Cheng-Hau Yang awarded Robert J. Melosh Medal

Ph.D. student Cheng-Hau Yang from the Department of Mechanical Engineering has been awarded the Robert J. Melosh Medal, a prestigious international honor for student research in computational and numerical mechanics. Advised by Baskar Ganapathysubramanian and Adarsh Krishnamurthy, Yang was recognized for his contribution to finite element analysis through his presentation titled “Multiphysics Simulations of Flow Over Complex Geometries Using an Octree-based Shifted Boundary Method.”

In his work, Yang addressed long-standing challenges associated with immersed boundary and unfitted finite element methods. He demonstrated how the Shifted Boundary Method (SBM) can be made more accurate through the construction of optimal surrogate boundaries, more computationally efficient by integrating the method with active octree meshes, and more broadly applicable by extending it to challenging multiphysics problems, including thermal incompressible flows.

Established in 1989, the Robert J. Melosh Medal Competition is widely regarded as one of the highest honors for students in computational mechanics. The competition provides a global forum for young researchers to engage with leading scholars in the field. Each year, doctoral students from around the world submit extended abstracts describing their research, which are evaluated by a panel of distinguished experts. Based on technical quality, originality, and impact, four to six finalists are selected and invited to present their work at Duke University. Following a symposium featuring presentations and in-depth technical discussions, the judging panel selects the recipient of the Melosh Medal.

Yang’s work was recognized for its technical clarity and careful integration of theory, algorithms, and large-scale computation, particularly in the context of unfitted finite element methods for multiphysics simulations. This recognition reflects not only his individual research efforts, but also the strong foundation in computational mechanics and numerical analysis at Iowa State University. The award highlights the collaborative research environment at Iowa State, where rigorous methodological development is closely coupled with high-performance computing, multiphysics modeling, and applied engineering problems.

Pictured above, from left: Guglielmo Scovazzi (Duke University); Sebastian Wolf (finalist, Leibniz University Hannover); Glaucio Paulino (Princeton University); Cheng-Hau Yang (2025 Melosh Medal winner, graduated from Iowa State University); Peter Wriggers (Leibniz University Hannover); Farhad Kamarei (finalist, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign); Sreeram Venkat (finalist, University of Texas at Austin); and Hossein Salahshoor (Duke University).