Erik G. Herbert

"You always have a choice and it always makes a difference."
—Rick Dunn

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Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee, 2009
Visiting Scientist, Center for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN) at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, 2009
Assistant Research Professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee, 2010–2015
Full-Time Guest, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2010–2015
Industry: Nanoinstruments (later acquired by the MTS Systems Corporation in 1998 and then Agilent Technologies in 2008), 1997–2009

Our small-scale mechanical testing labs and research programs are rapidly being developed. Learn more about our instrumentation and capabilities.

State-of-the-art ambient, non-ambient, in-operando and in-situ mechanical behavior of materials at nanometer and micrometer length scales
Development and implementation of novel small-scale mechanical testing methodologies for metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, semiconductors, biomaterials and structured devices
Mechanical characterization of unique materials & systems such as but not limited to bulk materials, individual phases, thin films, coatings, modified surfaces, micro-pillars, fibers, membranes, hydrogels, MEMS, microfluidic and micromachined devices
Small-scale mechanical testing in inert atmospheres and over the temperature range from -20 to 100 degrees C (to 1100 degrees C at the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials)
Measuring the components of the complex modulus of small volumes of viscoelastic solids
Predicting uniaxial stress-strain curves from nanoindentation data
High-speed property mapping of interfaces, multi-phase alloys and heat affected zones
Multi-axis contact experiments that enable manipulation of the state of stress
Measuring residual stress in free-standing thin films

Currently Funded Projects

“Mechanical Properties at the Protected Li Interface,” DOE-VTO, November 1, 2014 – October 31, 2016, $1,000,000 with Nancy J. Dudney at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Jeff Sakamoto at the University of Michigan.
“MRI: Development of the Next Generation Nanomechanical Testing Laboratory,” NSF, August 1, 2013 – July 31, 2018, $2,200,000, with George M. Pharr at the University of Tennessee and Warren C. Oliver at Nanomechanics, Inc.

Teaching Experience