Dr. Calvin Stewart and his team at The Ohio State University are working at the extremes. In 2021, Dr. Stewart founded the Materials at Extremes Lab (MATX) and began to assemble the tools and personnel he needed to push the boundaries of “advanced manufacturing, mechanical testing, and theoretical mechanics of materials subject to thermal, mechanical, and chemical extremes.”

We were excited to return this week to the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) at New Mexico Tech to participate in a unique training course focused on optical diagnostics for high-speed explosion and impact events. This test demonstrated the fundamentals of 3D digital image correlation using the VIC-3D DIC software in conjunction with high-speed Photron Nova S16 cameras imaging a low velocity impact event to measure 3D displacements. We’re already looking forward to next year!