Steve WaiChing Sun 孫維正
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
Resume, CVs and Public Records
| Curriculum Vitae| 5-page CV | NSF Bio-Sketch | One-page Resume |
| Department Webpage| Faculty Profile | Google Scholar |ResearchGate |
Research, Teaching and Service Statements
| Research |Teaching | Service |
Education
Ph.D., Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Northwestern University, 2011
M.A., Civil Engineering, Princeton University, 2008
M.Sc., Civil Engineering (Geomechanics), Stanford University, 2007
B.Sc., Civil Engineering, University of California, Davis, 2005
Employment History
Associate Professor (with tenure), Columbia University, 2020-current
Assistant Professor, Columbia University, 2014-2020
Senior Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, 2013-2014
Postdoctoral Appointee, Sandia National Laboratories, 2011-2013
Visiting Scholar, California Institute of Technology, 2010-2011
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
Resume, CVs and Public Records
| Curriculum Vitae| 5-page CV | NSF Bio-Sketch | One-page Resume |
| Department Webpage| Faculty Profile | Google Scholar |ResearchGate |
Research, Teaching and Service Statements
| Research |Teaching | Service |
Education
Ph.D., Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Northwestern University, 2011
M.A., Civil Engineering, Princeton University, 2008
M.Sc., Civil Engineering (Geomechanics), Stanford University, 2007
B.Sc., Civil Engineering, University of California, Davis, 2005
Employment History
Associate Professor (with tenure), Columbia University, 2020-current
Assistant Professor, Columbia University, 2014-2020
Senior Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, 2013-2014
Postdoctoral Appointee, Sandia National Laboratories, 2011-2013
Visiting Scholar, California Institute of Technology, 2010-2011
orcid.org/0000-0002-3078-5086Selected Recognitions
IACM John Argyris Award for Young Scientists, International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM), 2020.
NSF CAREER Award, Mechanics of Materials and Structures Program, National Science Foundation, 2019.
ASCE EMI Leonardo Da Vinci Award, Engineering Mechanics Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2018.
Zienkiewicz Numerical Methods in Engineering Prize, Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), 2017.
AFOSR Young Investigator Program Award, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, 2017.
Dresden Junior Fellowship, Technische Universität Dresden, 2016.
ARO Young Investigator Program Award, Army Research Office, 2015.
Provost Diversity Award, Columbia University, 2015.
Caterpillar Best Paper Prize, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2014.
John W. and Ernest L. Heinrich Scholarship, University of California Davis, 2004.
American Public Works Association Scholarship, American Public Works Association, 2004.
PEER Scholarship, Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, 2003.
Selected Invited Talks
USACM Virtual summer seminar, 2020. [Video]
Henry L. Pierce Laboratory Seminar Series, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017.
Applied Mechanics Colloquia, Harvard University, 2016.
Claude R. Hocott Lectureship in Petroleum Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, 2015.
12th Annual Northeastern Granular Materials Workshop, June 6th, Brown University, 2014.
IUTAM Symposium on Connecting Multiscale Mechanics to Complex Material Design, Evanston, IL 2014.
Press Release
Press Release (NSF CAREER)| Press Release (ARO YIP) | Press Release ( AFOSR YIP) |
Press Release (Zienkiewicz Medal) | Press Release (Da Vinci Award) | Press Release (John Argyris Award)|
IACM John Argyris Award for Young Scientists, International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM), 2020.
NSF CAREER Award, Mechanics of Materials and Structures Program, National Science Foundation, 2019.
ASCE EMI Leonardo Da Vinci Award, Engineering Mechanics Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2018.
Zienkiewicz Numerical Methods in Engineering Prize, Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), 2017.
AFOSR Young Investigator Program Award, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, 2017.
Dresden Junior Fellowship, Technische Universität Dresden, 2016.
ARO Young Investigator Program Award, Army Research Office, 2015.
Provost Diversity Award, Columbia University, 2015.
Caterpillar Best Paper Prize, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2014.
