The Advanced Materials Design Group

At The University of Tulsa

Stephenson Hall at The University of Tulsa, the stone building that houses the AMDG lab, photographed at sunset.

About

Our Mission

We seek to understand and develop more durable and sustainable materials, with a focus on materials for load-bearing and heat-resistant applications.

Our Vision

Better materials.
Best graduates.

Our Approach

We work in an integrated cycle of innovation that designs, manufactures, and characterizes materials.

Throughout, we seek fundamental understanding about materials to address critical challenges in aerospace, energy, medicine, and beyond.

Highlights

  1. Keri Sharp earned her M.S. (ALD fiber coatings and sintering aids for SiC/Cf ceramic-matrix composites) and is headed to Wilson Sporting Goods in Chicago as a Research Engineer. Congrats, Keri!

    • thesis

  2. In collaboration with the Keller and Ramsurn groups, our data-driven study of preceramic polymers for SiC composites is published in ACS Applied Engineering Materials.

    doi.org/10.1021/acsaenm.6c00354

    • publication

  3. We are grateful and honored to receive an Office of Naval Research award (Aerospace Materials and Structures) for Coated Powders for Cold Spray, with Christopher Schuh (Northwestern) and Luke Brewer (Alabama).

    • project

  4. Parker Green was awarded a 2026 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Parker is headed to the Colorado School of Mines for a Ph.D. in metallurgical and materials engineering. Congrats, Parker!

    • award

  5. In collaboration with G.RAU Inc., our paper on the microstructural analysis of inclusions in six Nitinol variants is published in Metallography, Microstructure, and Analysis.

    doi.org/10.1007/s13632-026-01325-3

    • publication
Earlier highlights

  1. In collaboration with the Keller and Ramsurn groups, our paper on the thermal curing of an allyl-functionalized preceramic polymer is published in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society.

    doi.org/10.1111/jace.70559

    • publication

  2. Parker Green took first prize at the M.R. Mitchell Student Presentation Forum at the 23rd International ASTM/ESIS Symposium on Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics in Atlanta. Way to go, Parker!

    • award

  3. In collaboration with Keller and Ramsurn groups, our review on hybrid processing for SiC-matrix CMCs is published in Ceramics International.

    • publication

  4. Michael Lester defended his M.S. thesis on functionally graded Ti-Nb-Cu alloys by directed energy deposition, and is continuing in the group as a Ph.D. student. Congrats, Michael!

    • thesis

  5. Parker Green took first prize from among 25 students at the Oklahoma Research Day at the Capitol. Well done, Parker!

    • award

  6. Our paper on sintered Ti-6Al-4V is published in Experimental Mechanics.

    • publication

  7. Evan Isbell's Battery Smarts work on public knowledge and habits of charging lithium-ion cells is published in IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society.

    doi.org/10.1109/TTS.2025.3546937

    • publication

  8. In collaboration with Sangid group from Purdue, our paper on transient liquid phase smoothing is published in Materials & Design.

    • publication

  9. Eathan Devine defended his M.S. thesis, The thermal and mechanical properties of an additive-manufactured Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64) alloy and a wrought nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloy. Eathan is headed to the National Institute for Aviation Research in Wichita to join the R&D group on metal additive manufacturing. Congrats, Eathan!

    • thesis

  10. We received a NASA Oklahoma Research Initiation Grant for Precise Oxide Dispersion via Coated Metal Powders.

    • project

  11. We are grateful and honored to be a part of a team at The University of Tulsa working on a $1.25M project with DoE to understand the effects of blended hydrogen and natural gas on pipeline distribution systems.

    • project

  12. Kendall Yetter defended his M.S. thesis, A Surface Remelting Technique for Smoothing AM Surfaces. Kendall is headed to IperionX to join their R&D group in Salt Lake. Congrats, Kendall!

    • thesis

  13. We are grateful and honored to be a part of a team at The University of Tulsa working on a $1.5M project with AFOSR to build capacity in advanced materials research.

