Prof. Jacob Fish Awarded John von Neumann Medal
Jacob Fish, Chair and Carleton Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, has been awarded the John von Neumann Medal by the U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM) for his sustained and seminal contributions to the field of multiscale computational science and engineering, and for their major impact on industry.
The John von Neumann Medal is the highest award given by USACM. It honors individuals who have made outstanding, sustained contributions in the field of computational mechanics generally over periods representing substantial portions of their professional careers. The medal is normally awarded every two years at the time of the National Congress of the Association. The award will be formally announced and presented to Fish at the virtual 16th U.S. National Congress on Computational Mechanics, July 25-29.
An internationally recognized computational scientist, Fish has made many fundamental and seminal contributions to multiscale computational science and engineering, and his research has had a significant impact on industry. His multiscale methodologies have been used for manufacturing of GE90 fan blades; environmental degradation of turbo-engines for General Electric, United Technologies, and Rolls-Royce; life prediction of aerospace components for Lockheed-Martin, Northrop-Grumman, and Sikorski; energy absorption of composite cars manufactured by General Motors; aging and environmental degradation of composites in collaboration with Boeing and GE Aviation; reinforced concrete structures; piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials; various nanotechnology applications ranging from nanodevices to nanomaterials; and most recently, additive manufacturing, fracture of femur, and manufacturing processes.
Fish creates simulation-based design approaches that remove traditional scale-related barriers between physics, chemistry, biology, and various engineering disciplines. These approaches are predictive rather than diagnostic, and multiphysics-multiscale rather than phenomenological.
Among his most noteworthy contributions are the s-method for adaptivity, multiscale enrichment elements, homogenization of discrete media, multigrid-based multiscale methods, scale separation-free homogenization methods, reduced order homogenization methods, stochastic multiscale methods, methods accounting for micro-inertia effect, and coupling of multiple physical process at multiple spatial and temporal scales.
Fish, who joined the faculty of Columbia Engineering in 2010, received his BS in structural engineering (1982) and his MS in structural mechanics from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (1985), and his PhD in theoretical and applied mechanics from Northwestern University in 1989.
He serves as an editor-in-chief of the Journal of Multiscale Computational Engineering, editor of the International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, and on the editorial boards of numerous journals. He is a past president of the United States Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM) and currently serves as the Vice-President for Americas of the International Association for Computational Mechanics.
Fish is a recipient of the 2018 Grand Prize from the Japan Society for Computational Engineering and Science, the 2010 Computational Mechanics award from the International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM), and the 2005 Ted Belytschko Medal from the USACM. He is also a fellow of American Academy of Mechanics (AAM), USACM, and IACM.