News Archive

2025

• November 24, 2025: Mehedi Hasan Mahfuz defends his MS thesis "Development of a Novel Method for Simultaneously Testing Multiple Specimens to Evaluate Tension-Tension Fatigue Life." Congratulations Mehedi!
  

• November 6, 2025: Dr. Berke joins the Executive Board of the International DIC Society (iDICs.org)
  

• October 6-10, 2025: The lab presents 5 talks and 3 posters at the ASTM International Conference on Additive Manufacturing in Las Vegas, NV.
  

• September 19, 2025: Our co-author paper, "Additive Manufacturing of Negative Thermal Expansion Metamaterials using Steels" is available at Advanced Materials Technologies, with Mehedi and Dr. Berke as co-authors
  

• August 28, 2025: Dr. Berke joins the advisory board of Strain.
  

• August 6, 2025: Brandon's paper, "In-Situ Crack Detection and Monitoring in a High-Frequency Resonance-Dwell Fatigue Test using Digital Image Correlation" is available at the International Journal of Fatigue.
  

• July 14, 2025: Dr. Berke joins the editorial board of the Journal of Strain Analysis in Engineering Design.
  

• May 28, 2025: Dr. Berke gives an invited talk at the University of Edinburgh.
  

• April 26, 2025: Brandon's paper, "Accelerated Fatigue Measurements using a Vibration Assembly which Loads Two Specimens Simultaneously" is available at the Journal of Applied Mechanics.
  

• April 25, 2025: Addi Thresher, Sadie Alldredge, and Sam Mulhall are accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. Congratulations!
  

• April 1, 2025: Dr. Berke is selected for USU's inaugural cohort of Honors Faculty Fellows.
  

• March 27, 2025: Dr. Berke gives another invited talk at the University of Sheffield.

2024

• December 20, 2024: Brayden Monson was 1 of 4 undergraduate researchers profiled in the Utah State Magazine to celebrate 50 years of Undergraduate Research at USU.  He was also featured in the cover photo. Great job Brayden!
  

• December 12, 2024: Luke Berrigan and Sarah Ellis are accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (formerly EURP). Congratulations!
  

• November 18-21, 2024: The lab presents 6 talks and 4 posters at the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Portland, OR.
  

• November 12, 2024: Dr. Berke gives an invited talk at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)
  

• October 22, 2024: Dr. Berke gives an invited talk at the University of Sheffield.

• September 3, 2024: Jeff Wagner is awarded a grant from USU's Graduate Research and Creative Opportunities (GRCO) program.  Congratulations Jeff!
  

• August 20, 2024: Dr. Berke is awarded $450,000 from the AFOSR STEM program.
  

• June 3-6, 2024: The lab presents 13 talks at the annual meeting of the Society for Experimental Mechanics in Vancouver, WA. Raushan and Senorita both serve as SEM Student Ambassadors.
  

• April 30, 2024: Jacob Rigby defends his MS thesis titled "Tradeoffs in Lighting for DIC Strain Measurements in Vibration-based Fatigue Testing." Congratulations Jacob!
  

• April 27, 2024: Brandon's paper "Sensor Synchronized DIC: A Robust Approach to Linear and Nonlinear Modal Analysis with Low Frame Rate Cameras" is available at the Journal of Sound and Vibration.
  

• April 12, 2024: Canon Breckenridge is accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (formerly EURP). Congratulations!
  

• April 11, 2024: Prasenjit Dewanjee wins best poster by a PhD student in MAE at the USU College of Engineering spring poster competition. Congratulations Prasenjit!
  

• April 9-10, 2024: The lab presents 3 talks and for posters at USU's annual Student Research Symposium.
  

• April 8, 2024: Jeff Wagner is awarded a fellowship from the US Department of Energy's University Nuclear Leadership Program (UNLP). Congratulations Jeff!
  

• March 27, 2024: Dr. Berke is recognized again as the University-wide Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year. He is the first recipient ever to win the award twice.
  

• March 8, 2024: Prasenjit's paper "Digital Image Correlation at Extreme Temperatures using Shortwave Ultraviolet (UV-C) Lights and Filters" is available at Experimental Mechanics.
  