    • project

  14. We are grateful and honored to receive an NSF CAREER award, titled Understanding and controlling the sintering of metal powders with nanoscale additives.

    • project

  15. Nathan Rendon was selected as the winner of the CVID 2023 conference student presentation competition. Well done, Nathan!

    • award

  16. Jackson Habrock was selected as a University of Tulsa 2023 Top 10 Senior. Congrats, Jackson!

    • award

  17. We are grateful and honored to lead a team of researchers for a new first-of-kind in-SEM mechanical testing instrument with unprecedented speed, force, and temperature capacity. The acquisition is supported through an NSF MRI Track 1 award (no. 2320690).

    • project

  18. We are grateful and honored to be a part of a team at the University of Tulsa working on a project titled VR for Smart Installation Experimentation and Security Analysis with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).

    • project

  19. We are grateful and honored to be a part of a NASA 2022 ESI team with Jerard Gordon (PI, Umich), Wenda Tan (Co-PI, Umich), and William LePage (Co-PI, Utulsa). Our project is titled BIG: Building Intelligent Gradients in additively manufactured space engine materials via a multiscale predictive framework.

    • project

  20. Megan Hernadi was selected as a University of Tulsa 2022 Top 10 Freshman. Congrats, Megan!

    • award

  21. Kendall Yetter was selected as the champion in the University of Siegen Science Slam and won a two-week research visit in Siegen in summer 2022, as part of University of Siegen's Pop-Up at Tulsa. Congrats, Kendall!

    • award

  22. We are grateful and honored to be a part of a team at the University of Tulsa working on a project titled Adaptive OT Threat Analysis Technology with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).

    • project

  23. Malia Aurigemma and her "Battery Smarts" project—which builds upon the foundation from Evan Isbell's work—were featured by The University of Tulsa College of Engineering and Natural Sciences.

    • feature

  24. Victoria Tucker defended her M.S. thesis, Interlaboratory Round Robin Study of Errors and Best Practices for Scanning Electron Microscope Digital Image Correlation. She is headed to Purdue with a Ross Fellowship to study superalloys with Mike Titus. Congrats, Victoria!

    • thesis

  25. We are grateful and honored to be selected as one of the Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research FY20 Awards to pursue our work on A New Surface Engineering Approach for Fatigue-Resistant AM Microlattices.

    • project

  26. Evan Isbell was one of 21 students selected from around Oklahoma to present at the 26th annual Research Day at the Capitol. Evan presented his work on Assessing Public Knowledge and Habits of Battery Charging. Congrats, Evan!

    • award

  27. We are grateful and honored to be selected for the 2021 SMST Founders' Grant to pursue our work on Zooming in on Inclusions and Their Role in the Fatigue of NiTi Devices.

    • project

  28. We are grateful and honored to be selected as one of the 2020 Haythornthwaite Research Initiation Grant selections to pursue our work on Seeing Cracks Clearly.

    • project

Projects

  • AFOSR

    Capacity Building to Enhance the Understanding of Process, Structure, and Property Relationships of Ultra-High Temperature Materials for Extreme Environments

    Collaborators
    • Hema Ramsurn (UTulsa)
    • Michael Keller (UTulsa)
  • NSF DMR MMN

    CAREER: Understanding and controlling the sintering of metal powders with nanoscale additives

  • NASA ESI

    BIG: Building Intelligent Gradients in additively manufactured space engine materials via a multiscale predictive framework

    Collaborators
    • Jerard Gordon (Umich, PI)
    • Wenda Tan (Umich)
  • NSF CMMI MOMS

    MRI: Acquisition of Compact Mechanical Testing System for Structural, Archaeological, and High-Temperature Materials

    Collaborators
    • Steven Tipton (UTulsa)
    • Michael Keller (UTulsa)
    • Miriam Belmaker (UTulsa)
    • Hema Ramsurn (UTulsa)

Sponsors & Partners

Logos of AMDG sponsors and partners: NSF, Office of Naval Research, AFOSR, NASA, ERDC, ASME, SMST (ASM International), Confluent Medical Technologies, Veeco, the International Digital Image Correlation Society, and The University of Tulsa.

