Gabriel P. Potirniche is an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Idaho. Dr. Potirniche received his Ph.D in 2003 in Mechanical Engineering from the Mississippi State University (MSU). Afterwards, he joined the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems at MSU as a postdoctoral associate. In August 2007 he became an Assistant Professor at the University of Idaho. His research has been focused on the mechanical behavior of metals at different length scales under monotonic and fatigue loading.
Dr. Potirniche has implemented computational models for the study of fatigue damage at the nanoscale using molecular dynamics methods, at the microscale using crystal plasticity theory, and at the macroscale using classical isotropic plasticity and anisotropic yield functions. He has also performed computational studies of ductile fracture in crystalline materials under quasi-static and dynamic loading. Most recently, Dr. Potirniche has been developing constitutive models for the visco-hyperelestic behavior of polymer materials subjected to impact and ballistic loads. He is a member of ASME and ASM International. In 2007 he received the “Orr Early Career Award” by the Materials Division and Awards Committee of the ASME. In addition to his research, Dr. Potirniche teaches solid mechanics courses at the University of Idaho.