Somnath Ghosh, Michael G. Callas Chair Professor in the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering (CaSE), has been awarded the 2025 Theodore von Karman Medal by the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI). Ghosh is recognized for his pioneering advancements in computational multiscale multiphysics solid mechanics that combines materials science, integrated computational materials engineering, uncertainty quantification, and machine learning. His research has led to new approaches for predicting multiscale material response, having a significant industrial impact.
Established in 1960 by EMI, the award is named in honor of Theodore von Karman, a renowned mathematician, aerospace engineer, and physicist in aeronautics and astronautics. As the award recipient, Ghosh will receive the Theodore von Karman Medal at EMI’s annual conference in Anaheim, California from May 27-30, 2025.
Ghosh, who directs the Computational Mechanics Research Laboratory (CMRL) and founded the Center for Integrated Structure-Materials Modeling and Simulations (CISMMS) at Johns Hopkins University, focuses on research related to spatio-temporal multiscale and multiphysics modeling. His work, which has had transformative impact, has applications in the prognosis and life prediction of metals and composites, and in multifunctional materials, such as piezo-electric damage sensing and load-bearing antennas. He was the director of the Air Force Center of Excellence on Materials Modeling from 2012 to 2018 and is the current co-Director of NASA’s Space Technology Research Institute for Model-based Qualification and Certification of Additive Manufacturing (IMQCAM), leading the development of a digital twin for additive manufacturing.
The computational models and tools developed by Ghosh have applications in the aerospace, automotive, materials, and propulsion industries and are used by companies like Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, and Rolls-Royce, as well as in U.S. Department of Defense laboratories, including the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Army Research Laboratory, and multiple NASA agencies.
He is a Fellow of several professional societies, including EMI, The Materials and Minerals Society (TMS), Society of Engineering Science (SES), International Association of Computational Mechanics (IACM), American Academy of Mechanics (AAM), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM), ASM International, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
Prior to joining Johns Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering in 2011, Ghosh was a distinguished faculty member at The Ohio State University. Over the course of his career, he has published more than 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has authored Micromechanical Analysis and Multi-Scale Modeling Using the Voronoi Cell Finite Element Method, co-edited two books, and is a co-editor of Crystal Plasticity: Atomistics to Macroscale in the Handbook of Materials Modeling, Volume 1 Methods: Theory and Modeling.
Ghosh earned his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, his master’s in theoretical and applied mechanics from Cornell University, and his PhD in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics from the University of Michigan.