Dr. Steve WaiChing Sun

Dr. Steve WaiChing Sun is currently an associate professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University and held the UPS Foundation Visiting Professorship at Stanford University in 2022. He earned his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 2011 and was a senior research engineer at Sandia National Laboratories from 2011 to 2013.

His research focuses on computational mechanics and scientific machine learning for material modeling, with a long-term goal of advancing the science of modeling natural and engineered materials that are critical to civil and environmental infrastructure. His work integrates physics-based modeling, advanced mathematics, and machine learning across major areas, including geometric learning for geological and energetic materials, and computational modeling of frozen soil under a changing climate. 

Dr. Sun has published over 110 peer-reviewed journal articles and has more than 6,500 citations. His distinctions include being elected an EMI Fellow, receiving the Walter Huber Prize (2023) and the da Vinci Award from ASCE, the John Argyris Award from IACM, the Zienkiewicz Numerical Methods in Engineering Prize, and CAREER awards from the NSF, US Army, and US Air Force. He currently serves as an Editor of the International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering (since April 1, 2025) and an Associate Editor for the ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics.