My research area if focused on the mechanical behavior of structural metal alloys and specifically on fatigue and creep. For the past three years my group has been involved in using ultrasonic fatigue to examine the very high cycle fatigue behavior of magnesium, aluminum, titanium alloys and nickel-base superalloys. Our goals are to understand the mechanisms of fatigue crack initiation and crack growth where fatigue lifetimes may be as long as 109 cycles and to understand how microstructural variability can be incorporated into probabilistic models for fatigue life prediction. My research group is also investigating the influence of composition and microstructure on creep behavior in magnesium alloys. Here the emphasis is on understanding the role of microstructural stability during creep in die cast magnesium alloys intend for elevated temperature applications. These research efforts are funded by NSF, AFOSR, DARPA, Ford Motor Company and USAMP.