ENME E4332: Finite Element Analysis I
Learn how to use powerful FEM tools and coding language to solve complex engineering problems in a range of applications.
Course Overview
This graduate-level course provides a rigorous introduction to finite element analysis. You will explore both the theoretical foundations and its applications to linear elliptic problems, including heat conduction, potential flow, and elasticity. A combination of lectures and computer-based tutorials will strengthen your understanding of the mathematical formulation of finite element methods (FEM). Project-based work using ABAQUS, a commercial FEM software, along with coding languages such as MATLAB or Python, will provide hands-on experience in solving real-world engineering problems. By the end of this course, you will have a strong background in FEM, linear algebra, ordinary and partial differential equations, and post processing of FEM data.
Course Instructor
Haim Waisman
Professor and Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
Haim Waisman is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. His research interests lie in computational mechanics, where he develops advanced finite element methods for modeling fracture and damage in materials, as well as novel design-optimization approaches for structures subjected to extreme conditions.
Waisman earned his BSc and MSc in Aerospace Engineering from the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, and his PhD in Civil Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 2005. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Scientific Computing Research Center (SCOREC) at RPI and in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University before joining Columbia University in 2008.
Waisman is the recipient of the 2012 DOE Early Career Award, the 2014 Leonardo Da Vinci Award from the Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) of ASCE, and several best paper awards. In 2022, he was elected Fellow of the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute, and in 2025 was named Fellow of the United States Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM).
He currently serves as an associate editor of the ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics and is on the editorial board of Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, among other journals. Previously, Waisman served as Chair of the ASCE-EMI Computational Mechanics Committee and was a member of the Executive Board of the US Association for Computational Mechanics.