Ahmed E. Elbanna

Biography

Ahmed E. Elbanna holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering (2011) and an M.S. in applied mechanics (2006), both from the California Institute of Technology, and an M.S. in structural engineering (2005) and B.S. in civil engineering (2003) from Cairo University. He joined the faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UIUC in 2013, where he currently leads the Mechanics of Complex Systems lab. His research focuses on problems in theoretical and applied mechanics of solids with special emphasis on critical and emergent phenomena, including fracture, nonlinear deformation, and wave propagation as they arise in geophysics, biomechanics, and engineering applications.

His honors include the National Science Foundation CAREER award, 2018, Fellowship of the National Center of Supercomputing Applications, 2015, the George Housner Fellowship, California Institute of Technology, 2005, and a Certificate of Academic Merit, National Ceremony of Science, Egypt, 2004.

Education

• PhD. Civil Engineering California Institute of Technology, USA 2011

• MSc. Applied Mechanics California Institute of Technology, USA 2006

• MSc. Structural Engineering Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University 2005

• BSc. Civil Engineering Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University 2003

Academic Positions

• Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign 2020-present

• Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign 2013-2020

• Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Physics, University of California at Santa Barbara 2011-2012

Professional Societies

• Member of Society of Engineering Sciences (2013-present)

• Member of American Physics Society (2013-present)

• Computational Mechanics Committee - EMI: Co-Chair (2024-present), Elected Chair (2026- )

• Member of Engineering Mechanics Institute -ASCE (2013-present)

• Member of American Geophysics Union (2007-present)

Service on Department Committees

• Member of Graduate Recruitment Weekend Committee (2022-present)

• Member of Structures Conference Organizing Committee (2022 - 2024)

• Chair of Structural Engineering Qualification Exam Committee (2015- 2019), (2021-2023)

• Graduate Admissions Committee : Member (2014-2015), Chair (2024-present)

Service on Campus Committees

• Member of the Faculty Senate (2020-present)

• Computational Science and Engineering Program - Steering Committee Member (2017-present)

• Shield Covid-19 Science Advisory Team, Member

• UIUC Covid-19 Modeling Team, Chair (2021-2022)

• UIUC Covid-19 Modeling Team, Member (2020-2021)

• Champaign Urbana Covid-19 Shield Steering Committee (2021-2022)

Other Outside Service

• Co-Leader of the Computational Science Disciplinary Group within the Planning Committee of the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) [2019 - present]

• Science Steering Committee, Statewide California Earthquake Center [2023- present]

• Committee on Professional Conduct, Statewide California Earthquake Center [2021-2024]

• Committee on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Statewide California Earthquake Center [2023-2024]

• Illinois Center of Transportion, Technical Committee on Structures and Geotechnical Engineering, Member [2014-2016]

Research Interests

• Modeling Epidemics

• Friction and fracture

• Mechanical metamaterials.

• Mechanics and physics of networked and biological materials

• Mechanics and physics of earthquakes and granular matter

Honors

• Donald Biggar Willet Faculty Fellow (2020)

• 7th Arab American Frontiers of Science, Engineering, and Medicine - Invited Participant (2019)

• 2019 Journal of Applied Mechanics Paper Award (2019)

• National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Award (2018)

• National Center for Super Computing Applications Fellowship (2015-2016)

• George Housner Fellowship, California Institute of Technology (2005)

• Certificate of National Academic Merit, Egypt (2003)

Teaching Honors

• Teachers ranked excellent by their students - CEE460 (Fall 2024)

• Teachers ranked excellent by their students - CEE460 (Fall 2021)

• Teachers ranked excellent by their students - CEE460 (Fall 2019)

• Teachers ranked excellent by their students - CEE470 (Fall 2018)