Natasha Vermaak, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics at Lehigh University, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to pursue research in engineering in France for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Vermaak is a leader in the field of inelastic design. She will go to Lille, France, for a three-month research trip in 2026, supported by the Fulbright Hauts-de-France award that is administered by the Franco-American Commission for Educational Exchange. She will be hosted by the LaMcube laboratory, which focuses on multiphysics and multiscale mechanics. While in France, Vermaak will conduct fundamental research to explore more resilient plastic design approaches for additively manufactured components.
Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious, competitive fellowships that provide opportunities for scholars to conduct research abroad. Recipient scholars also play a critical role in U.S. public diplomacy by engaging and establishing long-term relationships between people, institutions, and nations. The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 and has since been awarded to more than 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals from all backgrounds and fields. Annually, over 800 individuals teach or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.
For more information, visit the Fulbright Program website.
