Dr. J. Brian Jordon, Ph.D., (Mississippi State University) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Alabama. Dr. Jordon has extensive experience in fatigue and fracture of metals and in particular, he has studied fatigue in friction stir welding for nearly a decade. His other interests include, constitutive modeling of plasticity and damage, process-structure-property-performance relationships, modeling of welding and joining, and solid-state additive manufacturing and processing. Dr. Jordon has published over 90 refereed journal articles and conference proceedings in these and related areas. His research has been supported by the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the State of Alabama, and various private industries. Professionally, Dr. Jordon has organized numerous symposia and chaired committees at the annual ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE) and The Minerals, Metals, & Materials Society (TMS) meetings. In 2014, Dr. Jordon was a recipient of the TMS Young Professional Development award. Recently, he was a finalist for The University of Alabama President’s Faculty Research Award (2017). He currently serves on the editorial board of Materials and Manufacturing Processes journal. Prior to coming to The University of Alabama, Dr. Jordon was an Interim Associate Director and an Assistant Research Professor at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems at Mississippi State University.