X-STRM TEAM
who. we. are.

LESLIE LAMBERSON
XSTRM DIRECTOR
Leslie is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering with affiliation in Materials Science at the Colorado School of Mines. Her area of expertise is in mechanics of materials under extreme conditions. She earned her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and B.A. in Dance Performance from the University of Michigan, her M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and her Ph.D. in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology. Prior to her faculty position, Leslie was a postdoctoral researcher with K.T. Ramesh at the Johns Hopkins University. A former Lockheed Martin “Skunk Works” engineer, Leslie was a 2013 NASA Glenn Faculty Fellow, a recipient of an ONR Young Investigator Award, and an NSF CAREER award. She is currently an Associate Editor for the journal Strain and a Technical Editor for Journal of Dynamic Behavior of Materials.

TULIKA DIXIT
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Research Focus: Dynamic Viscoelastic Constitutive Parameter Identification
PhD - Indian Institute of Technology Indore (Advisor: Dr. Eswar Prasad)
ANDREW MATEJUNAS
PHD CANDIDATE
PhD Focus: Viscoelastic Constitutive Parameter Identification using the Image Based Inertial Impact Test and the Virtual Fields Method
Co-Advisor: Dr. Lloyd Fletcher, UK Atomic Energy Authority
MS - New Mexico Tech, Thesis: Dynamic Tensile Failure of Rolled Magnesium (Advisor: Dr. Jamie Kimberley)

XINGYUAN "ZAZZY" ZHAO
PHD CANDIDATE
PhD Focus: Understanding Deformation Mechanisms in Highly Oriented MAX Phases Under Compression Across Strain-Rates
MS THESIS: Phase Content Influence on the Mechanical Behavior of Group V Transition Heavy Metal Carbides
ISABELLA MENDOZA
PHD CANDIDATE / 22' SEM Student Ambassador
PhD Focus: Impact Damage in Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymers
MS Focus: Combined electromechanical dynamic fracture behavior of lead zirconate titanate
EMILY PITTMAN
PHD CANDIDATE / NDSEG FELLOW
PhD Focus: Thermomechanical Characterization and Dynamic Deformation of the TWIP Titanium Alloy Ti-15Mo
Co-Advisor: Dr. Amy Clarke, Mines/LANL
MS Focus: Dynamic fracture of aerospace composites
MEGAN SHEPHERD
PHD CANDIDATE / LLNL Summer Intern
PhD Focus:
Dynamic Fracture and Failure Behavior of Advanced Polymer Systems
ALLISON ARRINGTON
PhD STUDENT / SANDIA Summer Intern
PhD Focus
Dynamic Failure and Fragmentation of Protective Metals - experimental and numerical investigations
Co-Advisor: Dr. Geoff Brennecka, Mines
ALEXANDER WESTRA
PhD STUDENT / Mechanical Engineering Grad Fellow
PhD Focus:
Impact Investigations on 3D Layered Solids
In Collaboration with Boeing Shock Physics Laboratory, Seattle, WA
JOSEPH MORTON
PhD STUDENT / Mechanical Engineering Grad Fellow
/ Sandia Summer Intern
PhD Focus:
Impact Investigations of Smart Composites