Mostafa Hassani | Cornell Duffield Engineering

Biography

Mostafa Hassani is an Assistant Professor jointly within the Sibley School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (MAE) and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at Cornell. Prior to that, he completed a Senior Research Associate and Lecturer appointment at Cornell, a Post-doctoral appointment at MIT, and a Ph.D. degree at Politecnico di Milano.

Research Interests

Mostafa’s research lies at the intersection of solid mechanics, structural materials, and advanced manufacturing. His research group develops and applies in-situ experimental approaches to study the deformation and failure mechanisms of structural materials under extreme conditions, including ultrahigh strain rates, elevated temperatures, and small length scales. His group also leverages extreme solid-state deformation to enable novel advanced manufacturing and processing routes for metals, alloys, and composites. By combining experiments, theory, and modeling, his research establishes process-microstructure-property relationships for a broad range of structural materials and advanced manufacturing processes.

Advanced Materials
Mechanical Behavior of Materials
Advanced Materials Processing
Solid Mechanics
Additive Manufacturing
Nanotechnology

Teaching Interests

Mechanical Metallurgy, Materials Processing and Manufacturing, Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Tribology and Surface Engineering

Select Publications

L. Wu, Y. Yao, L. Li, Q. Tang, M. Hassani “Smaller Grains Are Not Stronger: Microcrystalline Metals at Ultra-High Strain Rates” Physical Review Letters 136 (2026) 016104.
Q. Tang, Y. Ichikawa, M. Hassani “Microparticle Impact-Induced Bond Strength in Metals Peaks with Velocity” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122 (14) (2025) e2424355122.
Q. Tang, J. Li, B.C. Hornbuckle, A. Giri, K. Darling, M. Hassani “Suppressed ballistic transport of dislocations at strain rates up to 10⁹ s⁻¹ in a stable nanocrystalline alloy” Communications Materials 6 (1) (2025) 43.
Q. Tang, D. Veysset, H. Assadi, Y. Ichikawa, M. Hassani “Strength gradient in impact-induced metallic bonding” Nature Communications 15 (1) (2024), 9630.
Y. Yao, M. Hassani “Grain Size Dependence of Activation Volume and Strain Rate Sensitivity in FCC High Entropy Alloys” Journal of Alloys and Compounds 1043 (2025) 184288.