Research

The IDEA Lab at Iowa State University develops computational methods at the intersection of geometric modeling, engineering simulation, and machine learning. Our work spans five active research thrusts, bridging data-driven and physics-based approaches for applications in biomechanics, manufacturing, and plant science.

Current Research Thrusts

Thrust 1
Machine Learning Applications

Neural PDE solvers, NURBS-Diff differentiable programming, ML-accelerated topology optimization, and neural implicit geometry.

Explore
Thrust 2
Engineering Analysis

Immersogeometric and isogeometric methods for mesh-free CFD and FSI on complex geometries, point clouds, and AI-generated shapes.

Explore
Thrust 3
Cyber-Manufacturing

Real-time digital twins for additive manufacturing, LLM-driven G-code generation, and cybersecurity for networked AM systems.

Explore
Thrust 4
Cardiac Modeling

Patient-specific FSI simulations, bioprosthetic valve design, and personalized cardiac therapy planning. NSF CAREER award recipient.

Explore
Thrust 5
Plant Science Applications

3D plant modeling for climate-resilient crops using NeRFs, implicit neural representations, and multiscale geometric methods.

Explore

Research overview and other areas

Open Source Code

NURBS-Python Voxelization DLFEA