John W. and Ernest L. Heinrich Scholarship, University of California Davis, 2004.
American Public Works Association Scholarship, American Public Works Association, 2004.
PEER Scholarship, Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, 2003.
Selected Invited Talks
USACM Virtual summer seminar, 2020. [Video]
Henry L. Pierce Laboratory Seminar Series, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017.
Applied Mechanics Colloquia, Harvard University, 2016.
Claude R. Hocott Lectureship in Petroleum Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, 2015.
12th Annual Northeastern Granular Materials Workshop, June 6th, Brown University, 2014.
IUTAM Symposium on Connecting Multiscale Mechanics to Complex Material Design, Evanston, IL 2014.
Press Release
Press Release (NSF CAREER)| Press Release (ARO YIP) | Press Release ( AFOSR YIP) |
Press Release (Zienkiewicz Medal) | Press Release (Da Vinci Award) | Press Release (John Argyris Award)|
Biography
Professor Sun’s research interests are in the mechanics and physics of geological and porous materials such as soil, rocks, concrete and salt. His work mainly focuses on computational poromechanics and geomechanics for a wide spectrum of applications ranging from field scale applications such as geological storage of carbon dioxide, hydraulic fracture, geological disposal of nuclear waste, vehicle-soil-water interaction to micro-scale simulations of the 3D printing processes and fragmentation and fracture of a single crystal grain. Sun’s research group specializes in the creation, derivation, implementation, verification and validation of theoretical and computational models for engineering applications. His research group acts as a bridge among mathematical science, theoretical mechanics and engineering industry. The research group’s representative works include but not limited to the development of solution techniques for predicting brittle-ductile transition of porous media, coupled deformation-diffusion in non-isothermal saturated and unsaturated porous media, formulations of stabilized mixed-field finite element model for large deformation multiphysics problems, modeling and homogenization of mechanical and hydraulic properties of porous media from CT images, digital rock and granular physics, modeling freezing and thawing of geological materials under the changing climate, and interdisciplinary innovative of mathematics concepts and ideas, such as graph theory, Lie algebra, and data-driven and machine learning approach for computational mechanics and geophysics problems.
Sun obtained his B.S. from UC Davis (2005); M.S. in civil engineering (geomechanics) from Stanford (2007); M.A. degree from Princeton (2008); and Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from Northwestern (2011). Prior to joining Columbia, he was a senior member of technical staff in the mechanics of materials department at Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore, CA). He is the recipient of the John Argyris Award (2020), NSF CAREER Faculty Development Award in 2019, ASCE EMI Leonardo da Vinci Award in 2018, the Zienkiewicz Numerical Methods in Engineering Prize in 2017, US Air Force Young Investigator Program Award in 2017, the Dresden Fellowship in 2016, US Army Young Investigator Program Award in 2015, and the Caterpillar Best Paper Prize in 2013, among others. Sun's research group has been sponsored by National Nuclear Security Administration, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, Army Research Office, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Sandia National Laboratories, and Columbia University, among others.
(last updated: 4/25/2021).
Professor Sun’s research interests are in the mechanics and physics of geological and porous materials such as soil, rocks, concrete and salt. His work mainly focuses on computational poromechanics and geomechanics for a wide spectrum of applications ranging from field scale applications such as geological storage of carbon dioxide, hydraulic fracture, geological disposal of nuclear waste, vehicle-soil-water interaction to micro-scale simulations of the 3D printing processes and fragmentation and fracture of a single crystal grain. Sun’s research group specializes in the creation, derivation, implementation, verification and validation of theoretical and computational models for engineering applications. His research group acts as a bridge among mathematical science, theoretical mechanics and engineering industry. The research group’s representative works include but not limited to the development of solution techniques for predicting brittle-ductile transition of porous media, coupled deformation-diffusion in non-isothermal saturated and unsaturated porous media, formulations of stabilized mixed-field finite element model for large deformation multiphysics problems, modeling and homogenization of mechanical and hydraulic properties of porous media from CT images, digital rock and granular physics, modeling freezing and thawing of geological materials under the changing climate, and interdisciplinary innovative of mathematics concepts and ideas, such as graph theory, Lie algebra, and data-driven and machine learning approach for computational mechanics and geophysics problems.
