Biography

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.

Degrees / Education

• PhD, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016
• PhD, Biomedical Engineering (Biomechanics), Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), 2006
• MSc, Biomedical Engineering (Biomechanics), Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), 1999
• BSc, Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, 1997

Research Areas

• Computation
• Health and Medicine
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Cyber and Physical Infrastructure
• Engineering Education
• Systems Engineering

Research Interests

Academic Distinctions

• Drexel Provost Award for Outstanding Early Career Scholarly Productivity, 2023
• College of Engineering Outstanding Early Career Research Award, 2023
• Carleone Faculty Award, 2023
• The P.C. Chou Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, College of
  Engineering, Drexel University, 2022.
• National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (NSF
  CAREER) Award, 2022.
• Cover Article in Advanced Materials Technologies
• Panel Fellow, NSF CMMI's Game Changer Academics for Advancing Research Innovation (CGCA), 2021
• Faculty Summer Research Award, 2020
• Drexel University Career Development Award, Drexel University, 2019

Select Publications

• Sadighi, A., Taghvaei, M., Taheri, M., Oeth D., Siegler, S., Schaer, T. P., Raeisi Najafi A.; “Numerical Analysis of the Mechanical Response of Novel Swelling Bone Implants in Polyurethane Foam”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 105871, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2023.10587
• Siegler S., Taghvaei M., Zegarski R., Palmese G., Mathew R., Schayes J., Schaer T., Raeisi Najafi A.; “A porous swelling copolymeric material for improved implant fixation to bone”, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part B, Applied Biomaterials, 1-9, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbm.b.35238
• Pejman R. & Raeisi Najafi A.; “Multiphysics Topology Optimization of a Multifunctional Structural Battery Composite”, Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 66 (46), 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00158-023-03490-3
• Black N., Raeisi Najafi A.; “Deep Neural Networks in Concurrent Multiscale Structural Optimization”, Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 66 (1), 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00158-022-03471-y
• Maghami E. & Raeisi Najafi A.; “Influence of Age-related Changes in Crack Growth Trajectories and Toughening Mechanics in Human Dentin”, Dental Materials, vol 38 (11), pp. 1789– 1800, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2022.09.009
• Black N., Raeisi Najafi A.; “Learning finite element convergence with the Multi-fidelity Graph Neural Network”, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, vol 397, 115120, 2022.
• Pejman R., Gorman J., & Raeisi Najafi A.; “Multi-physics design of a new battery packaging for electric vehicles utilizing multifunctional composites”, Composites Part B: Engineering, vol 237, 109810, 2022.
• Maghami E., Moore J. P., Josephson T. O., Raeisi Najafi A.; “Damage analysis of human cortical bone under compressive and tensile loadings”, Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, vol 25 (3), 342-357, 2022.
•  Josephson T. O., Moore J. P., Maghami E., Freeman T. A., Raeisi Najafi A.; “Computational Study of the Mechanical Influence of Lacunae and Perilacunar Zones in Cortical Bone Microcracking”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials,126, 105029, 2022.
• Maghami E., Josephson T. O., Moore J. P., Rezaee T., Freeman T. A., Karim L., Raeisi Najafi A.; “Fracture behavior of human cortical bone: Role of advanced glycation end-products and microstructural features”, Journal of Biomechanics, vol 125, 110600, 2021.
• Devi U., Pejman R., Zhang P., Phillips Z. J., Soghrati S., Raeisi Najafi A., Schab K. R. & Patrick J. F., “A Microvascular-Based Multifunctional and Reconfigurable Metamaterial”, Advanced Materials Technologies, 2021, 2100433 (Cover Article).
• Pejman R., Kumbur E. C., & Raeisi Najafi A.; “Multi-physics Design Optimization of Structural Battery”,Multifunctional Materials, vol. 4 (2), 024001, 2021.
• Raeisi Najafi A., Safdari M., Tortorelli D., Geubelle P.H.; “Multiscale design of nonlinear materials using a Eulerian shape optimization scheme”, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1002/nme.6650, 2021.
• Pejman R., Keshavarzzadeh V., & Raeisi Najafi A.; “Hybrid topology/shape optimization under Uncertainty for actively-cooled nature-inspired microvascular composites”, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, vol. 375, 113624, 2021.
• Maghami, E., Pejman, R., & Raeisi Najafi, A.; “Fracture resistance of human dentin microstructure: a numerical analysis”, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, vol. 114, 104171, 2021.
• Perumal, V.I., Raeisi Najafi A., & Kontsos, A.; “A Novel Digital Design Approach for Metal Additive Manufacturing to Address Local Thermal Effects”, Designs vol. 4 (4), 41, 2020.
• Pejman R., Maghami E., & Raeisi Najafi A.; “How to design a blockage-tolerant cooling network?”,Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 181, 115916, 2020.
• Brandyberry, D., Raeisi Najafi A., Geubelle, P.; “Multiscale Design of 3D Nonlinear Composites Using an Interface-Enriched Generalized Finite Element Method”, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, vol. 121, 2806-2825, 2020.
• Pejman, R., Aboubakr, S.H., Martin, W.H., Devi, U., Tan, M.H.Y., Patrick, J.F. & Raeisi Najafi A.; “Gradient-based hybrid topology/shape optimization of bioinspired microvascular composites”, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 144, 118606, 2019. (Link to the paper video)
• Tan M.H.Y., Raeisi Najafi A., Pety, S.J., White S. R., Geubelle P.H.; “Multi-objective design of microvascular panels subject to operating constraints”, Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 135, 145-157, 2018.
• Pety, S.J., Tan M.H.Y., Raeisi Najafi A., Gendusa C.G., Barnett P.R., Sottos N. R., Geubelle P.H., White S. R.; “Design of redundant microvascular cooling networks for blockage tolerance”, Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 131, pp. 965-976, 2018.
• Raeisi Najafi A., Safdari M., Tortorelli D., Geubelle P.H.; “Shape Optimization Using a NURBS-based Interface-enriched Generalized FEM” International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, vol. 111, pp. 927-954, 2017.
• Pety, S.J., Tan M.H.Y., Raeisi Najafi A., Barnett P.R., Sottos N. R., Geubelle P.H., White S. R.; “Carbon Fiber Composites with 2D Microvascular Networks for Battery Cooling”, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 115, pp. 513-522, 2017.
• Safdari M., Raeisi Najafi A., Sottos N.R., Geubelle P.H.; “A NURBS-based Generalized Finite Element Scheme for 3D Simulation of Heterogeneous Materials”, Journal of Computational Physics, vol. 318, pp. 373-390, 2016.
• Tan M.H.Y., Raeisi Najafi A., Pety, S.J., White S. R., Geubelle P.H.; “Gradient-based Design of Actively-cooled Microvascular Composite Panels”, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 103, pp. 594-606, 2016.
• Sabet, A.F., Raeisi Najafi A., Hamed, Elham, Jasiuk, I.; “Modeling of Bone Fracture and Strength at Different Length Scales – A Review”, Journal of the Royal Society Interface Focus, vol. 6(1), 20150055, 2016.
• Zhang K., Raeisi Najafi A., Jin J.M., Geubelle P.H.; “An Interface-Enriched Generalized Finite-Element Analysis for Electromagnetic Problems with Non-Conformal Discretization” International Journal of Numerical Modeling: Electronic Networks, Devices and Fields, vol. 29 (2), pp. 265-279, 2016.
• Raeisi Najafi A., Safdari M., Tortorelli D., Geubelle P.H.; “A Gradient-based Shape Optimization Scheme Using an Interface-enriched Generalized FEM” Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, vol. 296, pp. 1-17, 2015.