About Me

Seung Jae Lee

Bio

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University (FIU), where I also serve as the Undergraduate Program Director. My research trajectory has been shaped by a multidisciplinary background that bridges architectural engineering, structural engineering, computational granular mechanics, and advanced computing.

I began my academic training in architectural engineering at Sungkyunkwan University and started my professional career as a building façade engineer at the LG Industrial Materials Research Institute. Working on complex mechanical systems sparked a deeper interest in mechanics and material behavior. I later pursued graduate studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where I earned a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering.

Although my formal graduate training was rooted in structural engineering, I became increasingly interested in the complex behavior of granular materials, which exhibit characteristics of both solids and fluids. I was particularly drawn to the inherently multi-scale nature of these materials, where macroscopic behavior emerges from microscopic particle-scale interactions. Understanding and predicting such behavior presents significant scientific and computational challenges because realistic simulations often require tracking millions of interacting particles simultaneously.

My research program spans five interconnected areas: (i) granular materials and geomechanics, (ii) numerical methods and advanced computing, (iii) wind and façade engineering, (iv) historic preservation of cultural heritage, and (v) bridge engineering. Across these diverse fields, a common theme is the pursuit of fundamental understanding through computational modeling, experimentation, and data-driven approaches to address the challenges of predicting how engineered systems behave.

A significant portion of my work focuses on developing new computational paradigms for engineering simulation. My research explores high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and emerging computing technologies to accelerate and enhance numerical modeling. Recent efforts include AI-assisted simulation frameworks, advanced numerical methods, and unconventional computational strategies inspired by physics engines originally developed for video games, such as Angry Birds, to achieve efficient large-scale particle simulations while broadening the accessibility and impact of computational modeling. Ultimately, my goal is to develop new scientific and computational tools that improve our ability to understand, predict, and design complex engineering systems.

Education & Experience

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (with focus on Computational Granular Mechanics), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA
  • M.S. in Civil Engineering (with focus on Structural Engineering), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA
  • M.S. in Architectural Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea
  • B.S. in Architectural Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea

ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE APPOINTMENTS AT FIU

  • Undergraduate Program Director, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 11/2022 - Present
  • Associate Professor (with tenure), Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 08/2020 - Present
  • Founding Faculty Fellow, STEM Transformation Institute, 01/2015 - 04/2018
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 08/2014 - 08/2020

Honors & Awards

  • FIU Summer Research Enhancement Award, 2026
  • FIU Faculty Senate Award for Excellence in Service, 2025
  • FIU Rewarding Excellence in Teaching Incentives (RETI) Award, 2024
  • Editor’s Choice Award, ASCE Journal of Architectural Engineering, June 2023
  • Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, 2016
  • Top 25 Hottest Articles, Computers and Geotechnics (Elsevier), 2012