Team

Principal Investigator

  • Portrait of William LePage, Ph.D.

    William LePage, Ph.D.

    Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering

    • Ph.D., University of Michigan
    • M.S.E., University of Michigan
    • B.S., University of Tulsa

Graduate Students

  • Jose Martin del Campo

    Co-advised by Dr. Michael Keller

    • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, LeTourneau University
  • Portrait of Michael Lester

    Michael Lester

    • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tulsa
    • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tulsa
  • Portrait of Musamma Akhtar

    Musamma Akhtar

    Co-advised by Dr. Steven Tipton

    • M.S., Biomedical Engineering, Colorado State University
    • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tulsa
  • Portrait of Nathan Rendon

    Nathan Rendon

    • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tulsa
  • Portrait of Ramona Naghi

    Ramona Naghi

    Co-advised by Dr. Michael Keller

    • M.S.E., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tulsa
    • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tulsa
  • Portrait of Reuben Kabantiyok

    Reuben Kabantiyok

    • MSc., Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
    • BEng., Metallurgical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

Undergraduate Students

  • Alex Dininni

  • Emily Smith

  • Jaime Marshall

  • Kalainey Nickel

  • Owen Schwerdtfeger

  • Robinson Ford

  • Tanner Cross

Alumni

Postdoctoral Fellows

  • Slavica Porobic (2025–2026)

    Placement: Accepted a position as an Assistant Research Professor at the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences in Belgrade, Serbia

Master's Students

  • Keri Sharp (2026)

    Thesis: Atomic layer deposition for fiber coatings and sintering aids for SiC/Cf ceramic-matrix composites

    Placement: Accepted a position as a Research Engineer at Wilson Sporting Goods in Chicago, Illinois

  • Eathan Devine (2024)

    Thesis: The thermal and mechanical properties of an additive-manufactured Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64) alloy and a wrought nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloy

    Placement: Accepted a position as a Research Engineer in the Advanced Materials group at the National Institute for Aviation Research in Wichita, Kansas

  • Kendall Yetter (2024)

    Thesis: A Surface Remelting Technique for Smoothing AM Surfaces

    Placement: Accepted a position as a Research Metallurgist at IperionX and their R&D group in Salt Lake City, Utah

  • Victoria Tucker (2021)

    Thesis: Interlaboratory Round Robin Study of Errors and Best Practices for Scanning Electron Microscope Digital Image Correlation

    Placement: Earned a Ross Fellowship for doctoral studies at Purdue University and joined the Ph.D. program in Materials Science at Purdue

Undergraduate Students

  • Amanda Lafrancois
  • Anna Godinez
  • Avery Dodson
  • Ben Blittschau
  • Caleb Freese
  • Caroline Port
  • Diego Tober
  • Drew Dozier
  • Eduardo Pereyra
  • Emma Daharsh
  • Erika Brock
  • Erin Weiss
  • Evan Isbell
  • Gage McCollum
  • Georgia Hilburn
  • Jackson Habrock
  • Jared Hallahan
  • Joshua Brooks
  • Kali Hauther
  • Kyle White
  • Malia Aurigemma
  • Megan Hernadi
  • Nicolas Bendele
  • Orion Levasheff
  • Parker Green
  • Pedro Lugo
  • Rianne Brown
  • Rodolfo Coronado
  • Rose Fontana
  • Sam Dueñas
  • Tait Douglas
  • Tanner McElroy
  • Teresa Valenzuela
  • Vincent Ume-Ezeoke
  • Will Wheet

TURC Junior Scholars (high school)

  • Curt Schwager
  • Daniel Flores
  • Jameson Griffin