Nicolae Lobontiu, Ph.D is associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage. His teaching background has run the gamut of mechanical engineering, including: system dynamics, controls, instrumentation and measurement, mechanics of materials, dynamics, vibrations, finite element analysis, boundary element analysis, and thermal system design. Professor Lobontiu's research interests for the last decade have focused on compliant mechanisms (mechanical devices which move by elastic deformation of their flexible joints) and micro/nano electromechanical systems. He has authored four books and 20 peer-reviewed journal papers on the aforementioned research topics.