Valery I. Levitas

Valery I. Levitas is the Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering and Murray Harpole Chair at Iowa State University (ISU), with appointments in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering. He is also a Faculty Scientist at Ames National Laboratory. A Fellow of ASME and IAAM, his work bridges mechanics, physics, and material science, focusing on phase transformations, high-pressure mechanochemistry, and multiscale modeling.

• Education: Dr.-Eng. habil (Continuum Mechanics, University of Hannover, 1995); Sci. Dr. (Continuum Mechanics, Institute for Electronic Machine-building, 1988); PhD (Materials Science, Institute for Superhard Materials, 1981); MS (Mechanical Engineering, Kiev Polytechnic Institute, 1978).

His research interests include high-pressure phase transformations under severe plastic deformation, virtual melting as a mechanism for stress relaxation, and phase field approaches to modeling dislocations, fracture, and coupled mechanochemical phenomena. He pioneered theoretical high-pressure mechanochemistry and discovered novel effects like pressure self-focusing and rotational plastic instability for superhard material synthesis.

The 15 most recent articles analyze topics such as stress/strain-induced phase changes in silicon and zirconium, deep-focus earthquake mechanisms, and multiscale simulations of nanograin materials. These works emphasize high-pressure physics, nanomechanics, and computational material science using phase field, molecular dynamics, and DFT methods.

Scientific awards include the 2023 European Academy of Sciences and Arts election, 2023 IAAM Fellowship, 2017 Khan International Medal for plasticity contributions, and 2007 ASME Fellowship. He has secured $14.9M in grants (including 24 federal awards) for projects on high-pressure material behavior, phase transformations, and synchrotron experiments.

His lab at Iowa State collaborates with leading institutions and has produced 15+ PhD/postdoc alumni, including Mahdi Javanbakht (Isfahan University), Hao Chen (East China University), and Krishan Kumar Pandey (Bhabha Atomic Research Center). Research integrates atomistic to macroscale modeling with experimental validation via rotational diamond anvil cells.