Photo taken in 2014.
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
UPS Foundation Visiting Professor, Stanford University, 2022-2023.
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
UPS Foundation Visiting Professor, Stanford University, 2022-2023.
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
Biography
Professor Sun is an associate professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics at Columbia University. He 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). From 2011-2014, he worked in the mechanics of materials department at Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore, CA), first as postdoc, then promoted to the rank of senior member of technical staff in 2013. Sun's recent research interest is on high-precision machine learning and data-driven modeling of nature and man-made materials. Sun has published over 100 journal articles (see Publications). His research has been recognized by several awards across the globe, including the John Argyris Award from IACM, Leonard de Vinci Award and Walter Huber Engineering Prize from ASCE EMI, Zienkiewicz Numerical Methods in Engineering Prize, among others. Since 2025, Sun has served as an editor for International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering.
(last updated: 3/28/2025).
Professor Sun is an associate professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics at Columbia University. He 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). From 2011-2014, he worked in the mechanics of materials department at Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore, CA), first as postdoc, then promoted to the rank of senior member of technical staff in 2013. Sun's recent research interest is on high-precision machine learning and data-driven modeling of nature and man-made materials. Sun has published over 100 journal articles (see Publications). His research has been recognized by several awards across the globe, including the John Argyris Award from IACM, Leonard de Vinci Award and Walter Huber Engineering Prize from ASCE EMI, Zienkiewicz Numerical Methods in Engineering Prize, among others. Since 2025, Sun has served as an editor for International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering.
(last updated: 3/28/2025).
orcid.org/0000-0002-3078-5086Selected Recognitions
ASCE Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2023.
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)
Press Release (Changing the rules of the modeling game)
Press Release (Army Educational Outreach Program Interview)
Press Release (Walter Huber Prize 1)
Press Release (Walter Huber Prize 2)
ASCE Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2023.
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)
Press Release (Changing the rules of the modeling game)
Press Release (Army Educational Outreach Program Interview)
Press Release (Walter Huber Prize 1)
Press Release (Walter Huber Prize 2)
Representative Publications since 2014 (Underlines indicate current or former students, " indicates postdoc, * indicates visiting scholar, ** indicates undergrad)
- N.N. Phan, W.C. Sun, J.D. Clayton, HYDRA: Symbolic feature engineering of overparameterized Eulerian hyperelasticity models for fast inference time, 417:117792, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 2025. [URL][Code]
- B. Bahmani, W.C. Sun, Distance-preserving manifold de-noising for data-driven mechanics, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, doi:10.1016/j.cma.2022.115857, 2022. [URL]
- 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]
- N. Vlassis, R. Ma", W.C. Sun, Geometric deep learning for computational mechanics Part I: Anisotropic Hyperelasticity, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, doi:10.1016/j.cma.2020.113299, 2020. [PDF]
- 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]
Supervised PhD dissertations (as PhD advisor) [see Mathematics Genealogy for complete list]
- Learning non-Euclidean representation for solid mechanics (Mian Xiao), 2025. [URL]
- Geometry-informed data-driven mechanics (Bahador Bahmani), 2023. [URL]
- Computational microporomechanics for phase-changing geological materials (Hyoung Suk Suh), 2022 [URL].
- 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 problems (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]