Masoud Rais-Rohani, Ph.D., P.E.Masoud Rais-Rohani faculty photo

Richard C. Hill Professor & Chair of Mechanical Engineering

The University of Maine
Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center, Room 237F
Orono, ME  04469-5711
(207) 581-4120; masoud.raisrohani@maine.edu

Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech, 1991

External Engagements:

  • Assistant/Associate/Full Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Mississippi State University, 1991 – 2016
  • Boeing Welliver Faculty Fellow, The Boeing Company, 2008
  • Summer Faculty Fellow, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, 2004
  • Summer Faculty Fellow, NASA Langley Research Center, 1993 & 1994
  • Graduate Intern, NASA Langley Research Center, 1990

Teaching Areas:

Engineering Optimization; Aircraft & Automobile Structures

Research Areas: (More Information)

  • Structural and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
  • Design Optimization of Multiscale Systems
  • Mechanics of Thin-Walled Structures
  • Reduced Order and Surrogate Modeling
  • Uncertainty Quantification

Principal Sponsors:

  • DOE, NSF, NASA, NSWCCD, ERDC, NSRDEC

Select Research / Collaboration Activities:

  • Thick-walled origami-inspired deployable shelter structures, NSRDEC
  • Decomposed multilevel optimization framework for coupled product-material design under uncertainty, NSF
  • Vehicle-dummy-restraint system simulation and optimization subject to multiple crash conditions, DOE
  • Effects of cross-sectional geometry and material properties on crashworthiness of thin-walled structures, DOE
  • Evidence-based uncertainty quantification of constitutive models for polycrystalline materials, DOE
  • Big data analytics and trade space exploration through surrogate modeling, ERDC

Select Publications / Conference Presentations: (*Student)

  • Verzoni*, A. and Rais-Rohani, M. “Transition Analysis of Flat-Foldable Origami-Inspired Deployable Shelter Concepts,” Engineering Structures, Vol. 273, 115074, 2022.
  • Gandikota*, I., Rais-Rohani, M., Kiani*, M., and DorMohammadi*, S., “Multilevel Design Optimization of a Vehicle-Dummy Model Under Crash, Vibration, and Injury Criteria,” International Journal of Vehicle Design, Vol. 70, No. 1, pp. 45-68, 2016.
  • Parrish*, J., Rais-Rohani, M., and Janus, M., “Reduced Order Techniques for Sensitivity Analysis and Design Optimization of Aerospace Systems,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 53, No. 12, pp. 3567-3576, 2015.
  • DorMohammadi*, S. and Rais-Rohani, M., “Exponential Penalty Function Formulation for Multilevel Optimization Using the Analytical Target Cascading Framework,” Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 47, No. 4, pp. 599-612, 2013.
  • Salehghaffari*, S. and Rais-Rohani, M., “Material Model Uncertainty Quantification Using Evidence Theory,” Proceedings of the IMechE, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, Vol. 227, No. 10, pp. 2163-2179, 2013.
  • Najafi*, A. and Rais-Rohani, M., “Mechanics of Axial Collapse in Multi-Cell, Multi-Corner Crush Tubes,” Thin-Walled Structures, Vol. 49, pp. 1-12, 2011.
  • Rouhi*, M., Rais-Rohani, M., and Williams*, T., “Element Exchange Method for Topology Optimization,” Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 42, No. 2, pp. 215-231, 2010.

Professional Activities / Memberships:

  • AIAA, Associate Fellow (Deputy Director, Aerospace Design and Structures Technical Group, 2014-2023; Tech Chair: 18th AIAA Non-Deterministic Approaches Conference, San Diego, CA, Jan 2016; Non-Deterministic Approaches Technical Committee 2012 – present)
  • ASEE, Member (Mechanics Division: 2019-20 Program Chair & 2020-21 Division Chair; Aerospace Division: 2015-16 Program Chair, 2018-20 Division Chair)
  • Sigma Xi, AAAS, SAE, ASME