Curt Bronkhorst

Curt Bronkhorst is the Harvey D. Spangler Professor of Engineering and Professor of Applied Mechanics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics (1985), M.S. (1988), and Ph.D. (1991) in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His career includes roles as Senior Scientist at Weyerhaeuser (1991–2002) and Scientist/Project Leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory (2002–2019) before joining UW-Madison. He leads the Army Research Laboratory's Center for Extreme Events in Structurally Evolving Materials and contributes to the Theoretical and Computational Mechanics of Materials Group.

• PhD (1991) - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• MS (1988) - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• BS (1985) - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Bronkhorst's research focuses on theoretical and computational mechanics of materials, particularly under extreme conditions. Key themes include:

• Coupled thermo-mechanical deformation
• Finite elasticity and dislocation slip plasticity
• Deformation twinning and phase transformations
• Pore nucleation and adiabatic shear banding
• Brittle-to-ductile transition mechanisms
• Multi-scale modeling of damage evolution

His 2025–2023 publications emphasize data-driven modeling, void nucleation, and machine learning integration in EBSD analysis. Recent work explores gradient nanostructured metals and low-grain polycrystal stress heterogeneity.

• 2019: Harvey D. Spangler Professorship
• 2012: DOE Defense Programs Award (Implosion Predictive Capability)
• 2009: DOE Outstanding Mentor Award
• 2007–2008: Los Alamos Distinguished Performance Awards
• Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Member, Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi Honor Societies

Bronkhorst serves as Associate Editor for the International Journal of Plasticity and president of Northland Partners, LLC. He is affiliated with UW-Madison's Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics and Materials Science & Engineering departments. No formal advisees are listed, but his computational framework has been adopted in grants like the DMREF collaborative research on grain-interface design.