Matthew Ballard

Faculty Member

Matt Ballard

Biography

Dr. Ballard is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, as well as the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at UVU. He has gained a variety of experience through working as a mechanical engineer and flight test engineer at NAVAIR's Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, California, through two graduate internships at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California, and through teaching Mechanical Engineering courses at UVU, at Saint Martin's University, and at Georgia Tech Lorraine in Metz, France. Dr. Ballard earned his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2017 and 2014, respectively, and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University in 2009. Dr. Ballard teaches primarily in the areas of fluid and thermal sciences, and coaches UVU Capstone teams, including the UVU Unmanned Aerial Vehicle team. Further, Dr. Ballard is currently actively pursuing research in the areas of biofluid mechanics, design of microfluidic devices and applied aerodynamics. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and by Utah Valley University. He is open to collaborations with industry, national labs and academia, and to giving students opportunities to develop through doing meaningful ground-breaking research. To learn more, don't hesitate to reach out directly to Dr. Ballard.

Education

PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017

Major: Mechanical Engineering

MS, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014

Major: Mechanical Engineering

BS, Brigham Young University, 2009

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Teaching

ME 3310

Fluid Mechanics, Fall 2024

ME 489R

Undergraduate Research Project, Fall 2024

ME 490R

Advanced Current Topics in Mechanical Engineering, Spring 2024

ENGR 2300

Engineering Thermodynamics, Spring 2024

Presentations

Ballard, Matt , 2024 BYU Biomedical Engineering Research Conference. , "Development of computational and experimental models of the venous valve sinus ", BYU Biomedical Engineering Association, Provo, UT. (January 25, 2024)
McConahay, Taten (Presenter & Author), Dayley, Sarah (Co-Author), Ballard, Matthew (Co-Author), 76th Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics, "A silicone venous valve model for visualization and characterization of the effect of valve morphology on valve and flow behavior", American Physical Society, Washington, D.C.. (November 20, 2023)
Villella, Reece (Presenter & Author), Ballard, Matthew (Co-Author), 76th Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics, "Development of a bio-inspired microfluidic valve", American Physical Society, Washington, D.C.. (November 20, 2023)

Scholarly/Creative Works

Ballard, Matthew S, McConahay, Taten , Swain, Brett , Dayley, Sarah , (2024) "Project-based learning via creation and testing of a silicone venous valve model" . American Society of Engineering Education.
Flake, Todd , Villella, Reece , Ballard, Matthew S, (2024) "Development of a Bio-Inspired Microfluidic Valve" . IEEE.