Rate My Professor Krishna Kumar

Professor Krishna Kumar is an Associate Professor holding the J. Neils Thompson Centennial Teaching Fellowship in Civil Engineering in the Fariborz Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He concurrently serves as a core faculty member at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. Kumar earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 2015, M.S. from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 2010, and B.E. from Anna University in 2008. His research specializations encompass physical AI, learned world models utilizing graph neural networks and operator learning, differentiable simulations including the material point method (MPM), discrete element method (DEM), and lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), uncertainty-aware control for robotics operating in deformable environments, and digital twins for hazard response and infrastructure monitoring.

Kumar advances natural hazard engineering through AI-driven discovery loops, as recognized by his 2024 NSF CAREER Award for the project 'HayaRupu: Accelerating Natural Hazard Engineering with AI-Driven Discovery Loops,' which develops differentiable simulators, AI-accelerated numerical methods for landslide prediction, and context-aware knowledge graphs. He leads the $7 million NSF-funded Chishiki-AI project to create a national ecosystem integrating AI into civil engineering practice. Further accolades include the 2024 Moncrief Grand Challenge Faculty Award from the Oden Institute, 2023 Ervin S. Perry Student Appreciation Award from the department, and 2022-23 Dean's Award for Outstanding Engineering Teaching by an Assistant Professor at UT Austin. In teaching, Kumar innovates with murder mystery-style assignments for the course CE 357: Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering and has developed a personalized AI tutor for programming courses, supported by Cockrell School of Engineering grants. He directs professional education programs reaching practitioners worldwide and promotes AI literacy via Tween Code Clubs at the Austin Public Library for underrepresented youth.