Janelle Wharry

Janelle Wharry is an Associate Professor in the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University. Her research focuses on irradiation effects in nuclear materials, mechanical behavior, and materials characterization, with particular emphasis on structural materials under extreme conditions. She leads a research group investigating corrosion mechanisms, phase transformations, and microstructural evolution in nuclear alloys.

Her work includes studies on FeCrAl alloys, stainless steels, and other materials critical to nuclear energy applications. She advises doctoral students Courtney Clark, Nathaniel Keninger, Aiden Long, Qingyu Pan, and Emily Proctor, and mentors postdoctoral researchers Wen Jiang and Md Ali Muntaha. Her group collaborates on projects funded through the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) and explores advanced manufacturing techniques like powder metallurgy and cold spray repair for structural materials.

Key research themes include chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking, irradiation-induced phase transformations, and the development of radiation-tolerant materials. Her contributions bridge fundamental materials science with applied nuclear engineering challenges, addressing issues such as material degradation in reactor environments and weld integrity under irradiation.