Ray S. Fertig III, Ph.D., P.E. received BS (2001) and MS (2003) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University
of Wyoming and MS (2005) and PhD (2010) degrees in Materials Science and Engineering
from Cornell University. Fertig joined the Mechanical Engineering Department in 2011.
He is also a faculty participant in the interdisciplinary Materials Science and Engineering
Program.
Kyle Kuhn (PhD), Email: kkuhn3@uwyo.edu
Kyle is from Laramie, Wyoming. He has a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wyoming and joined the group in Summer 2016. He is actively involved in PRS shooting competitions as well as snowmobile racing. His research is focused on modeling and predicting performance of ballistic armor using realistic projectile geometries and properties.
Sarah Hankins (PhD), Email: shankins@uwyo.edu
Sarah is from Thornton, Colorado. She has a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wyoming and joined the group in Fall 2018 and earned her M.S. in Summer 2020. Throughout her undergraduate career and into her first year of graduate school, she played Division I golf for the University of Wyoming Women’s golf team. Her research is focused on coupling machine learning with biomimetic pattern generation to develop next-generation composite materials.
William Baumchen (PhD), Email: wbaumche@uwyo.edu
Will is from Canon City, Colorado. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wyoming and joined the group in Summer 2022. His research focuses on biomimicry and the optimization of new composite materials, including pattern generation via cellular automata structures.
Dr. Niranjan Patra (Postdoctoral), Email: npatra@uwyo.edu
Dr Niranjan Patra is originally from India. He received his PhD in material science
from Italian Institute of Technology, Genova and University of Genova, Italy investigating
oxide based nanostructures and its applications. He worked with Prof. W.E (Bill) Lee
research group at Imperial College London as postdoctoral fellow where he developed
preceramics polymer precursor infiltrate carbon fibers ultra-high temperature ceramics
composites. At UW he worked on additive manufacturing of high performance silicon
carbide microstructures using preceramic polymers. His research interests include
processing of materials (Ceramics, polymer, nanostructures), and their applications
in aerospace, energy storage, biomedical as sustainable cost effective future technologies.
Geeta Monpara (PhD), Email: gmonpara@uwyo.edu
Geeta is originally from India. She completed her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. She joined the group in Summer 2014 as a PhD student. Her research work is focused on developing methodologies to couple crystal plasticity, irradiation damage, and fracture/cohesive failure modeling in the MOOSE framework. The modeling tools that she is developing will be used to better predict performance of nuclear cladding materials.
Faisal Bhuiyan (PhD), Email: faisalhbhuiyan@gmail.com
Faisal is from Chittagong, Bangladesh. He has a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and joined the group in Fall 2014. His research involved the development of a physics-based methodology for reliability prediction in composite structures. In addition to static, fatigue and creep damage prediction in composites, Faisal also spent considerable effort studying the effects of microstructure variability on the performance of composites.
Hamid Sanei (PhD), Email: sanei@psu.edu
Hamid is from Mashhad, Iran. He earned his bachelor s and master s degrees at Azad
and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, respectively. He started his Ph.D. at University
of Wyoming in Spring 2012 and joined the group in Spring 2014. His research focused
on the reliability prediction of fiber reinforced polymers. He has worked to correlate
the variability in microstructures to scattering of mechanical properties at the macroscale.
To that end, he created a microstructural model with multiscale defects and isolated
the effect of individual defects to monitor their influence on composite structural
reliability. Modeling the real rather than the ideal, and random instead of deterministic
microstructures, enables simulation of random failures similar to those observed experimentally.
Hamid is currently an Assistant Professor at Penn State University-Behrend College.
Jennifer Hankins (MS), Email: jhankin5@uwyo.edu
Jennifer is from Thornton, Colorado. She has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Metropolitan State University of Denver and joined the group in June 2020. Throughout her undergraduate career, she played Division II golf and was co-captain for the Metropolitain State University of Denver Women’s golf team. Her research is focused on mechanically and thermally optimizing an inner structure for a ceramic turbine vane to accommodate higher turbine entry temperatures.
Shah Rahman (MS), Email: srahman2603@gmail.com
Shah is from Bangladesh. He has a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh
University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). He joined the group in spring 2018.
His research involved predicting fatigue life of nonlinear plate springs, focusing
on the effects of manufacturing and material parameters. Shah is currently product
engineer at Siemens Healthineers in New York.
David Leonhardt (MS), Email: dleonha1@uwyo.edu
David is from Thermopolis, Wyoming. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from
the University of Wyoming and joined the group in Summer 2015. His research focused
on improving the fatigue life of nonlinear plate springs. His work involved parameterized
finite element modeling of the plate geometry, coupled with material characterization.
Both the material properties and plate geometry have a significant impact on the actuation
force and fatigue life. The end result of this research was a software package enabling
more robust nonlinear spring design.
Siavash Sarrafan (MS), Email: ssarrafa@uwyo.edu
Siavash is from Mashhad, Iran. He joined the group in Spring 2013 and graduated in
Fall 2015. He has his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Ferdowsi University
of Mashhad. His research focused on dislocation dynamics in thin films, specifically
on developing a computationally efficient 2.5D methodology for studying methods to
tailor dislocation microstructures. This will lead to better understanding and control
of dislocations thin films, which promises significantly enhanced mechanical, optical,
and electrical properties.
Eric Jensen (MS), Email: eric.jensen@allegion.com
Eric is from Douglas, WY and has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University
of Wyoming. His research focused on the creep and fatigue behavior of fiber reinforced
polymers. He extended a physics-based fatigue model to also predict creep behavior
of composite laminates. In conjunction with this effort he developed an optical strain
measurement system to monitor strain distributions during testing, particularly for
long term creep tests. This will allow for future improvements to the creep/fatigue
model and permit robust model validation.
Kedar Malusare (MS), Email: kedar.malusare@stutzkiengineering.com
Kedar is from Mumbai, India. He has a B.E in Mechanical Engineering from the University
of Mumbai and joined the Fertig Group in Fall 2012 and graduated in the Spring of
2014. He investigated the relationship between strain energy and volume average constituent
stresses. His research focused on developing computer simulations to study the variation
of interaction energy for a variety of different fiber configurations, load states,
and constituent properties. This will be used to augment the existing failure theories
that use volume average quantities to better predict failure.
