Education
- Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 1990
- M.S., University of Houston, 1988
- B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1982
Background
Dr. Cunefare began at Tech in 1990 as an Assistant Professor and retired in 2021. After retiring he was granted the title of Professor Emeritus. Prior to his career at Georgia Tech he was an F.V. Hunt Postdoctural Fellow at The Technical University of Berlin.
Research
- Acoustics and Dynamics and Computer-Aided Engineering and Design; Active/passive control, industrial noise control, fluid-structure interaction, optimal acoustic design, fluid-hydraulic noise control, and test methods and instrumentation.
Dr. Cunefare's research is directed toward controlling and tailoring the sound produced by engineered structures and systems, such as from transformers, motors, and in aircraft and automobile interiors. He has investigated the means to better model the acoustic radiation from such structures, and how sound and vibration propagate through these structures. He has developed design optimization methods to permit tailoring of the acoustic characteristics of structures by integrating commercially available modeling codes. This optimization might be used, for example, to design and reduce interior noise levels within aircraft cabins by optimally distributing the mass and stiffness of the material in the fuselage. Dr. Cunefare has also investigated how active control might be used to tailor acoustic responses. In active control, secondary powered actuators are used to suppress or cancel the sound and/or vibration produced by some other source, such as from an engine exhaust. Dr. Cunefare is also exploring the design and application of novel micro-structured materials for the control of noise in fluid hydraulic systems.
- Granted title of Professor Emeritus in 2021
- ASME Fellow, 2014
- Acoustical Society of America Fellow, 2003
- Joseph H. Anderer Faculty Endowed Faculty Fellow in the Woodruff School, 2002-2007
- Society of Automotive Engineers
- GT Off-Road (Mini-Baja Team) Faculty Advisor, 1997-present
- Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, 1994
- gt motorsports Formula Team Faculty Advisor, 1992-present
- Sports Car Club of America Carroll Smith Mentor's Cup, 2002
- Metro-Atlanta National Engineers Week Engineer of the Year in Education, 1995
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Region XI) Faculty Advisor Award,1992
- F. V. Hunt Postdoctoral Fellow (Technical University of Berlin), 1990
Patents
Adaptable Vibration Absorber Employing a Magnetorheological Elastomer with Variable Gap Length and Methods and Systems Therefor, with Anne-Marie Albanese-Lerner, U.S. Patent 7,102,474, September 5, 2006.
Apparatus and Associated Method for Decontaminating Contaminated Matter with Ultrasonic Transient Cavitation, U. S. Patent 6,447,718, with Stephen Carter, September 10, 2002
Syntactic Foam with Residual Internal Pressurization, U.S. Patent 9,884,949, with Elliott Gruber and William John Koros, February 6, 2018
Systems and Methods for Harvesting Piezoelectric Energy from Hydraulic Pressure Fluctuations, U.S. Patent 10,211,761, with Alper Erturk, February 19, 2019
Representative Publications
John P. Arata, Michael J. Leamy, Jerome Meisel, Kenneth Cunefare, David Taylor. 2011. Backward-looking Simulation of the Toyota Prius and General Motors Two-Mode Power-Split HEV Powertrains. SAE World 2011 World Contress and Exhibition, SAE Paper 11 PFL-0790, April 12-14, Detroit, MI.
Filippo Casadei, Lorenzo Dozio, Massimo Ruzzene, and Kenneth A. Cunefare. 2010. Periodic Shunted Arrays for the Control of Noise Radiation in an Enclosure. Journal of Sound and Vibration,329(18), 3632-3646.
Spadoni, M. Ruzzene, and K. A. Cunefare. 2009. Vibration and Wave Propagation Control of Plates with Periodic Arrays of Shunted Piezoelectric Patches. Journal of Intelligent Materials Systems and Structures 20(5), 979-990.
Mark Holdhusen and Kenneth A. Cunefare, 2008. Experimental Vibration Control of a Single-Degree of Freedom System using a State-Switched Absorber. Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures 19(12), 1435-1442.
Francesco Franco, Kenneth A. Cunefare, and Massimo Ruzzene. 2007. Structural Acoustic Optimization of Sandwich Panels.ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics 129(3), 330-340.