Dr. Clarence W. de Silva is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He earned his PhDs from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1978) and the University of Cambridge, England (1998), and an honorary DEng from the University of Waterloo (2008). He has published and edited numerous books, chapters, journal articles, and conference papers. His recent books include Mechanics of Materials (Taylor & Francis/CRC, 2014), Mechatronics?A Foundation Course (Taylor & Francis/CRC, 2010); Modeling and Control of Engineering Systems (Taylor & Francis/CRC, 2009); and Sensors and Actuators: Control System Instrumentation (Taylor & Francis/CRC, 2007).