Welcome to Sun Research Group!

We are an interdisciplinary research group in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Kentucky. Our mission is to advance the fundamental understanding of materials subjected to extreme environments and to contribute to the design and discovery of materials for diverse engineering applications. We specialize in developing high-fidelity physical models, advanced numerical algorithms, and high-performance computational tools to capture material behavior across multiple length and time scales. We integrate these efforts with uncertainty quantification to assess sensitivity and reduce predictive errors, as well as with data assimilation to combine experimental data with simulations for material model calibration. Together, these approaches enable the revelation and prediction of the underlying mechanisms governing the mechanical response of metals and alloys under extreme conditions. The impact of our research spans aerospace structures, protective materials, nuclear systems, among others.