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Ahmed E. Elbanna

University of Southern California
SCEC Director and Professor of Earth Sciences

Expertise: Physics of Earthquake ruptures - Complex Systems - Fracture Mechanics
 
 
About Me Publications
Ahmed E. Elbanna holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (2011) and an M.S. in Applied Mechanics (2006) from California Institute of Technology, as well as an M.S. in Structural Engineering (2005) and a B.S. in Civil Engineering (2003) from Cairo University. He was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics at University of California, Santa Barbara from 2011 to 2012.
From 2013 to 2025, he served as an assistant and later associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he founded and led the Mechanics of Complex Systems Laboratory. In 2025, he joined University of Southern California as a Professor of Earth Sciences, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Civil Engineering and an affiliation with the Computational Science and Engineering group within the School of Advanced Computing.
Elbanna’s research focuses on problems in theoretical and applied mechanics of solids, both in the presence and absence of pore fluids, with particular emphasis on fracture, deformation, and wave propagation. His work spans applications in geophysics, biological materials, and materials design.
He is a Fellow of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and a faculty affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. His honors include the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Journal of Applied Mechanics Best Paper Award, and the George Housner Fellowship.

SCEC Participation

Current Roles

SCEC Executive Committee, Chair (2026 - Present)
SCEC Director (2026 - Present)
SCEC Executive Committee, Member (2025 - Present)
SCEC Committee on Professional Conduct, Member (2020 - Present)

Past Roles

SCEC Director-Designate (2025)
SCEC Science Steering Committee, Member (2024 - 2025)
SCEC Committee for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Member (2023 - 2024)
SCEC Science Planning Committee, Group Co-Leader (2019 - 2023)