Sun obtained his B.S. from UC Davis (2005); M.S. in civil engineering (geomechanics) from Stanford (2007); M.A. degree from Princeton (2008); and Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from Northwestern (2011). Prior to joining Columbia, he was a senior member of technical staff in the mechanics of materials department at Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore, CA). He is the recipient of the John Argyris Award (2020), NSF CAREER Faculty Development Award in 2019, ASCE EMI Leonardo da Vinci Award in 2018, the Zienkiewicz Numerical Methods in Engineering Prize in 2017, US Air Force Young Investigator Program Award in 2017, the Dresden Fellowship in 2016, US Army Young Investigator Program Award in 2015, and the Caterpillar Best Paper Prize in 2013, among others. Sun's research group has been sponsored by National Nuclear Security Administration, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, Army Research Office, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Sandia National Laboratories, and Columbia University, among others.
(last updated: 4/25/2021).
Representative Publications since 2014 (Underlines indicate current or former students, " indicates postdoc, * indicates visiting scholar, ** indicates undergrad)
- N. Vlassis, W.C. Sun, Sobolev training of thermodynamic-informed neural network for interpretable elasto-plasticity models with level set hardening, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, doi:10.1016/j.cma.2021.113695, 2021. [Video][preprint]
- K. Wang, W.C. Sun, Meta-modeling game for deriving theory-consistent, microstructure-based traction-separation laws via deep reinforcement learning, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 346:216-241, doi:10.1016/j.cma.2018.11.026, 2019. [PDF][Bibtex]
- K. Wang, W.C. Sun, A multiscale multi-permeability poroplasticity model linked by recursive homogenizations and deep learning, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 334(1):337-380, doi:10.1016/j.cma.2018.01.036, 2018. [PDF][Bibtex]
- S. Na, W.C. Sun, Computational thermomechanics of crystalline rock. Part I: a combined multi-phase-field/crystal plasticity approach for single crystal simulations, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 338:657-691, doi:10.1016/j.cma.2017.12.022, 2018. [PDF][Bibtex]
- E. Bryant, W.C. Sun, Mixed-mode phase field fracture for secondary cracks in isotropic and anisotropic brittle rocks with consistent kinematics, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, doi:10.1016/j.cma.2018.08.008, 2018. [PDF][Bibtex]
- W.C. Sun, A stabilized finite element formulation for monolithic thermo-hydro-mechanical simulations at finite strain, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 103(11):798-839, doi:10.1002/nme.4910, 2015. [PDF] [Bibtex]
Web of Science Core Collection Author Data (as of 4/25/2021)
Median citation percentile = 88th percentile.
Number of times as first author = 20%
Number of times as last author = 52%
Number of times as corresponding author = 72%
Source: Web of Science record for User ID 1239680 and 42086511 [URL]
Median citation percentile = 88th percentile.
Number of times as first author = 20%
Number of times as last author = 52%
Number of times as corresponding author = 72%
Source: Web of Science record for User ID 1239680 and 42086511 [URL]
Supervised PhD dissertations (as PhD advisor)
- Towards trustworthy geometric deep learning for elastoplasticity (Nikolaos Vlassis), 2021. [URL]
- Capturing evolving size-dependent anisotropy: from brittle fracture to plasticity for geological materials (Eric Bryant), 2020 [URL]
- From multiscale modeling to metamodeling of geomechanics problem (Kun Wang), 2019 [URL]
- Multiscale thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical coupling effects for fluid-infiltrating crystalline solids and geomaterials: theory, implementation, and validation (SeonHong Na), 2018 [URL]
- Multiscale modeling of granular materials (Yang Liu), 2015 [URL]