• March 8, 2024: Happy International Women's Day! Dr. Berke is recognized as a Distinguished Male Ally of Women in Advanced Manufacturing by the Utah Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Initiative (UAMMI)
  

• March 6, 2024: Dr. Berke is awarded a prestigious fellowship from the US-UK Fulbright Commission and the US Department of State.
  

• Feb 29, 2024: Our co-author paper "LGBTQ + engineering students’ recommendations for sustaining and supporting diversity in STEM" is available at the Journal of LGBT Youth, with Dr. Berke as a co-author.
  

• Feb 26, 2024: Brandon Furman defends his dissertation entitled "Development of a High-Throughput Methodology for Vibration-based Fatigue Tests". Congratulations Dr. Furman!
  

• Feb 25, 2024: Our co-author paper "The Identity-Related Experiences of LGBTQ+ Students in Engineering Spaces" is available at the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, with Dr. Berke and Lindsey Rowley as co-authors.
  

• Feb 23, 2024: Dr. Berke is recognized as the Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year for the whole College of Engineering.
  

• Feb 21, 2024: Dr. Berke is recognized as the MAE Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year.
  

2023

• Dec 12, 2023: Dr. Berke is awarded a $240,169 equipment grant from the Air Force Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP).
  

• Dec 7, 2023: Brayden Monson and Jaden Mecham present posters at USU's Fall Student Research Symposium.
  

• Nov 11, 2023: Tate Adams, Matt Hope, and Victoria Kemeny are accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (formerly EURP). Congratulations!
  

• August 15, 2023: Prasenjit Dewanjee is awarded a grant from USU's Graduate Research and Creative Opportunities (GRCO) program.  Congratulations Prasenjit!
  

• August 9, 2023: Brayden Monson is awarded a grant from USU's Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCO) program.  Congratulations Brayden!
  

• June 5, 2023: Dr. Berke gives the prestigious Springer/Nature Young Investigator Plenary  Lecture at the annual meeting of the Society for Experimental Mechanics.
  

• May 30, 2023: Dr. Berke is awarded $150,000 from the AFOSR STEM program.
  

• April 25, 2023: Emily Johnson, Brayden Monson, and Jacob Heninger are accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (formerly EURP). Congratulations!
  

• April 13, 2023: Brayden Monson is awarded a 2023 Peak Summer Research Fellowship from the USU College of Science.  Congratulations Brayden!
  

• Feb 23, 2023: Maggie Lea is recognized as the MAE Undergraduate Researcher of the Year and Amy Stamps is recognized as the MAE Outstanding Junior of the Year. Congratulations Maggie and Amy!
  

2022

• Dec 12, 2022: Miles Butterfield, Jaden Mecham, and Amy Stamps are accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (formerly EURP). Congratulations!
  

• Sept 14, 2022: Lindsey's second paper: "Correcting for digital image correlation speckle pattern inversion at high temperatures using color cameras" is available at Applied Optics.
  

• Aug 17, 2022: Lindsey's paper, "High Speed Ultraviolet Digital Image Correlation (UV-DIC) for Dynamic Strains at Extreme Temperatures" is available at Review of Scientific Instruments.
  

• June 2, 2022: Steven's paper, "The Effect of Bit Depth on High-Temperature Digital Image Correlation Measurements" is available at the Journal of Sensors.
  

• April 27, 2022: Weston Craig defends his M.S. thesis titled "Novel Patterning Techniques to Improve Digital Image Correlation in Challenging Environments." Congratulations Weston!
  

• April 26, 2022: Heidi Daniel is accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP). Congratulations!
  

• April 8, 2022: Dr. Berke is awarded tenure with promotion to Associate Professor. Thank you very much to the students and supporters who helped this to happen.
  

• Feb 24, 2022: Hannah Maxwell is recognized as the MAE Undergraduate Researcher of the Year and Dr. Berke is recognized as the MAE Faculty Researcher of the Year. Congratulations Hannah!
  

• Feb 9, 2022: Ben's paper, "Non-Contact Strain Measurements to Eliminate Strain Gauges in Vibration-based High Cycle Fatigue Testing" is available at the Journal of Strain Analysis for Engineering Design.
  

