About the PI

Biography:

Mostafa Mobasher is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering at NYUAD. Dr. Mobasher holds Associated Affiliations with the Civil and Urban Engineering and the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering departments at New York University, Tandon School of Engineering. Dr. Mobasher leads the Computational Solid Mechanics (CSM) Lab at NYUAD. The lab’s research is focused on modeling fracture and multi-physical response of manmade and natural materials across spatial and temporal scales. Dr. Mobasher’s research contributes to the development of a wide-range of numerical models to address the needs for non-linear modeling of materials subjected to mechanical and multi-physical loading scenarios. More recently, the CSM lab’s research scope was expanded to explore the integration between the Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) approaches along with well-established computational methods such as Finite Element Method (FEM). The outcomes of this research support various engineering applications including Infrastructure Integrity and Resilience, Energy, Automotive and Aerospace applications. Dr. Mobasher is also a Co-PI and the leader of the Energy Research Theme for Sand Hazards and Opportunities for Resilience, Energy, and Sustainability (SHORES), one of the NYUAD Research Institute Centers.
Dr. Mobasher received his PhD and MPhil Degrees from Columbia University in Engineering Mechanics in 2017. Dr. Mobasher also holds an MSc in Structural Engineering from Cairo University, and a BSc in Civil Engineering from Loughborough University and The British University in Egypt. Prior to joining NYUAD, Dr. Mobasher was an Associate at the Applied Science Practice of the multidisciplinary consultancy firm Thornton Tomasetti based in New York, USA. Dr. Mobasher was also one of the developers of VistaMat, a software package that aides high fidelity failure modeling of materials. 
Dr. Mobasher’s research has received funding from various sources, including Sandooq Al Watan, NYUAD Institute and other industrial grants. Dr. Mobasher currently serves on several committees of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA), where has been recently named on the class of Future Leaders. 

Education:

• PhD, Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics, Columbia University, 2017

• MPhil, Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics, Columbia University, 2017

• MSc, Structural Engineering, Cairo University, 2013

• BSc, Civil Engineering, Loughborough University & The British University in Egypt, 2011

Prior Experience:​

• Associate, Applied Science, Thornton Tomasetti, 2017-2020

• Research & Teaching Assistant, Columbia University, 2014-2017

• Teaching Assistant, The British University in Egypt, 2011-2013

• Developer & Technical Support, BE4E.com, 2011-2013

Awards:

• Sandooq AlWatan Award, 2023

• Thornton Tomasetti Ingenuity Award, 2021

• Thornton Tomasetti Ingenuity Award, 2020

• NSF (National Science Foundation) Travel Award, 2015

• Best Student Award (Highest GPA in the cohort), British University in Egypt, 2011