Join us
Join the lab
We recruit graduate and undergraduate researchers to work on fracture and multiscale modeling of heterogeneous materials, active-material design, and reliable scientific AI.
CEAD works on computational mechanics problems where model fidelity matters: how heterogeneous materials fail, how active structures can be designed, and when a learned surrogate can be trusted. Projects combine mechanics, numerical methods, optimization and error control.
What you would work on
Whichever of the three thrusts fits you. Depending on the project, that may mean coupled bulk–interface fracture, adaptive multiscale modeling, material–structural co-design of active systems, manufacturing-aware optimization, or error-controlled neural operators for design and inference.
You would not be handed a solved problem. You would be handed a question, the codes the group has already built, and the expectation that you learn to judge your own results.
What we look for
- A real interest in engineering mathematics, finite element methods and solid mechanics; the appetite matters more than the coursework.
- Scientific programming in Python or C++: already strong, or strongly motivated to become so. What the group releases is meant to be read as well as run, and you would be expected to write code someone else can pick up.
- A willingness to check your own work. The group’s whole argument is about knowing when a model can be trusted; that habit is the thing being taught.
Prior HPC or FEM experience is helpful but not required.
How to apply
Write to prashant.jha@sdsmt.edu. Tell us which of the three thrusts interests you and why. A paragraph is plenty. If you have written code that you are proud of, send a link.
Formal admission runs through South Dakota Mines Graduate Admissions; an email first is the faster way to find out whether it is a fit.
Not a graduate student
Undergraduates get a real question here, scoped so it can be finished and defended. Ian Galloway began as an undergraduate researcher in the group and is first author of its 2026 manuscript; see education.
Middle and high-school students curious about how engineers simulate things that break, bend or flow are welcome to write. There is hands-on computational work here that does not need a degree to start on, and we would rather hear from someone early than not at all.
Educators and other faculty: the course materials, notebooks and codes are public and meant to be reused. If you want to adapt something, co-develop a module, or bring a class to see what simulation actually looks like, say so.