My area of expertise and research background is in the development of finite element methods and non-linear constitutive models. My research spans a variety of topics and application areas that have primarily supported the programmatic interests of the Department of Energy, including: the development of novel finite element formulations for improved modeling of composites and shell structures; formulation of non-linear material models characterizing the behavior of metals and polymers under extreme loading conditions; and driving improvements in the numerical modeling of contacting interfaces, and finite element code coupling strategies for modeling fluid-structure interaction.

The goal of my research is to drive improvements in the high-fidelity modeling of extreme loads on structures through the development of novel numerical simulation methods and the use of high-performance computing. Ongoing research projects that I am currently pursuing include: the creation of high-fidelity simulation frameworks to model blast, tornado, and debris loads on structures to quantify risks to critical infrastructure; development of scalable and efficient numerical methods for the modeling of contact and friction in large-scale engineering analyses; and investigating the use of reverse computing principles to enable the solution of large-scale time-dependent structural optimization and inverse problems.