Natasha Vermaak

Dr. Vermaak leads the Thermostructural Lab at the intersection of mechanics, materials, and design/optimization. Her group uses experimental and computational techniques to address problems of structural and material degradation, durability, and resilience. Her group applies optimization to design material composition, microstructure, and structural topology. This includes the design and analysis of multifunctional architected materials and structures, especially in the inelastic and finite life domains.  She has unique expertise in inelastic design via shakedown and seeks to harness cyclic plastic behaviors for metals in extreme environments that span aerospace ("aeroplasticity") to energy applications. Dr. Vermaak earned her doctorate in Materials (2010) from the University of California Santa Barbara with Professor Anthony G. Evans. Before joining Lehigh University in 2013 as an Assistant Professor, she served as a postdoctoral scholar at the Institut National Polytechnique in Grenoble, France. She was appointed Associate Professor in 2019.