Tyler Engstrom

PhD, Penn State, 2015.
Area of Study: Physics

BS, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 2005.
Area of Study: Metallurgical Engineering

Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado
Department of Physics and Astronomy (2021-Present)

Product Development Scientist, MiTeGen
(2020-2021)

Visiting Assistant Professor, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
(2019 & 2016)

Postdoctoral Researcher, Syracuse University
(2016-2018)

Soft Matter Physics

I am a soft matter and biological physicist with professional experiences spanning theoretical, computational, and experimental projects in both industry and academia. One of my current projects is an NIH-funded collaboration between my lab and that of Andrea James (UNC Bio); we are developing and testing several new models of eye morphogenesis with the goal of better understanding certain developmental diseases of the eye. Another current project, funded by RCSA, has to do with a new branch of continuum elasticity theory known as “odd elasticity.” Specifically, my work focuses on the connection between prestress-generated and activity-generated odd elasticity, and the application of the former to waveguides. In addition to these projects, I also have a general interest in cell, tissue, and solid mechanics.

• Demands on early-career faculty, T. A. Engstrom, Phys. Today 78, 9 (2025)
• Dynamics of certain Euler-Bernoulli rods and rings from a minimal coupling quantum isomorphism, T. A. Engstrom, Phys. Rev. E 107, 065005 (2023)
• High-resolution single-particle cryo-EM of samples vitrified in boiling nitrogen, T. A. Engstrom, J. A. Clinger, K. A. Spoth, O. B. Clarke, D. S. Closs, R. Jayne, B. A. Apker, and R. E. Thorne, IUCrJ 8, 1-11 (2021)
• The quantum character of buckling instabilities in thin rods, T. A. Engstrom, Am. J. Phys. 88, 845 (2020)
• Loops versus lines and the compression stiffening of cells, M. C. Gandikota, K. Pogoda, A. van Oosten, T. A. Engstrom, A. E. Patteson, P. A. Janmey, & J. M. Schwarz, Soft Matter 16, 4389 (2020)
• Compression stiffening in biological tissues: On the possibility of classic elasticity origins, T. A. Engstrom, K. Pogoda, K. Cruz, P. A. Janmey, & J. M. Schwarz, Phys. Rev. E 99, 052413 (2019)
• Cerebellar folding is initiated by mechanical constraints on a fluid-like layer without a cellular pre-pattern, A. K. Lawton, T. A. Engstrom, D. Rohrbach, M. Omura, D. H. Turnbull, J. Mamou, Teng Zhang, J. M. Schwarz, & A. L. Joyner, eLife 8, e45019 (2019)
• Buckling without bending: a new paradigm in morphogenesis, T. A. Engstrom, Teng Zhang, A. K. Lawton, A. L. Joyner, & J. M. Schwarz, Phys. Rev. X 8, 041053 (2018)
• Surface creasing of soft elastic continua as a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, T. A. Engstrom & J. M. Schwarz, Europhys. Lett. 118, 56005 (2017)
• Crystal chemistry of three-component white dwarfs and neutron star crusts: phase stability, phase stratification and physical properties, T. A. Engstrom, N. C. Yoder, & V. H. Crespi, Astrophys. J. 818:183 (2016)
• Microphysics of neutron star outer envelopes in the periodized, magnetic Thomas-Fermi model, T. A. Engstrom, V. H. Crespi, B. J. Owen, J. Brannick, & Xiaozhe Hu, arXiv:1409.3299 (2015)
• A computer-controlled classroom model of an atomic force microscope, T. A. Engstrom, M. M. Johnson, P. C. Eklund, & T. J. Russin, Phys. Teach. 53 (2015)
• Probing phase coherence in solid helium using torsional oscillators of different path lengths, D. Y. Kim, J. T. West, T. A. Engstrom, N. Mulders, & M. H. W. Chan, Phys. Rev. B 85, 024533 (2012)
• Effects of friction stir welding on mechanical properties of the cast aluminum alloys A319 and A356, M. L. Santella, T. A. Engstrom, D. Storjohann, & T.-Y. Pan, Scr. Mater. 53, 2 (2005)