Bio: David Benson came to UCSD in 1987 after spending time as a research engineer at the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Benson received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan. His professional distinctions include: Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineering, Member of the ASME Committee for Computing in Applied Mechanics, and Member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the International Journal for Plasticity.

Research: Development of algorithms for nonlinear finite element analysis on supercomputers, with applications including the detailed modeling of an automobile crashing into a wall. Modeling ductile void growth in metals at the microscopic level, developing algorithms for Eulerian finite element programs, and analyzing the shock compaction of superconductors.