Computational Mechanics & Scientific Computing
Duke computational mechanics faculty develop efficient, precise algorithms to study and solve complex problems governed by the laws of mechanics. The discipline plays a fundamental role in many important problems in science and engineering, such as materials design, tissue engineering, biomedical imaging, prediction of natural events, energy exploration and use, and more.
Research Areas
- Computational fluid dynamics
- Computational nonlinear poro-elasticity
- Computation of highly nonlinear mechanical systems
- Fluid-structure interaction
- Flow through porous media
- Fracture and fragmentation
- Inverse problems and optimization
- Multiscale approaches
- Uncertainty quantification on complex systems
Related Study Opportunities
PhD and MS in Civil Engineering
- Both PhD and MS programs offer a Computational Mechanics & Scientific Computing Study Track
Master of Engineering (MEng)
- Duke CEE offers an MEng in Computational Mechanics & Scientific Computing in collaboration with the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
- Our MEng in Civil Engineering program offers a concentration in Computational Engineering
Undergraduate Research
- Duke's Major in Civil Engineering offers opportunities to study and conduct research in computational mechanics through the Structural Engineering & Mechanics study track
- Duke Engineering also offers summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) for students enrolled at other institutions.
Primary Faculty
Fred K. Boadu
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: How the engineering, environmental and petrophysical properties of porous media (soils, fractured rock, biological tissues) affect measurable geophysical responses, and subsequently develop methodologies by which these properties can be obtained from non-invasive geophysical...
Henri P. Gavin
Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: Structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, seismic hazard mitigation for building contents, nonlinear dynamics, system identification, optimal control with application to systems with controllable damping.
Johann Guilleminot
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: Computational mechanics, mechanics of heterogeneous materials, molecular dynamics simulations and atomistic-to-continuum coupling, stochastic solvers, statistical inverse problem and model validation, stochastic analysis, uncertainty quantification in science and engineering
Tomasz Hueckel
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: Mechanics of materials, theoretical soil mechanics, rock mechanics, theory of plasticity, multi-physics processes in geomechanics, nuclear waste disposal, energy and environmental geomechanics.
Joseph C. Nadeau
Professor of the Practice in Civil And Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: Theoretical and applied mechanics, micromechanics, composite materials, and probabilistic methods
Guglielmo Scovazzi
Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: Finite element methods, computational fluid and solid mechanics, multiphase porous media flows, computational methods for fluid and solid materials under extreme load conditions, turbulent flow computations, instability phenomena.
Manolis Veveakis
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: Geomechanics, theoretical and applied mechanics, and thermodynamics, with emphasis in multiphysical modelling of plasticity of solids, solid-fluid interactions, friction laws and rheology of geomaterials
Secondary Faculty
Wilkins Aquino
Anderson-Rupp Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Research Interests: Computational mechanics, finite element methods, computational inverse problems and their applications in engineering and biomedicine, scientific computing, computational acoustics and acoustics-structure interaction, coupled chemo-mechanics (e.g., electrochemistry-mechanics).
John Everett Dolbow
Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Research Interests: Modeling quasi-static and dynamic fracture of structural components, the evolution of interfaces with nonlinear constitutive laws, and developing models for stimulus-responsive hydrogels
Omar Mohamad Knio
Edmund T. Pratt Jr. School Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Research Interests: Computational fluid mechanics, oceanic and atmospheric flows, turbulent flow, physical acoustics, chemically-reactive flow, energetic materials, microfluidic devices, dynamical systems, numerical methods, and asymptotic and stochastic techniques.
Brian Mann
Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Research Interests: Nonlinear dynamics and vibration utilizing analytical, numerical, and experimental techniques. Fundamental investigations of phenomenon and application areas where dynamical systems theory plays an important role.
Lawrence N. Virgin
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Research Interests: Study of the behavior of nonlinear dynamical systems, including the investigation of the fundamental nature of nonlinear systems based on a mathematical description of their underlying equations of motion and the application of recent results from nonlinear dynamical systems...
Adjunct Faculty
Dwayne Elias
Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Lyesse Laloui
Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: Natural and man-made systems with coupled phenomena. Environmental Geomechanics, Geotechnical and Geo-environmental Engineering, Mechanics of Multiphase Porous Materials. Area of activities at Duke University: Thermo-mechanical behavior of soils, soil desiccation and shrinkage.