Prof. Schmerr is Professor Emeritus of Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University, Ames, IA. He graduated with a B.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from M.I.T in 1965 and received a PhD in Mechanics from I.I.T , Chicago, Ill. in 1970. His field of research has been in ultrasonic Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE). He has written three books on ultrasonic NDE as well as books on a variety of topics in Solid Mechanics, including Statics, Dynamics, and Advanced Mechanics of Solids. He has used MATLAB extensively in his career, in both research and in teaching.