Federico Ciardo, PhD
Tenure-track Assistant Professor & Principal Investigator
I'm a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University, and a faculty member of the Theoretical and Applied Mechanics program as well as of the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy.
Before joining Northwestern, I completed my postdoctoral research studies in Switzerland and in the USA--first at the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zürich, and then at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. I earned my Ph.D. in Mechanics from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.
General interests: traveling, skiing, running, playing soccer and footvolley.
Anubhav Roy, PhD
Postdoctoral researcher
Academic Background: BE in Construction Engineering from Jadavpur University (India), MS in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Alabama, and PhD in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Penn State. Former postdoctoral appointments in Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University and in Institute d'Alembert at Sorbonne University.​
Research Interests: I'm interested in studying the full three-dimensional elastodynamic propagation of ruptures along the faults during earthquakes and aseismic slip. ​
General Interests: I'm a guitar player, currently focused on traditional Delta and Chicago Blues. Additionally, I'm also into poetic films and Indian classic music.
Samuel Chen
Incoming PhD student
Academic background: B. S. and M. S. in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. My research interests lie in fracture mechanics, high-performance computing, and numerical methods.
General interests: I enjoy running, gardening, and crosswords.
Ari Silver
PhD candidate
Academic background: B.A. in Physics with a concentration in Geophysics from Northwestern University.
My research interests lie in the earthquake mechanics, slow slip events, and numerical modeling.
General interests: I like to buy and sell second-hand clothing, play guitar, and run.
Zekang Gong
PhD student
Academic background: B. Eng. in Engineering Mechanics from Sichuan University.
My research interests generally lie in solid-fluid interactions and earthquake rupture dynamics. My current research focuses on supershear rupture tip solution and dynamics.
General interests: I enjoy cycling and cooking.
Group pictures
02/21/2026: GEOFORCE team night out at Soho House (West Loop, Chicago).
Our first group photo!
Past members
Willa Cates
High schooler intern.
Academic background: I am a senior at Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois. When I get to college, I plan on majoring in engineering with hopefully a dual major or minor in Statistics. My research for the Geoforce lies in numerical modeling of earthquakes ruptures.
General interests: Outside of school I enjoy running, I love to read, and play piano.
Gabi Jamieson
High-schooler intern.
Academic background: I am a senior at Northside College Prep and I am looking to major in engineering for my undergraduate education.
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Research Interests: My work for the GEOFORCE lies within numerical earthquake modeling and analysis.
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General Interests: I love to hike and swim. I also love pop music, especially Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams.