•modeling and simulation of active materials

•fracture in electromechanical materials

•phase-field models of fracture

•ferroelectric materials

Recently, I have focused on modeling flexoelectricity in solids. Flexoelectricity is an electromechanical coupling different from piezoelectricity, by which electric polarization is generated by strain gradients, or strain is caused by electric field gradients. Flexoelectricity is significant only at small length-scales, but could significantly broaden the class of materials used in electromechanical transduction. However, exploiting this effect requires a new conceptual framework to harness field gradients.