ROLLA, Mo. – Dr. Xavier Jayaseela Avula, professor emeritus of mechanical aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at the University of Missouri-Rolla, is the author of the chapter on mathematical modeling in the 2002 Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, Third Edition, Volume 9.

Dr. Xavier Jayaseela Avula

Avula has been studying mathematical modeling of various physical phenomena for nearly 30 years. He has organized 12 international conferences on the subject and edited their proceedings; served for 11 years as co-editor-in-chief of the journal Mathematical and Computer Modeling, and is currently the editor-in-chief of the journal Mathematical Modeling and Scientific Computing. He has published several papers on the work he has done with the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and IBM laboratory in Charlotte, N.C.

Avula has been a member of UMR’s faculty for more than 35 years.

He received his degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology-Khargpur, Michigan State University and his Ph.D. from Iowa State University. Avula’s research interests include impact, occupant safety in automobiles and aircraft, biomechanical systems, micro-electromechanical systems, and solid-fluid interaction problems.