Jaafar El-Awady, professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, is recognized for his contributions to the fundamental understanding of deformation mechanisms in materials. He leads the Integrated Computations and Experiments for Intelligent Materials Design Laboratory. His research focuses on developing advanced multi-scale simulations and small-scale experimental technique to predict the mechanical properties, deformation mechanisms, damage evolution, and failure in materials for various applications, including aerospace, naval, automotive, and energy.

El-Awady’s group has recently expanded its efforts to characterize the deformation and failure of ice, with particular interest in predicting deformation and ice fracture in glaciers and ice sheets. Work also focuses on ice nucleation proteins and their effect on the ice mechanical properties.  The group is also conducting research on the recyclability of metals to promote a circular economy and improve the environment. Other research directions include predicting the properties of complex alloys for extreme environments, characterizing the deformation and failure of coatings for high-temperature applications, quantifying and predicting the fatigue life of materials, and developing machine learning approaches for accelerated predictions of deformation and damage in materials.

El-Awady has received numerous awards for his research, including the NSF CAREER Award, JHU Catalyst Award, ASME Materials Division Orr Early Career Award, and DARPA Young Faculty Award. He holds a BS and MS in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Cairo University, Egypt, and a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles.