Centre for Computational Science and Engineering

Faculty members

A team of faculty members, all of whom are conducting research in computational algorithms, form the core of CCSE. Currently the representatives come from five departments: Computer Science (CS), Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE), Material Science & Engineering (MSE), Mechanical & Industrial Engineering (MIE), and University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). The following list is the faculty members described above and their area of expertise:

• Christina Amon: Advanced Thermofluids Optimization, Modelling and Simulation Lab, MIE

• Aimy Bazylak: Thermofluids for Energy and Advanced Materials Lab, MIE – Her research is focused on the advancement of clean energy technologies, such as fuel cells and electrolyzers, by tailoring novel porous materials for enhanced flow, heat and mass transport at the microscale and nanoscale. The design of novel materials for improved fuel cell and electrolyzer performance is contingent upon efficient and predictive computational models, and these models must be informed by a detailed understanding of the multiphase transport phenomena in the complex porous materials inherent in state-of-the-art electrochemical conversion devices.

• Markus Bussmann: Modeling Materials Processing Lab, MIE – His research interests focus on the development and application of algorithms for simulation of interfacial/multiphase flows that may include heat transfer and phase change. Algorithm development has largely focused on volume of fluid methods for the direct simulation of interfacial flows. Algorithms and models are being applied to a number of important materials processing applications, such as oil/water/particle separation and particle coating processes.

• Christina Christara: Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, CS - Her research is in computational methods for Partial Differential Equations (PDEs), and includes the development and analysis of numerical methods for PDEs, including high-order methods, and high-performance solvers, and the development, testing and evaluation of mathematical software for the solution of PDEs on a variety of computer architectures. Current focus is on PDE problems arising in computational finance, more specifically the pricing of derivatives, handling of discontinuities, nonlinearities and high-dimensional PDEs.

• Clinton Groth: CFD and Propulsion Group, UTIAS – His current research focuses primarily on the development of reliable and robust, parallel, high-order, adaptive mesh refinement, finite-volume methods for the solution of multi-scale, physically-complex flows and the application of these techniques to numerical combustion modelling, including research on large-eddy simulation (LES) techniques for turbulent premixed, non-premixed, and partially premixed combusting flows, as well as fundamental studies of laminar flames for bio-based fuels under high-pressure gas-turbine-like conditions.

• Maryam Dehnavi: ParaMathics, CS

• Stark Draper, ECE

• Prasanth Nair: Computational Modelling and Design Optimization Under Uncertainty, UTIAS – His research interests lie in three main areas: (i) computational modeling of deterministic and stochastic systems governed by partial differential equations, (ii) optimization algorithms for design, control and parameter estimation, and (iii) generalized function approximation problems. Ongoing research includes numerical methods for stochastic PDEs, real-time emulators of high-dimensional engineering systems with application to robust design optimization and uncertainty analysis, Bayesian methods and greedy algorithms for modelling spatio-temporal datasets and operator problems.

• Costas Sarris: WAVES Laboratory, ECE – His group performs research on computational electromagnetics, with emphasis on highorder, multi-scale/multi-physics numerical methods, as well as uncertainty quantification techniques and convex optimization for electromagnetics. This basic research is targeted at applications ranging from radiowave propagation modeling in large scale environments (such as railway networks and urban areas), the physics of artificial media, microwave and optical meta-materials and antennas, the design of novel radiofrequency ablation probes, hyperthermia applicators and wireless power transfer systems.

• David Steinman: Biomedical Simulation Lab, MIE – His research focuses on the use of medical imaging and CFD to understand the role of hemodynamic forces in the development and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. His most recent research, including several international CFD challenges, has demonstrated that the widespread use of underpowered CFD in clinical research had led to an under-appreciation of turbulent-like flow phenomena in vessels of the brain and heart, emphasizing the need for careful attention to the numerics and the importance of high performance computing strategies.

• Piero Triverio: Modelics Lab, ECE – He is the Canada Research Chair in modelling of electrical interconnects. He is an expert in model order reduction and in the simulation of complex electric/electromagnetic systems. His algorithms are used by leading CAD vendors (Idemworks, Ansys) and companies (IBM, SINTEF, Electricite de France, Siemens, Vestas) for the design of high-speed electronic products, power grids, and antennas.

• Chandra Veer Singh: Laboratory for Computational Materials Engineering, MSE – His research is focused on integrated computational materials engineering. His group develops multi-scale computational tools and models to design novel materials for aerospace, automotive, minerals, and sustainable energy industries. Currently, he is collaborating with another member of the team, Prasanth Nair, on the uncertainty quantification in atomistic modeling. In this collaboration, they are developing Bayesian methods for calibration of interatomic potentials using experimental/ab-initio databases and quantifying the influence of the uncertainty in resultant parameters on materials behavior predicted using molecular dynamics.

• Masayuki Yano: Aerospace Computational Engineering Lab, UTIAS – His research interests lie in numerical methods, scientific computation, and numerical analysis for partial differential equations (PDEs) with an emphasis on applications in fluid dynamics. Current research topics include a posteriori error estimation, mesh adaptation, and model reduction of parameterized PDEs. Much of his work is focused on the development of PDE solution strategies that provide numerical predictions at a user-specified accuracy using minimal computational effort in an automated manner.

• David Zingg: Computational Aerodynamics Lab, UTIAS – His research is in the areas of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and aerodynamic shape optimization, often applied to the investigation of unconventional aircraft configurations with improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions. His algorithmic contributions include Newton-Krylov methods, homotopy continuation methods, iterative methods, high-order implicit time-marching methods, and high-order summation by parts operators.