News announcement

Ph.D. Positions at the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Fully funded PhD positions are available in Dr. Qizhi He’s Computational Mechanics Group at the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (UMN). The expected start date is Fall 2022.  The successful candidate will work with Dr. He on the research areas that involve Multiscale Materials Modeling, Meshfree Methods, Mechanistic Machine Learning, Data-Driven Computing, and Structural Optimization. Primary research topics include but are not limited to:

·       Machine learning / deep learning for computational mechanics

·       Meshfree methods for multiscale modeling, optimization, and design of advanced materials

·       Scientific machine learning and reduced order modeling for large scale civil, energy and environmental systems

About PI

Dr. Qizhi He will join the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering at the University of Minnesota as an Assistant Professor in January 2022. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at San Diego State University after receiving two-year Postdoctoral training in the Scientific Machine Learning Group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). He obtained his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering with Specialization in Computational Science (2018) and M.A. in Applied Mathematics (2016) from UC San Diego. Dr. He is broadly working on the areas of computational mechanics, computational mathematics, and scientific machine learning, with a focus on developing machine learning enhanced computational modeling tools for multiscale and multiphysics problems. Please visit his website for more information: https://sites.google.com/view/qzhe

About University of Minnesota [Video]

University of Minnesota (UMN) established in 1851 is the flagship institution of the University of Minnesota System, located in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. UMN is one of only 66 U.S. research universities in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU) and is ranked 17th in research activity, with $954 million in research and development expenditures in the fiscal year 2018. The University of Minnesota faculty, alumni, and researchers have won 29 Nobel Prizes and three Pulitzer Prizes. In 2021, UMN was ranked as 40th best university in the world (24^th nationwide) by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), and the 47th best global university by the U.S. News and World Report. Civil engineering at UMN consistently ranks among the top 20 programs nationwide.

About the Twin Cities

The Twin Cities, i.e., Minneapolis–Saint Paul, is the 16^th largest metropolitan area in U.S. with a population of about 3.6 million according to 2020 census estimate. The cosmopolitan area is a balanced commercial,industrial, educational, and cultural center, and functions much as one city. With numerous lakes and extensive park systems for outdoor recreation, the Twin Cities is shaded by luxuriant trees and have lovely scenery of the four seasons. The Twin Cities is also the home of fine art museums, renowned restaurants, the world-class Guthrie Theater, Mall of America, and more than 10 Fortune Global 500 companies. According to the U.S. News & World Report and Niche's rankings, Minneapolis is one of the top 25 best cities to live in America.

Qualifications

The desired candidate should have:

·       B.S. or M.S. in civil/mechanical/aerospace engineering, material science, physics, applied mathematics, physics, or a related discipline. A master’s degree with project experience is a plus.

·       Strong background and interest in computational mechanics, solid mechanics, and numerical modeling & simulation.

·       Experience with the finite element analysis of nonlinear solid materials, meshfree method, topology optimization, and machine learning would be a strong plus.

·       Willingness and motivation to work in highly interdisciplinary field.

·       Programming experience (Fortran, C++, Python, MATLAB, etc.) is highly desired.

How to apply

Interested candidates are invited to email Dr. He (qzhe@umn.edu) with a cover letter (no more than 1 paper) briefly describing your research experience and interests, a latest CV, and the contact information for 3 references. Unofficial transcripts and English test scores (foreign applicants) are also encouraged to provide in CV or as email attachments in PDF format. This and any other specific inquiries should be addressed with “PhD Application 2022 – [Last Name, First Name] – [Affiliated Institution]” in the subject line.

Deadline: Open until filled. Please note that the deadline for graduate student application for the Fall 2022 semester is December 3, 2021.

General information about admissions and applications can be found at:

•       How to Apply to CEGE Graduate Programs: https://cse.umn.edu/cege/how-apply-cege-graduate-programs

•       Financial Support: https://cse.umn.edu/cege/financial-support