Professor Pierce's current research includes constitutive modeling and experimental testing of soft biological tissues and reliability prediction in MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS):

• The mechanics of cartilage in health and disease
  
• Characterization and modeling of arteries
  
• Structural reliability prediction of MEMS devices

University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
Biomechanics, BME3600 (undergraduate) – Fall, 2019
Biosolid Mechanics, ME5985/3230, BME6620/4600 (graduate/undergraduate) – Spring, 2019
Biomechanics, BME3600 (undergraduate) – Fall, 2018
Biosolid Mechanics, ME5895/3295, BME6620/4600 (graduate/undergraduate) – Spring, 2017
Biomechanics, BME3600W (undergraduate) – Fall, 2016
Biosolid Mechanics, ME5895/3295, BME6620/4600 (graduate/undergraduate) – Spring, 2016
Biomechanics, BME3600W (undergraduate) – Fall, 2015
Biosolid Mechanics, ME5895/3295, BME6620/4600 (graduate/undergraduate) – Spring, 2015
Biomechanics, BME3600W (undergraduate) – Fall, 2014
Biosolid Mechanics, ME5895/3295, BME6620/4600 (graduate/undergraduate) – Fall, 2013
Biomechanics, BME3600W (undergraduate) – Fall, 2013

Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
Computational Biomechanics, 450.011 (graduate) – Spring, 2013
Mechanics for Biomedical Engineers, 450.008 (undergraduate) – Fall, 2012
Computational Biomechanics, 450.011 (graduate) – Spring, 2012
Mechanics for Biomedical Engineers, 450.008 (undergraduate) – Fall, 2011
Computational Biomechanics, 450.005 (graduate) – Spring, 2011
Mechanics for Biomedical Engineers, 450.008 (undergraduate) – Fall, 2010
Computational Biomechanics, 450.005 (graduate) – Spring, 2010
Mechanics for Biomedical Engineers, 450.008 (undergraduate) – Fall, 2009
Computational Biomechanics, 450.005 (graduate) – Spring, 2009
Mechanics for Biomedical Engineers, 450.002/.012 (undergraduate) – Fall, 2008

1. Pierce, D.M., F.S. Maier, H. Weisbecker, C. Viertler, P. Verbrugghe, N. Famaey, I. Fourneau, P. Herijgers and G.A. Holzapfel, Human Thoracic and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysmal Tissues: Damage Experiments, Statistical Analysis and Constitutive Modeling, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 41: 92–107, 2015.
2. Weisbecker, H., D.M. Pierce and G.A. Holzapfel, A Generalized Prestressing Algorithm for Finite Element Simulation of Pre-Loaded Geometries with Application to the Aorta, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 30( 9):857–872, 2014.
3. Pierce, D.M., T. Ricken and G.A. Holzapfel, Modeling Sample/Patient-Specific Structural and Diffusional Responses of Cartilage Using DT-MRI, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 29(8):807-821, 2013.
4. Pierce, D.M., T. Ricken and G.A. Holzapfel, A Hyperelastic Biphasic Fiber-Reinforced Model of Articular Cartilage Considering Distributed Collagen Fiber Orientations: Continuum Basis, Computational Aspects and Applications, Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 16(12):1344-1361, 2013.
5. Pierce, D.M., B. Zeyen, B.M. Huigens and A.M. Fitzgerald, Predicting the Failure Probability of Device Features in MEMS, IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability, 11(3):433-441, 2011.

• Professor Pierce recognized as a United Technologies Corporation Professor in Engineering Innovation. This award recognizes the exceptional achievements of UConn's young faculty who exemplify excellence in the areas of research productivity and impact, teaching contributions, and service contributions and are at the very top of their area of research.
• Professors Feng (PI), Pierce (Co-PI), and Emadi (Co-PI) win R01 award from NIH. The collaborative project "The role of lumbar splanchnic innervations in visceral nociception and pain" aims to investigate lumbar splanchnic afferent neural encoding of colorectal distension and nociception at macro- and micro-mechanical, and molecular levels. The award from NIDDK is for $1,985,880.
• Professors Pierce (PI) and Neu (Co-PI) win award from NSF. The collaborative project "Biomechanical Simulations of Progressing Osteoarthritis to Advance Understanding and Therapies" aims to understand the influence of intra-tissue stress distributions on the progression of osteoarthritis (OA) in human cartilage by leveraging new mechanical and imaging experiments, novel simulations of evolving virtual human cartilage in vivo, and longitudinal Magnetic Resonance Images (MRIs) from the NIH-funded Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) database. The award from CMMI BMMB is for $399,950.
• Professors Feng (PI) and Pierce (Co-PI) win award from NSF. The collaborative project "Understanding the Multiscale Mechanics of Nerve Endings to Address Visceral Pain" aims to understand the biomechanics of colorectal tissue and the micromechanical environment surrounding sensory nerve endings in both naïve colorectums and those with regenerated nerve endings (TNBS-treated). The award from CMMI BMMB is for $432,481.
• Professor Pierce Wins Funding Award from NSRDEC. The collaborative project, “Developing Biofidelic Models as Surrogates for Human Subjects in Protective Clothing and Individual Equipment and Augmentation Testing,” aims to understand and predict performance of Soldiers under various loading conditions to optimize physical performance and reduce the risk of injury. Cooperative Agreement W911QY-17-2-0002 from the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) is for $115,000.
• Professor Pierce Wins NSF CAREER Award. His Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project "Understanding Collagen Microcracks in Soft Tissues Under Normal Body Loads" aims to pioneer a mechanistic understanding of microcrack propagation in the collagen network of cartilage by combining new micro-mechanical experiments with a novel multi-scale modeling framework for porous, fibrous materials. The award from CMMI BMMB is for $500,000.