Rate My Professor Derek Warner

Derek Warner is Professor of Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at the University of Canterbury, having joined the institution in 2023. Previously, he held the position of Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, where he directed the Cornell Fracture Group. Warner's academic background includes a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2007, an MS in Solid Mechanics from Brown University in 2004, and a BS in Mathematics from Saint Francis University in 2002. Following his PhD, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Division of Engineering at Brown University before joining Cornell in October 2007.

Warner's research centers on multiscale modeling of deformation and fracture mechanisms in structural engineering materials, atomistic simulations, fatigue crack growth, and the effects of environmental factors and impurities on material durability. He leads the Canterbury Fracture Group at the University of Canterbury and has obtained major grants, including an Office of Naval Research Global grant for a high-throughput fatigue characterization project and MBIE Smart Ideas funding in 2024 for mechanical reliability research. Among his honors are the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2009 and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in 2008. Notable publications include "Atomic mechanism of near threshold fatigue crack growth" (2022), "The dual role of dissolution at a crack tip" (2024), "The dual effect of surface adsorbates on fracture of calcite" (2024), and work on corrosion enhancing material durability (2021). His 76 research outputs have garnered over 3,700 citations, advancing materials science and structural engineering.