Ryan Berke

Fulbright-University of Sheffield Scholar Award (All Disciplines)

Ryan Berke is an Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Utah State University. His research focus is experimental solid mechanics for extreme temperature environments including: spacecraft re-entry, hypersonic flight, jet engines, rocket nozzles, and next-generation nuclear reactors. He is especially interested in the role that environment plays in damage accumulation across extreme temperature, time, and length scales. His work has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy, Air Force Research Lab, and NASA, among others. 

While at the University of Sheffield, he will employ novel vibration-based methods to more quickly characterize fatigue damage accumulation in fiber-reinforced composites. By enabling the more widespread safe use of composites, engineers will be better able to design more robust systems at reduced weight and cost without sacrificing safety or performance.