Dr. Nicolella’s areas of interest and experience include computational and experimental mechanics with emphasis on probabilistic structural analysis methods, finite element methods, and micromechanical testing and analysis applied to biomechanics and biomaterials.
Dr. Nicolella has been a principal investigator or project manager on several biomaterials and biomechanics related projects including a major NIH funded program to investigate the micromechanics of bone cell deformation. Other projects include hierarchical characterization of damage development in cortical bone, and mechanical and physical characterization of new dental composite materials.
Dr. Nicolella has been a key contributor to a recent program concerned with military pilot safety. In this program, advanced probabilistic methods were applied to the prediction of cervical spine injury. Probabilistic methods are also being used to assess the increased degree of risk female pilots have over their male counterparts.
As project manager of an internally funded research project, Dr. Nicolella developed a probabilistic methodology to investigate the performance and improve the design of orthopedic implants. This project involved creating a probabilistic finite element model of the femur-implant system as well as performing experimental verification of the computational model. The risk of failure was computed for a cemented prosthesis and used in an engineering design optimization study to determine a more robust prosthesis design.
Dr. Nicolella graduated cum laude from Drexel University in 1988 and was invited to participate in the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Department's Graduate Studies Incentive Program where his principal areas of study were biomechanics, kinematics and dynamics, robotics, and solid mechanics. Dr. Nicolella entered the Ph.D. program in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Case Western Reserve University in 1994 under the NIH Training Grant Fellowship program and completed his Ph.D. requirements while working full time at SwRI.
Professional Chronology
Drexel University, Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Department: research assistant, 1988-90; robotics lab instructor, 1989-90; Southwest Research Institute: engineer, 1990-2; research engineer, 1992-5; Case Western Reserve University, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Orthopedic Engineering Lab: research assistant, 1994-5; Southwest Research Institute: 1995-[Materials and Structures Division: senior research engineer, 1995-8; Mechanical and Materials Engineering Division: senior research engineer, 1998-2001; principal engineer, 2001-6; staff engineer, 2006-9; institute engineer, 2009-present].
Ni, Q., D.P. Nicolella, X. Wang, J.S. Nyman, and Y.X. Qin. The Characterization of Cortical Bone Water Distribution and Structure Changes on Age, Microdamage and Disuse by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.
Rath, A.R., J. Ling, J.X. Jiang, M.E. Van Dyke, L.F. Bonewald, and D.P. Nicolella. Fluid Flow Induces an Increase in Cell Strain and Intracellular Calcium Production in Osteocytes.
Presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 2009.
Rath, A.R., L.F. Bonewald, and D.P. Nicolella. Microstructural Variation in the Bone Matrix and Cell Attachments Modify Strain Amplification on the Osteocyte.
Presented at the 17th Annual Symposium on Computational Methods in Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 2009.
2008 Bredbenner, T.L., D.P. Nicolella, and D.T. Davy. Modeling Variability and Uncertainty in the Experimental Response of Vertebral Trabecular Bone.
Presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, San Francisco, California, March 2008.
Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®), headquartered
in San Antonio, Texas, is a multidisciplinary, independent, nonprofit, applied
engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with
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