Dr. Miguel Fernandez
- About
- Education
- Selected Research
Biography
Dr. Fernandez joined Illinois State University in 2025 as a Founding Assistant Professor. His research on solute segregation and fracture modelling has applications in extreme environments and manufacturing processes. He applies atomistic modelling techniques and experimental observations to advocate for stochastic perspectives of fracture by verification and uncertainty quantification with respect to experiments.
Current Courses
MEC 150.001 Engineering Mechanics - Statics
MEC 150.003 Engineering Mechanics - Statics
Teaching Interests & Areas
Statics, Mechanics of Materials, Fracture Mechanics, Continuum Mechanics, Numerical Methods, Nanomechanical Simulation
Research Interests & Areas
Fracture Mechanics is the study of the deformation and stress surrounding cracks within a material. In engineering, fracture mechanics often concerns the load-bearing capacity of a material based on the geometry and position of the crack. Cracks are inherently atomic phenomena, but continuum modelling efforts have struggled to capture the effects that of the nanoscale environment at higher length scales. Hence, Dr. Fernandez's investigations span stochastic studies at the atomic scale and modelling efforts at higher scales in an effort to bridge the gap between scales through statistical sampling.
Classical Atomistic Simulations are a class of mechanics simulations used for nanoscale material modelling. These simulations use interatomic potential functions to predict the motion and geometry of large groups of atoms, then position and velocity data extracted from these simulations can be used to reproduce material properties at higher length scales. Dr. Fernandez leverages classical atomistic simulations to produce large sets of data on metal alloys and grain boundaries that are susceptible to fracture and utilizes regression and machine learning techniques to understand the variation in fracture-related material properties at higher length scales.