Our research group's interests lie in the broad field of computational solid mechanics with particular emphasis on modeling material deformation and evolution based on smaller scale phenomena. This work provides important information useful for the theoretical understanding of the mechanics of materials and for the practical design of materials and processes. For example, the picture on the left shows an idealized section of polycrystalline aluminum, where the colors are associated with the orientations of the grains of the material (typically on the order of 10s of microns), before (left) and after (right) compression to a strain of about -50%. Notice that before compression, the grains are fairly equi-axed and each grain is a single orientation, while after compression, the overall orientations of the grains have changed, and the grains are no longer a single orientation (grains starting to break up). This change in the microstructure affects the overall properties and performance of the material. Having a tool that can predict the evolution of the microstructure for given processing conditions may allow process designers to design processes that generate microstructures that result in improved material performance.