Maria Comninou, Ph.D.

Ms. Comninou's areas of practice include patent prosecution, patentability, patent validity and clearance studies; infringement opinions; trademark and copyright practice. 

After receiving her Ph.D., she joined the faculty of the University of Michigan. There she introduced and taught two law-related courses for engineers in the College of Engineering: ME 508 Law for Engineers and ME 509 Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights. Ms. Comninou then went on to earn her J.D. degree while holding a 50% academic appointment in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

In 1988, Prof. Comninou first became interested in issues of technological impact and engineering ethics and introduced a course on Technology and Society, which she taught until 1994. She was also a regular commentator for Michigan Radio from 1989 - 1994. She has worked on many aspects of contact and crack problems and on elastic waves at interfaces, and she has published over 90 papers on these subjects. Her research has had significant impact in the micromechanics of composites and in modeling of earthquakes and faults.

Education

J.D., cum laude, University of Michigan, 1996
Ph.D. in Applied Mechanics, Northwestern University
B.S. in Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece

Honors & Distinctions

• Alfred Noble Prize, 1978
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Henry Hess Award, 1978
• Professor Emerita, University of Michigan, 2000 - present
• University of Michigan's Sarah Goddard Power Award, 1998

Professional Affiliations

• American Academy of Mechanics, fellow
• American Society of Civil Engineers, Journal of Engineering Mechanics Division, past editorial board member
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers, fellow
• Society of Engineering Science, past director and president 

Publications

Ms. Comninou has authored over 90 refereed publications in engineering journals and a number of legal articles.