Rate My Professor Ray Fertig

Ray S. Fertig III, Ph.D., P.E., serves as Professor and Department Head of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wyoming. A Wyoming native and University of Wyoming alumnus, he earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2001 and MS in Mechanical Engineering in 2003 from the University of Wyoming. He then pursued advanced studies at Cornell University, obtaining an MS in Materials Science and Engineering in 2005 and a PhD in 2010. Fertig joined the Mechanical Engineering faculty at the University of Wyoming in 2011, progressing to full Professor by 2017. He served as Interim Department Head in 2023 before assuming the permanent role in 2024. Fertig has held significant leadership positions, including Chair of the Faculty Senate and member of its Executive Committee. He was named a University of Wyoming Presidential Faculty Fellow for 2022-2023 and received the 2022 Distinguished Graduate Faculty Mentor Award.

Fertig's research specializations encompass composite material failure, additive manufacturing of ceramic matrix composites, and physics-based modeling. His Fertig Research Group develops defect-sensitive multiscale stochastic models for reliability prediction in composite structures, bio-inspired microstructure designs using reaction-diffusion algorithms coupled with machine learning and finite element analysis, constitutive models for microcracking in porous high-temperature ceramics, linkages between processing variations and microstructural property distributions, and dislocation dynamics simulations for thin films. As a participant in the University of Wyoming's interdisciplinary Materials Science and Engineering Program, his work integrates experimental and computational approaches. Key publications include 'Simulation of dislocations and strength in thin films: A review' (Progress in Materials Science, 2010), 'Uncorrelated volume element for stochastic modeling of microstructures based on local fiber volume fraction variation' (Composites Science and Technology, 2015), 'Stereolithography of SiOC polymer-derived ceramics filled with SiC micronwhiskers' (Advanced Engineering Materials, 2018), 'Design of Turbulent Flow Heat Exchangers via a Bioinspired Topology Optimization Framework with Physics-Informed Underlying Fields' (Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 2023), and 'Influence of layer thickness and exposure on mechanical properties of additively manufactured polymer-derived SiOC ceramics' (Open Ceramics, 2024). With over 1,000 citations across 84 publications, Fertig's contributions have advanced predictive modeling and design in mechanical engineering and materials science.