Ahmad R Najafi

PI: Ahmad Raeisi Najafi

PC Chou Assistant Professor,

Department of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

Drexel University,

Address: 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104

Phone: (215) 571-4578

Fax: (215) 895-1478

Email: arn55@drexel.edu

Office location: 158 Curtis Hall

Ahmad Raeisi Najafi is the P.C. Chou Endowed Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Department and the director of the Multiscale Computational Mechanics and Biomechanics LAB (MCMB LAB). He is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of design optimization and bone biomechanics. He also serves as the director of the NSF S-STEM AMIE Scholarships at Drexel University.
Najafi’s research focuses on design optimization, damage and fracture, and orthopedic materials and implants. His group develops computational algorithms for the design of multifunctional multiscale materials and structures for use in mechanical, biomedical, aerospace, and infrastructure applications. His research also advances the fundamental understanding of the underlying mechanics of fracture in multifunctional biological and synthetic composite materials. He also integrates computational mechanics approaches into orthopedic biomechanics to study human skeletal diseases and injuries and design new orthotropic materials and implants. To conduct these studies, he closely collaborates with experts in mechanics, biomechanics, civil engineering, manufacturing, and material engineering and science. Sponsors of his research have included the NSF, NIH, PA Department of Community & Economic Development, Coulter foundation, and DARPA.
Najafi is a recipient of the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award (2022), the Drexel Provost Award for Outstanding Early Career Scholarly Productivity (2023), the College of Engineering Outstanding Early-Career Research Award (2023), and the Drexel University Career Development Award (2019). He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME), the US Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM), the International Society for Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (ISSOM), and the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB). He served as the Editorial Board member of the Multifunctional Materials journal (2019-2022).
Najafi received his first Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Tehran Polytechnique in 2006. He then studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, receiving his second Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics in 2016.

Education

  • Ph.D., Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016
  • Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering (Biomechanics), Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), 2006
  • M.Sc., Biomedical Engineering (Biomechanics), Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), 1999
  • B.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, 1997

Research Interests

Mechanics:

  • Computational Solid Mechanics
  • Design Optimization
  • Fracture Mechanics
  • Design of Biomimetic Materials

Computational Biomechanics and Biology:

  • Mechanics of Biological Composites and Biomaterials
  • Bone Biomechanics and Bone Fracture
  • Computational Biology and Biophysics

Honors

  • Drexel Provost Award for Outstanding Early Career Scholarly Productivity, 2023
  • College of Engineering Outstanding Early Career Research Award, 2023
  • Appointed as the P.C. Chou Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, College of Engineering, Drexel University, 2022
  • A recipient of the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (NSF CAREER) Award, 2022
  • Panel Fellow, NSF CMMI’s Game Changer Academies for Advancing Research Innovation (CGCA), 2021
  • Faculty Summer Research Award, Drexel University, 2020
  • Drexel University Career Development Award, Drexel University, 2019
  • Awarded for exceptional publication activity by Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016
  • Awarded for attending in the 2016 Purdue Prospective Faculty Workshop, held February 28 – March 1, 2016, on the Purdue campus in West Lafayette, Indiana
  • Awarded for exceptional publication activity by Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015
  • Grad College Travel Grant Award, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Fall 2015
  • Best Ph.D. Thesis in Biomedical Engineering (Biomechanics), Iranian Society of Biomedical Engineering, 2008
  • Ranked #1 in Ph.D. entrance exam, Biomedical Engineering (Biomechanics), Amirkabir University of Technology, 1999