• Feb 1, 2022: Maggie Lea is the first USU student to be awarded a Matthew Izsakowitz Fellowship for commercial spaceflight. Congratulations Maggie!
  

2021

• Dec 17, 2021: Lindsey Rowley defends her M.S. thesis titled "Improved Digital Image Correlation Techniques at High Speed and High Temperature." Congratulations Lindsey!
  

• Dec 12, 2021: Steven Koski and Rachel Norris are accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP). Congratulations!
  

• Dec 9, 2021: Ben Hill defends his M.S. thesis titled "Calibration Procedure for DIC Strain Measurements During Vibration-based Fatigue Testing." Congratulations Ben!
  

• Nov 19, 2021: Robert's paper, "Digital Image Correlation at Long Working Distances: The Influence of Diffraction Limits" is available at Measurement.
  

• Nov 18, 2021: Adam's Paper, "A Novel Variable Extensometer Method for Measuring Ductility Scaling Parameters from Single Specimens," is available at the Journal of Applied Mechanics.
  

• Sept 7, 2021: Weston's Paper, "Using Text as a Native Speckle Pattern in Digital Image Correlation," is available at Journal of Strain Analysis in Engineering Design.
  

• Sept 6, 2021: Fiona's Paper, "Stereo Digital Image Correlation with Improved Depth of Field using Tilt-Shift Photography," is available at Measurement Science & Technology.
  

• Sept 2, 2021: Thinh's Paper, "How Light Emitted at High Temperatures Affects Common Digital Image Algorithms," is available at Measurement Science & Technology.
  

• August 9, 2021: Steven Jarrett defends his M.S. Thesis titled "The Effect of Bit Depth on High Temperature Digital Image Correlation Measurements." Congratulations Steven!
  

• August 5, 2021: Robert Hansen defends his Ph.D. Dissertation titled "High-Magnification Digital Image Correlation Techniques for Aged Nuclear Fuel Cladding Testing." Congratulations Robert!
  

• June 22, 2021: Dr. Nadia Kouraytem (USU) is awarded $800,000 from the US Department of Energy, with Dr. Berke as a Co-PI.
  

• May 13, 2021: Robert's paper, "Super Resolution Digital Image Correlation (SR-DIC): an Alternative to Image Stitching at High Magnifications" is available at Experimental Mechanics.
  

• May 4, 2021: Thinh's paper, "Speckle Pattern Inversion in High Temperature DIC Measurement" is available at Experimental Techniques.
  

• April 23, 2021: Brooklyn, Maggie, and Alexandra are accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP). Congratulations!

• March 27, 2021: Brandon's paper, "Shape Optimization of Rectangular Plates for Vibration-based Fatigue Testing" is available at Journal of Applied Mechanics.
  

• Feb 24, 2020: Another good showing at the MAE Departmental Awards! Congratulations to:
  1. Fiona Van Leeuwen as Undergraduate Researcher of the Year
  2. Weston Craig as MS Researcher of the Year
  3. Robert Hansen as Outstanding Doctoral Scholar of the Year
  4. Dr. Berke as Graduate Research Mentor of the Year
  • Dr. Berke also won for this year at the College of Engineering level too.

2020

• Dec 17, 2020: Adam Smith defends his M.S. Thesis titled "Development of a Variable Extensometer Method for Measuring Ductility Scaling Parameters." Congratulations Adam!
  

• Nov 30, 2020: Micah, Tanner, and Hannah are accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP). Congratulations!
  

• Nov 16-19, 2020: The lab presents a combined nineteen (19) posters/talks at the ASME Virtual Conference.
  

• Sept 21, 2020: Prof. Berke is awarded a $160,000 Infrastructure Grant from the USDOE Nuclear Energy University Program
  

• 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 22, 2019: Our lab swept again at the 2020 MAE Department awards!  Congratulations to:
  1. Emma German as Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher of the Year;
  2. Ashley Buxton for the Brandon Paulsen Service Award;
  3. Adam Smith as Outstanding M.S. Researcher of the Year;
  4. Brandon Furman as Outstanding Graduate Teacher of the Year; and
  5. Thinh Thai as Outstanding Doctoral Scholar of the Year!
  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.
  

2019

• Dec 9, 2019: Shelby, Elizabeth, and Savannah are accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP). Congratulations!
  

