Charbel Farhat and his Research Group (FRG) develop mathematical models, advanced computational algorithms, and high-performance software for the design and analysis of complex systems in aerospace, marine, mechanical, and naval engineering. They contribute major advances to Simulation-Based Engineering Science. Current engineering foci in research are on the nonlinear aeroelasticity and flight dynamics of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) with flexible flapping wings and N+3 aircraft with High Aspect Ratio (HAR) wings, layout optimization and additive manufacturing of wing structures, supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerators for Mars landing, and the reliable automated carrier landing via model predictive control. Current theoretical and computational emphases in research are on high-performance, multi-scale modeling for the high-fidelity analysis of multi-physics problems, high-order embedded boundary methods, uncertainty quantification, probabilistic machine learning, and efficient projection-based model order reduction as well as other forms of physics-based machine learning for time-critical applications such as design, active control, and digital twins.
He is designated as an ISI Highly Cited Author in Engineering by the Institute for Science Information (ISI) Web of Knowledge
(ISIHighlyCited.com). He is an elected Member of the
National Academy of Engineering, an elected Member of the
Royal Academy of Engineering (UK), an elected Member of the
Lebanese Academy of Sciences , a Docteur Honoris Causa of Ecole Normale Superieure Paris-Saclay,
a Docteur Honoris Causa of Ecole Centrale de Nantes, and a Fellow of six international societies: the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
the International Association of Computational Mechanics, the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the United States Association of Computational Mechanics, and the World Innovation
Foundation. He was knighted by the Prime Minister of France in the Order of Academic Palms and awarded the Medal of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques. Most recently, he was designated by
the US Navy recruiters as a Primary Key-Influencer and flew with the Blue Angels during Fleet Week 2014.
He is also the recipient of several other professional and academic distinctions including the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Spirit of St Louis Medal
from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Ashley Award for Aeroelasticity and the Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the John von Neumann Medal, Computational and Applied Sciences Award and R. H. Gallagher Special Achievement Award from the United States Association of Computational Mechanics, the Grand Prize from the Japan Society for Computational Engineering and Science, the Gauss-Newton Medal, IACM Award, Computational Mechanics Award and Computational Mechanics Award for Young Investigators from the International Association of Computational Mechanics, the Gordon Bell Prize and Sidney Fernbach Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society, the Modeling and Simulation Award from the Department of Defense, the IBM Sup'Prize Achievement Award, the CRAY Research Award, and the United States Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation and the White House.
