaneous Brittle-to-ductile Transition in Aqueous Foam' in the Journal of Rheology (2012), 'Speed of Crack Propagation in Dry Aqueous Foam' in Europhysics Letters (2010), 'Understanding the Spontaneous Brittle-to-Ductile Transition in Foam Fracture' (2010), and 'Foam: A Multiphase System with Many Facets' in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A (2008). More recent works address engineering education, such as 'Just Transitions in Engineering Education' (2024 chapter), 'A Tale of Two Engineering Classrooms: Overcoming the Invisible Disadvantage' (2023 conference paper), and 'Weaving Three Strands Towards Justice-Oriented Sustainability Education' (2018 conference paper). Her scholarship has accumulated 89 citations on ResearchGate. At Mount Union, she contributes to the Mechanical Engineering program in the School of Engineering, emphasizing student design projects with real-world community impact. Dr. Arif also engages in cross-disciplinary interests, including clean energy solutions and improved medical devices.