Davor Copic, Ph.D.
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Lecturer
Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Dr. Copic joined the Coast Guard Academy in August 2020. He graduated from the University of Louisville with a B.S. (2007) and Masters in Mechanical Engineering (2008), which included research experience at Sandia National Laboratories working on design, testing, and packaging of MEMS chemical sensors. In 2013, he graduated with a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan where his research focused on exploiting properties of carbon nanotubes to design, simulate, and test structural composites, sensors and actuators. His work featured in JoVE, whose purpose is to publish video articles for advancing research and science education, has been watched worldwide over 13,000 times.
After his doctorate, he spent 6 years as a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge Institute of Manufacturing, where his work focused on developing structured materials and nanocomposites for water filtration, advanced battery electrodes, and thermal applications. His patented work on scalable production of metal foams resulted in the formation of a university spin-off company.
He has experience teaching design courses both at the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan, as well as teaching senior-level laboratory courses at the University of Louisville.
Formally an avid board game player and teacher, now resigned to mostly collecting.
Education
- Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
- M.E., Mechanical Engineering, University of Louisville
- B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Louisville
Courses Taught
- CEE 118 – Engineering Mechanics – Statics
- CEE 479 – Directed Studies: Engineering Education II
- ME 208 – Introduction to Mechanical Design Lab
- ME 437 – Engineering Experimentation Lab
- ME 440 – Machine Design Lab
- ME 446 – Mechanical Engineering Design – Capstone
- ME 479 – Directed Studies: Intro to SolidWorks
- ME 479 – Directed Studies: Engineering Education I
- ME 479 – Directed Studies: Engineering Education II
- ME 479 – Directed Studies: Metal 3D Printing
- ME 479 – Directed Studies: CubeSat Deployable Boom
- ME 480 – Design Project Management – Capstone
- NAME 102 – Intro to Experiential Engineering II – NAME
- NAME 211 – Dynamics
- NAME 318 – Engineering Materials Science (Lecture and Lab)
- NAME 340 – Fluid Mechanics
- NAME 355 – Marine Engineering
- NAME 356 – Ship Structures
- NAME 469 – Directed Studies: Design of Axial Flux Electric Motors
Selected Publications and Presentations
- S.K. Park, D. Copic, T.Z. Zhao, A. Rutkowska, B. Wen, K. Sanders, R. He, H.K. Kim, M. De Volder, “3D porous Cu-composites for stable Li-metal battery anodes”, ACS Nano 17 (15), 14658
- D. Copic, L. Maggini, M. De Volder, “Monodisperse CNT Microspheres for High Permeability and Efficiency Flow‐Through Filtration Applications”, Advanced Materials 30 (12), 1706503
- S. Ahmad, D. Copic, C. George, M. De Volder, “Hierarchical assemblies of carbon nanotubes for ultraflexible Li‐ion batteries”, Advanced Materials 28 (31), 6705-6710
- D. Copic, S.J Park, S. Tawfick, M. De Volder, A.J. Hart, “Fabrication, Densification, and Replica Molding of 3D Carbon Nanotube Microstructures”, Journal of Visualized Experiments 65, e3980
Honors and Awards
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship
- University of Michigan Robert M. Caddell Memorial Award for Outstanding Research in Materials and Manufacturing
Professional Memberships
- Engineer in Training – Commonwealth of Kentucky
