Desiderio Kovar

Kovar Research Group website

Dr. Kovar has been on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin since 1997. He holds the BFGoodrich Professorship in Materials Engineering and is a University Distinguished Teaching Professor.  Dr. Kovar is a member of the Texas Materials Institute, is affiliated with the Center for Electromechanics, and is a core member of the Center for Additive Manufacturing and Design Innovation at the University of Texas at Austin. He teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in the Materials Engineering area of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.  Dr. Kovar has supervised or co-supervised the independent research of 54 undergraduate students, 24 MS theses, and 23 Ph.D. dissertations and he is currently supervising 1 post-doctoral researcher and supervising/co-supervising 6 graduate students and 2 undergraduate students. 

Dr. Kovar has received many awards for his teaching and research including the Engineering Foundation Young Faculty Excellence Award from the Cockrell School of Engineering (2000), the Teaching Excellence Award from the Student Engineering Council (2000), the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Jack and Maxine Zarrow Family K-16 Teaching Innovation Award (2014), the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Award for Excellence in Engineering Teaching (2016) and the Mechanical Engineering Department’s Teaching Award (2016). In 2019, he was inducted into the University of Texas at Austin’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

In 2013, he founded the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Longhorn Maker Studio, a makerspace equipped with a range of equipment including 3D printers, laser cutters, and other equipment that allows students to take their projects from conceptualization to fabrication. He served as the inaugural Faculty Director for the Longhorn Maker Studio from its inception until March of 2016, when a full-time director was hired, and the facility was renamed Texas Inventionworks. From 2012-2016, he chaired the Mechanical Engineering Department’s curriculum committee, where he spearheaded a number of successful reforms that improved student learning and significantly increased student retention.  This included a college-wide reorganization of the mathematics curriculum in Engineering. In 2018, he headed the effort to create the Materials Science and Engineering minor, the first minor in Engineering and has served as the faculty advisor for the minor since its inception. From 2005-2018, he served as Graduate Advisor for the Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Program, which has an enrollment of approximately 80 MS and Ph.D. students. In 2012, he was recognized as the University of Texas’ Outstanding Graduate Advisor. He served as Area Coordinator for the Materials Engineering Area of Mechanical Engineering from 2017-2022 and currently is the Associate Chair for Academics for the Mechanical Engineering Department. He is active in the American Ceramic Society's Basic Science Division and is a member of the organizing committee for the International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, one of the largest academic conferences dedicated to additive manufacturing.

Dr. Kovar has published over 110 journal articles, conference proceedings, patents, and reports. He is studying micro-cold spray manufacturing, which allows metallic, ceramic, and composite films to be directly written at room temperature onto almost any substrate material. He is also developing selective laser flash sintering, a new manufacturing process he co-invented for additively manufacturing bulk ceramics.  His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the Army Research Laboratory, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Research Laboratory through America Makes, as well as a number of corporate sponsors.

Recent Publications

1. C. Nissen, A. Hernandez-Barreto, M. Haberman, J.J. Beaman, and D. Kovar, “Measuring the Onset of Sintering Using Laser Ultrasonics,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society, e70093 (13 pages) (2025). DOI: 10.1111/jace.70093
2. R.F.P.  Stone, A. Ruhfus, M. Le, E. Ekoi, D. Kovar, and Z.Sha, “Effects of Hatch Distance and Spray Pattern on Film Adhesion and Surface Roughness in Micro-Cold Spray,”Submitted to Proceedings of the 36th Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, pp. 729-748, Austin, TX, August 10-13, 2025. Link
3. S. Chen, S. Bierschenk, D. Kovar, and Z. Sha, “Constrained Bayesian Optimization for Robust Design,"Constrained Bayesian Optimization for Robust Design of Complex Systems Under Varying Operating Conditions." Proceedings of the ASME 2025 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. Volume 3B: 51st Design Automation Conference (DAC). Anaheim, California, USA. August 17–20, 2025. V03BT03A024 (9 pages). ASME. DOI: 10.1115/DETC2025-168733
4. S. Burlison, M.F. Becker, and D. Kovar, “A Molecular Dynamics Study of High Velocity Impact of Zinc Oxide Aggregates,” Journal of Aerosol Science, 187 106582 (13 pages) (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2025.106582
5. S.  Bierschenk, M.F. Becker and D. Kovar, “Simulating the Effects of the Native Oxide Layer during Kinetic Spraying of Tantalum Particles using a Deep Learning Interatomic Potential,” Journal of Thermal Spray Technology, 34 pp. 1666–1684 (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s11666-025-01991-9 
6. D.  Khanan, J.J. Beaman, and D. Kovar, “Static and Dynamic Open Loop Control of Selective Laser Flash Sintering with DC Electric Fields,” International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology, Vol 22, e14955, (10 pages) 2025. DOI: 10.1111/ijac.14955
7. R.F.P. Stone, M. Gammage, J. Wang, M. Cullinan, D. Kovar, and Z. Sha, “A Cooperative Framework for Multi-Nozzle Micro-Cold Spray Systems, Proceedings of the 35th Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, pp. 1153-1165. Austin, TX, August 11-14, 2024. Link.
8. T. Kothapalle, A.V. Melachuri, J.J. Rogers, B. Tran, M.F. Becker, and D. Kovar, “Simulation of High Strain Rate Contact of Single Crystal Al Spheres,” Computational Materials Science, 246 113415 (12 pages) (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.commatsci.2024.113415 
9. S. Bierschenk and D. Kovar, “Micro-cold Spray Deposition of YSZ Films from Ultrafine Powders Using a Pressure Relief Channel Nozzle,” Journal of Thermal Spray Technology, 33, pp. 2022–2033 (2024).  DOI: 10.1007/s11666-024-01813-4
10. S.  Bierschenk and D. Kovar, “A Nozzle Design for Mitigating Particle Slowing in the Bow Shock Region during Micro-Cold Spray of 8-YSZ Films,” Journal of Aerosol Science, 179 106360 (16 pages) (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2024.106360