The appointment is effective for one year beginning July 1, 1994. As the recipient of the instructorship, Rencis is awarded a stipend which he can use at his discretion to further his professional development.
Rencis, an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, joined WPI in August of 1985. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Rencis of Byram, NJ, he graduated from Sussex County Vocational Technical High School in Sparta, NJ. Rencis received his B.S. in Architectural Engineering Technology from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, his M.S. in Structural Mechanics from Northwestern University, and his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Case Western Reserve University.
Rencis is very active in computational mechanics research. His work in the boundary element method has been extensively cited by the international community. He serves on the editorial board of Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements and has published numerous journal papers. He also co-organized many national and international meetings including the 15th International Boundary Element Methods Conference held at WPI in August of 1993. A member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers, Rencis also belongs to the American Society of Engineering Education and the American Academy of Mechanics. He is on the advisory board for engineering technology at Sussex Vo-Tech, and was a summer faculty fellow at NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio and at Hanscom Air Force Base in Boston.
This is the second consecutive year the Russell M. Searle Distinguished Instructorship has been awarded at WPI. The instructorship is given in honor of Russell M. Searle, Class of 1915, who served as an engineer for the U.S. Government, Ford Instruments, Corning Glass Co., the Sherman Corp. and Lehman Bros. Searle, who died in 1968, was described by his associates as "a torch of strength, a wise voice in counsel, a rock of virtue and a constant source of inspiration to all."