Graduate Research Assistant
Design Systems Laboratory, Texas A&M
Office: Doherty Bldg., 309
Email: tannerkirk@tamu.edu
Tanner Kirk is a Ph.D. student in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Texas A&M University. He is co-advised by Dr. Richard Malak and Dr. Raymundo Arroyave. Tanner researches the use of robotic path planning algorithms to design Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs). The methods Tanner develops use thermodynamic predictions of phase formation (CALPHAD) to plan FGMs that avoid the deleterious phases that often plague the manufacturing of FGMs. These methods are scalable to FGMs composed of an arbitrary number of elements and can be used to optimize FGMs for performance. Tanner’s other research interests are machine learning, optimization, and materials design.