Our research focus is in the mechanical characterization of solids and structures in challenging environments, and at high temperatures in particular. We are especially interested in the role that environment plays on a material's ability to withstand heterogeneous failure mechanisms such as fracture, fatigue, and creep.

Our lab uses advanced imaging techniques to extract full-field, in situ strain and temperature measurements across multiple length scales. These techniques are applied to a wide variety of advanced high temperature materials (including metals, ceramics, and composites), with applications geared towards the energy, aerospace, and nuclear industries.

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News

Sept 14-17, 2020: Robert, Brandon, Bobby, Weston, Emma, and Fiona present a combined 7 talks at the SEM Virtual Conference.

July 9, 2020: Our paper, "Damage Accumulation in a Novel High-Throughput Technique to Characterize High Cycle Fatigue," is available from Journal of Testing & Evaluation.

Mar 25, 2020: Thinh defends his dissertation titled "Improvement of Ultraviolet Digital Image Correlation (UV-DIC) at Extreme Temperatures." Congratulations Dr. Thai!

Mar 4, 2020: Thinh's paper, "Change of exposure time mid-test in high temperature DIC measurement," is available from Measurement Science & Technology.

Feb 26, 2020: Weston Craig receives a graduate fellowship from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Congratulations Weston!

Feb 19, 2020: Our lab swept again at the MAE department awards:

1. Emma German as Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher of the Year;
2. Ashley Buxton for the Brandon Paulsen Service Award;
3. Brandon Furman as Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher of the Year;
4. Adam Smith as Outstanding MS Researcher of the Year;
5. Thinh Thai as Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Scholar of the Year; and
   
6. Prof. Berke was also recognized as the MAE Graduate Research Mentor of the Year!

Feb 7, 2020: Ashley, Harley, and Fiona present at the Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research.

News Archive