Kaitlynn Fitzgerald, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering Department
United States Naval Academy
590 Holloway Road
Annapolis, MD 21402-5042
(410) 293-6495
kfitzger@usna.edu

• Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering
• Dissertation: “Investigating the Effects of Topology on the Fracture and Failure Mechanisms of Low Density Metamaterials”

• M.S., Mechanical Engineering
• Thesis: “Multiscale Behavior of Fused Deposition Additively Manufactured Thermoplastic Cellular Materials” 

•     B.S., Mechanical Engineering

• Experimental Crystal Plasticity, Solid Mechanics, Mechanical Metamaterials

•  Assistant Professor, U.S. Naval Academy (Jul. 2024 - Present)
•  Postdoctoral Researcher, Sandia National Laboratories (Jun. 2022 – Jul. 2024)

• Lim, Hojun, Fitzgerald, Kaitlynn M., Ruggles, Timothy J., Gilliland, William G., Schnebly, Landon F., Carroll, Jay D., “Shaping Failure: Decoding Orientation-Dependent Fracture in Ni Single Crystals” Materials Science and Engineering A, Vol. 961, 150096, 2026.
• Gilliland, W.; Ruggles, T.; Fitzgerald, K.; Carroll, J.; Bomarito, G.; Hochhalter, J. Concurrent in-situ high-resolution backscatter direction and digital image correlation for full-field stress-strain, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2026.
• Fitzgerald, K.M.; Gilliland, W.; Lim, H.; Ruggles, T.; Aragon, N.; Carroll, J.D. Microsturctre Clones, Experimental Mechanics, 2025.
• Ruggles, T.J.; Gilliland, W.; Noell, P.; Craig, R.; Fitzgerald, K.; Carroll, J. Local Stress Measurements in Polycrystalline Metallic Tensile Specimens Using High Resolution EBSD, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2023, 96-97, https://academic.oup.com/mam/article/29/Supplement_1/96/7228608
• Hansen, L.E.; Fitzgerald, K.M.; Huertas, N.A.; Jones, E.M.C.; Ruggles, T.J.; Gilliland, W.G.; Jauregui, L.J.; Murray, S.E.; Westphal, E.R.; Winters, C. A Flexible Polymer-Based Luminescent Ink for Combined Thermographic Phosphors and Digital Image Correlation (TP+DIC), Optical Materials, 2023, 1-7, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2023.113906
• Kessler, H.; Conway, K.M.; Pataky, G.J.; Redmond, L. Design and Cyclic Testing of a Gusset Plate Connection for Precase Concrete Buckling-Restrained Braced Frames, PCI Journal, 2023, 30-51
• Fitzgerald, K.M.; Berfield, T.A.; Torbati-Sarraf, H.; Pataky, G.J. Compressive Creep Buckling of Single Cell Metamaterial at Elevated Temperatures, Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, 2022, 366-378, https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.13871

•  Society of Experimental Mechanics – Technical Division Secretary