Nathan Huft - Department of Mechanical Engineering

Nathan HuftAssociate Professor

1300 West Park Street, Butte, MT 59701
Science and Engineering Building (S&E) 309
Phone: 406-496-4576
E-mail: nhuft@mtech.edu

Biography

Nathan earned a B.S. degree in metallurgical engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 2010, an M.S. degree in general engineering from Montana Tech of The University of Montana in 2012, and a Ph.D. in materials science from Montana Technological University in 2019.

Before joining the faculty at Montana Tech in 2020, Nathan gained nearly a decade of industrial experience as a foundry and welding engineer with SeaCast, Montana Precision Products, and Idaho National Laboratory.

Nathan leads the welding engineering focus area within Montana Tech’s mechanical engineering department, teaching the welding engineering courses and labs. He advises the Montana Tech Baja SAE student club and the American Welding Society (AWS) student chapter.

Nathan oversees the Montana Tech Advanced Manufacturing (MTAM) research group, which conducts research in additive manufacturing, welding, cold spray, and materials mixing.

Nathan is a registered professional engineer in Montana, an American Welding Society Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) and Certified Welding Engineer (CWEng), and an Investment Casting Institute Certified Investment Casting Specialist. He is a member of the American Welding Society, American Foundry Society (AFS), and The Minerals, Metals, and Materials, Society (TMS).

Research Interests

  • Welding metallurgy
  • Metal additive manufacturing, especially wire and arc additive manufacturing
  • Welding processes and applications
  • Alloy development
  • Metal solidification

Courses Taught

  • Fluid Mechanics (EGEN 335)
  • Introduction to Welding Engineering (EWLD 314)
  • Welding Process Applications and Lab (EWLD 340 & EWLD 341)
  • Design of Welded Connections (EWLD 440)
  • Physics of Welding (EWLD 443/543)
  • Nondestructive Evaluation (EWLD 476)
  • Metallurgy of Welds (EWLD 488/588)

 

Selected Publications, Presentations, and Patents

Bikash Mahato, Jay Yoder, Gloyd Simmons, Nathan Huft, Isaac Nault, Peter Lucon (2025). Particle dynamics in low-pressure cold spray additive manufacturing–A numerical and experimental study. Additive Manufacturing, 104937.

Bikash Mahato, Jay Yoder, Gloyd Simmons, Nathan Huft, Isaac Nault, and Peter Lucon (2024). Investigation of particle dynamics in a low-pressure cold spray additive manufacturing process. In 77th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics. Salt Lake City, UT, November 2024.

Bikash Mahato, Jay Yoder, Gloyd Simmons, Nathan Huft, Isaac Nault, and Peter Lucon (2024). Numerical and experimental investigation of particle dynamics in cold spray additive manufacturing process. In International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE). Portland, OR, November 2024.

Bikash Mahato, Jay Yoder, Katelyn Rapp, Gloyd Simmons, Nathan Huft, Isaac Nault, and Peter Lucon. Particle dynamics of a low-pressure cold spray system. In 14th Cold Spray Action Team Meeting. Worcester, MA, June 2024.

  1. Holly, B. Pramanik, N. Huft, J. Madison, Methods of Welding Casing Subjected to Impulsive Loading, in 68th Congress of Indian Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ISTAM 2023), Dec. 2023.

Bikash Mahato, Jay Yoder, Gloyd Simmons, Nathan Huft, and Peter Lucon (2023). A DNS investigation of aeroacoustic noise generation in cold spray additive manufacturing. In 76th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics. Washington, DC, November 2023.

McNabb, Lucon, Huft, Winsor. Dry Metal Alloying Compositions and Related Methods.  US Patent 11,794,242, 2023.

  1. S. Hanson, K.V. Sudhakar, Huft, P.A. Lucon, J. Lucon, D. Jacintho. Evaluation of SLM Parameters for Producing Elementally Homogeneous Printed Products Using Novel Dry Metal Alloy (DMA) Powder Feedstock. Presented at TMS 2023 Annual Meeting and Exhibition, March 19-23, 2023, San Diego, CA.
  2. Lucon, N. Huft. Dry Metal Alloy Mixing and Capabilities. Presented at the 7th Annual Energetics RAM Users Forum, May 10-11, 2022, Rapid City, SD.
  3. Lillo, N. Huft, M. Glazoff, E. Larsen, J. Walleser, D. Clark. Novel Aspects of multi-Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing for Large Component Fabrication for Extreme Environments and New Alloy Discovery. Presented at TMS 2021 Annual Meeting and Exhibition, March 15-18, 2021.
  4. Sudhakar, L. George, and N.Huft. "Analysis of failure mechanisms in a planetary gear," International Engineering Journal, Vol. 1, No.1, pp. 5-13, January 2013.

Professional Licenses and Certifications

Professional Engineer (Montana 90413)
American Welding Society Certified Welding Inspector (Number 25091931)
American Welding Society Certified Welding Engineer (Number 2509000G)
Investment Casting Institute Certified Investment Casting Specialist

Awards

2024 Montana Tech Faculty Merit Award
2023 Montana Technological University Faculty Achievement Award
2021 South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Outstanding Recent Graduate Award