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X-STRM TEAM

who.  we.  are. 

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LESLIE LAMBERSON
XSTRM DIRECTOR

​Dr. Leslie Lamberson is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and a Ben L. Fryrear Endowed Chair for Innovation and Excellence. She holds degrees in Aerospace Engineering, Dance, and Business, including a Ph.D. from Caltech and an M.B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill. Her career spans industry, government, and academia, with past roles at Lockheed Martin “Skunk Works,” NASA Glenn, and Johns Hopkins University.

A recipient of the ONR Young Investigator and NSF CAREER Awards, Leslie’s research focuses on materials under extreme conditions, and advanced metrology and inverse techniques. She serves as Associate Editor for Strain and previously held board positions with the American Society for Composites (ASC) and the Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM). Her work bridges aerospace, defense, and materials science to advance engineering innovation and education.

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ALLISON ARRINGTON
PhD Candidate / SANDIA Summer Intern

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PhD Focus

Dynamic Characterization of the Niobium-based Refractory Alloy C103​

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ALEXANDER WESTRA
PhD Candidate / Mechanical Engineering Grad Fellow

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PhD Focus   

Energy Transfer and Absorption of Igneous Rocks and Layered Solids

 

In Collaboration with The Boeing Company's Shock Physics Laboratory

Seattle, WA​​

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HILLARY CUNLIFFE-OWEN
PhD Student 

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PhD Focus

Inverse Identification of Dynamic Constitutive Behavior in Advanced Composites via the Virtual Fields Method

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MAX KEPHART
PhD Student / NDSEG Fellow

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PhD Focus

Understanding Defects in Additively Manufactured Functionally Graded Materials Under Extreme Conditions

in collaboration with Dr. Joy Gockel, Mines ADAPT Center

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Army Research Laboratory, ORAU Internship, 2025​​​

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DaJae Doral 
PhD Student 

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Joining us Fall of 2025! â€‹

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MS - New Mexico Tech (advisor:  Dr. Jamie Kimberley)

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CRYSTAL MURILLO
PhD Student 

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Joining us Fall of 2025!

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BS - Aerospace Engineering (minor Materials) UC Riverside

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JAREV PENA
Undergraduate Research Assistant

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Current Project

Dynamic Thermomechanical Behavior of Open-Cell Polymeric Foams

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ALEXANDRA BAUMANN
Undergraduate Research Assistant

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Current Projects

Fragmentation of Additively Manufactured Alumina

Thermomechanical Characterization of C103

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ELIOT BEAVER
Mines Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (SURF)

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Current Project

Design & Validation of a Miniaturized Kolsky Bar System

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GRAHAM WALTER
Mines Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (SURF)

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Current Project

Design & Validation of a Miniaturized Kolsky Bar System

XSTRM GRADUATES

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ANDREW FURST 
Formlabs Engineer

MS Thesis:

Thermomechanical Behavior of an Open-Cell Polyurethane Foam for Energy Absorption 

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DR. JOE MORTON
ATA Engineering Project Engineer 

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Dissertation:

The Competition of Fracture and Hydrodynamic Effects for Aerospace Composites and Ceramics under Hypervelocity Impact

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DR. MOIRA FOSTER 
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Mechanical Engineer

Dissertation:  

Viscoelastic Response and Deformation Mechanics of Polymeric Foams under Cyclic Compression

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DR. ZAZZY ZHAO
Postdoctoral Fellow at Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute, JHU

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Dissertation:

Towards Understanding Deformation Mechanisms in 3D Layered Solids Under Compression

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DR. EMILY PITTMAN 
Los Alamos National Laboratory Scientist 2 

Dissertation:  

Rate Effects on the Thermomechanical Compressive Response of Conventional and Metastable Beta Titanium Alloys

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DR. ISABELLA MENDOZA / JACOBSEN
MatchID, US Inc. - President

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Dissertation:  

Impact Fatigue Damage in Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymers

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DR. ANDREW MATEJUNAS 
Lawrence Livermore National Lab Mechanical Engineer 

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Dissertation:

Development of an Image-based Inertial Impact Test for the Identification of Polymeric Material Parameters at High Rates

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JACKSON PARKER
R&D Engineer at CoorsTek, Inc. 

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MS Thesis:  

Dynamic Strength and Fragmentation of Silicon Carbide

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DANIEL MORRISON
Composite Materials Engineer at Spirit AeroSystems

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MS Thesis:

Temperature Dependent Dynamic Response of Open-Cell Polyurethane Foams

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CAROLINE TURNER
Structural Engineer at United Launch Alliance

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MS Thesis:

Impact Fatigue Performance of Polyurethane Foams  

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NICHOLAS BRUNSTAD
Staff Engineer at Applied Research Associates

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MS Thesis:

A Study of Layer Orientation on the Fracture Behavior of Two Additively Manufactured Thermoset Resins

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XSTRM © 2025 by Frank's Cloud Studio Productions

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