Haim Waisman

He has developed novel finite element methods with special interest in extended finite elements (XFEM), damage/phase field methods, cohesive zone methods, multigrid/multiscale methods, mixed finite element formulations, inverse optimization problems, and scientific/parallel computing. 

Waisman has been engaged in diverse applications with a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, e.g. high strain rates impact problems, delamination of composite materials, topology optimization, and crack detection in structures, damage of suspension bridges and concrete structures, hydraulic fracture of rocks and ice sheets in polar regions.

Haim Waisman obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, in 2002 and a Doctorate in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), in 2005. He was also a post-doctoral fellow in the Scientific Computing Research Center (SCOREC) at RPI and in the Mechanical Engineering department at Northwestern University before joining Columbia University in 2008. Waisman and his students have won several best paper and poster awards. He is the recipient of the Department of Energy Early Career Award, in 2012 and the Leonardo Da Vinci Award from the Engineering Mechanics Institute of ASCE, in 2014.

Research Areas

• Structural Engineering
• Sustainable Infrastructure
• Dynamics and Vibrations
• Solid Mechanics
• Computational Mechanics
• Dynamic Behavior of Structures
• Mechanics of Advanced Materials
• Multiscale Modeling and Simulation
• Nonlinear Mechanics
• Soft Materials Mechanics
• Biomechanics
• Fracture and Damage Mechanics
• Finite Element Methods
• Multiphysics Problems
• Design and Topology Optimization
• Scientific and Parallel Computing