Professor Steve WaiChing Sun Receives IACM’s John Argyris Award for Young Scientists

In recognition of his groundbreaking research illuminating the mechanics and physics of porous geomaterials like rocks, soil, concrete and salt, Professor Steve WaiChing Sun has earned the prestigious John Argyris Award for Young Scientists. This award is given by the International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM).

Bridging mathematical science, theoretical mechanics, and industrial applications, Sun’s interests focus on computational poromechanics and geomechanics for a variety of applications, ranging from carbon dioxide storage to disposal of nuclear waste. In addition to the John Argyris award, Sun has received several prominent international awards in theoretical and computational mechanics, including the Zienkiewicz Numerical Methods in Engineering Prize from Institution of Civil Engineers (UK), the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute Leonardo de Vinci Award (USA), Dresden Fellowship (Germany), as well as the young investigator awards from funding agencies, including the US National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the US Air Force Young Investigator Program Award, and the US Army Young Investigator Program Award.

Highlighting distinguished scholarship and outstanding accomplishments, the biennial John Argyris Award for Young Scientists celebrates influential researchers 40 and under. Sun, an assistant professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics since 2014, will be the first Columbia faculty member and the first Chinese American to receive this honor. He will receive the award at the opening ceremony for the joint organization of the 14^th IACM World Congress in Computational Mechanics and the 8^th European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Science and Engineering this summer in Paris.