• Nov 13, 2019: Adam wins Second Place and Robert wins Third in a student competition hosted by the ASME committee on Experimental Mechanics.  Congrats Adam and Robert!
  

• Nov 10-13, 14-17, 2019: The lab presents a combined 15 posters/talks at the annual ASME conference in Salt Lake City, followed by 3 posters at the annual meeting of oSTEM in Detroit, MI. And we thought SEM was busy!
  

• Oct 11, 2019: Dr. Berke is awarded a prestigious Young Investigator grant from AFOSR. He is deeply honored.
  

• Aug 30, 2019: Dr. Berke secures $400,000 from NRC for graduate fellowships to promote nuclear engineering research at USU.
  

• June 3-6, 2019: Robert, Thinh, Adam, Weston, Bobby, Brandon, and Emma G. give a combined 9 talks at the SEM Annual Conference in Reno, NV. Busy week for the lab!
  

• April 17, 2019: Robert's paper, "A high magnification UV lens for high temperature optical strain measurements" is available from Review of Scientific Instruments.
  

• April 15, 2019: Ashley Nielson is accepted into USU's Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP). Congratulations Ashley!
  

• April 10, 2019: Katharine Burn is recognized as Undergraduate Researcher of the Year for the College of Engineering. Congratulations Katie!
  

• April 9, 2019: Dr. Berke is recognized as Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year for the entire university!  He is deeply honored.
  

• April 5, 2019: Profs. Berke and Liu partner with INL and UCSB to map irradiation-induced swelling against the unique micro-structures of nuclear fuel pellet specimens.
  

• Mar 4, 2019: Adam Smith is awarded a fellowship from the NEUP Integrated University Program. Congratulations Adam!
  

• Feb 22, 2019: Our lab swept at the 2019 MAE Department awards!  Congratulations to:
  1. Katie Burn as Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher of the Year;
  2. Thinh Thai as Outstanding M.S. Researcher of the Year; and
  3. Chris Stolinski as Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year!
  4. Prof. Berke was also recognized as the MAE Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year for the fourth consecutive year!

• Feb 19, 2019: Thinh's paper, "The Importance of Exposure Time on DIC Measurement Uncertainty at Extreme Temperatures," is available from Experimental Techniques.
  

2018

• Dec 10, 2018: Matt Calvin, Weston Craig, Ben Hill, and Fiona Van Leeuwen are all accepted for the Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP). Congratulations!
  

• Dec 6, 2018: Chris Stolinski defends his MS thesis on "Inter-laminar Dynamic Fracture of 3D-Printed Plastics."  Congratulations Chris!
  

• Nov 14, 2018: Dr. Berke and Dr. Galliher were interviewed on NPR about our recent NSF grant!
  

• Nov 13, 2018: Prof. Berke is elected Chair of ASME's committee on Experimental Mechanics.
  

• Aug 29, 2018: Dr. Berke is awarded $19,845 from the Air Force Research Lab to study Damage Accumulation in a Novel High-Throughput Method to Measure High Cycle Fatigue.
  

• Aug 28, 2018: Dr. Berke is awarded $336,343 from the National Science Foundation to Investigate the Career Development and Professional Trajectories of Disadvantaged Students in Engineering.
  

• June 18, 2018: Dr. Owen Kingstedt at the University of Utah is awarded $776,669 from the US Department of Energy, with Dr. Berke as a Co-PI.
  

• June 5, 2018: Dr. Berke is elected Secretary of the Fracture and Fatigue Technical Division at the Society for Experimental Mechanics.
  

• April 30, 2018: Katharine Burn and Samantha Burton are selected for the 2018-19 Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP). Congratulations Katie and Sam!
  

Samantha Burton not pictured

• April 27, 2018: Ethan Nickerson defends his MS thesis, "Ultraviolet Difraction-Assisted Image Correlation (UV-DAIC) for Single-Camera 3D Strain Measurement at Extreme Temperatures." Congratulations Ethan!

• April 27, 2018: Robert Hansen defends his MS thesis, "A High Magnification UV Lens for High Temperature Optical Strain Measurements." Congratulations Robert!
  

• April 26, 2018: Thinh Thai defends his MS thesis, "Importance of Exposure Time on DIC at Extreme Temperatures." Congratulations Thinh!
  

• April 12, 2018: Ethan's paper, "Ultraviolet Diffraction-Assisted Image Correlation (UV-DAIC) for Single-Camera 3D Strain Measurement at Extreme Temperatures" is available from Experimental Mechanics.
  

• April 3, 2018: Recent alumnus Trevor Bird is awarded an NSF Graduate Fellowship for his PhD studies at Purdue University. Congratulations Trevor!
  

• Mar 2, 2017: Prof. Berke is awarded an AFRL Summer Faculty Fellowship for Summer 2018.
  

• Feb 23, 2018: Ethan Nickerson is recognized as the MAE Outstanding MS Student Researcher of the Year. Congratulations Ethan!
  

• Feb 23, 2018: Prof. Berke is recognized as the MAE Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year for the third consecutive year.
  

2017

• Dec 19, 2017: Dr. Berke gives a keynote talk at the 2nd International Symposium on Image-based Metrology (ISIMet).
  

• Dec 11, 2017: Emma German and Daniel Waldram are selected for the 2018-19 Engineering Undergraduate Research Program. Congratulations Emma and Daniel!

• Nov 20, 2017: Prof. Berke is awarded $123,734 from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to study fracture of C/C rocket nozzles during hot-fire testing.
  

• Nov 10, 2017: Dr. Berke gives a seminar at Lehigh University.

• May 18, 2017: Robert Hansen is awarded a fellowship from the NEUP Integrated University Program. Congratulations Robert!
  

• Apr 24, 2017: Trevor Bird wins First Place in the Undergraduate Engineering category for his presentation at USU's annual Student Research Symposium. Congratulations Trevor!
  

• Mar 11, 2017: Prof. Berke is awarded an AFRL Summer Faculty Fellowship for Summer 2017.
  

• Feb 24, 2017: Trevor Bird is recognized as the MAE Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher of the Year. Congratulations Trevor!
  

• Feb 24, 2017: Prof. Berke is recognized as the MAE Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year for the second consecutive year.
  

• Jan 9, 2017: Experimental Solid Mechanics is now permanently listed as MAE 5040 and will be offered every Fall.
  

2016

• Dec 7, 2016: Jackson Matsen and Robert Rowley are selected for the 2017-2018 Engineering Undergraduate Research Program. Congratulations Jackson and Bobby!
  

• Nov 15, 2016: Prof. Berke is elected Vice Chair of ASME's committee on Experimental Mechanics.
  

• Nov 13, 2016: Trevor presents his poster at the ASME-IMECE Undergraduate Research and Design Expo.
  

• Aug 12, 2016: Ethan wins 2nd place in the World's Nuclear Energy Future poster competition at INL's 2016 Intern Expo. Congratulations Ethan!
  

• June 14, 2016: Prof. Heng Ban is awarded a $5 Million grant from USDOE, with Profs. Berke and Liu as co-PI's. Congratulations Heng!
  

• Feb 19, 2016: Prof. Berke is recognized as the MAE Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year.
  

• Feb 19, 2016: Prof. Berke gives a seminar at Oak Ridge National Lab at Oak Ridge, TN.
  

2015

• Dec 2, 2015: Trevor Bird and Vox Voie are selected for the 2016-2017 Engineering Undergraduate Research Program.  Congratulations Vox and Trevor!
  

• Nov 12, 2015: Prof. Berke gives a seminar at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD.
• Nov 5, 2015: Prof. Berke gives a seminar at the Army Research Lab in Aberdeen, MD.
  

• Sept 22, 2015: Profs. Ryan Berke and Nick Roberts are awarded a $329,779 Faculty Development Grant from the USNRC under the supervision of Prof. Heng Ban.
  

• Aug 26, 2015: Prof. Berke is awarded a $226,824 Infrastructure Grant from the USDOE Nuclear Energy University Program.
  

• August 2015: Prof. Berke gives two seminars at Idaho National Lab
• Apr 1, 2015: Prof. Berke gives a seminar at the University of Utah
  
• Feb 9, 2015: Prof. Berke awarded RGS PhD Assistantship for Fall 2015
• Jan 1, 2015: Prof. Ryan Berke joins MAE faculty at USU