David Restrepo, Ph.D.

Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Mechanical Engineering

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering

David Restrepo’s research seeks to advance the understanding of the nonlinear behavior and failure of mechanisms observed in materials and structures, with the aim of designing new materials that exhibit unique properties and functionalities. His research applications are broad, ranging from healthcare and defense to civil infrastructure and aerospace engineering.

Restrepo is principal investigator of the Advanced Materials and Mechanical Systems Lab at UTSA, where he and his team research the design and synthesis of advanced materials that exhibit unprecedented characteristics and capabilities. The lab’s research approach integrates computational simulations, theoretical analysis, fabrication and experimental testing.

Restrepo has published research articles in refereed journals such as Extreme Mechanics Letters, Advanced Materials, Nature, and the International Journal of Solids and Structures, and has presented his research at various conferences and talks in the U.S. and abroad, including the 19th U.S. National Congress on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. He also serves as a peer reviewer for several academic publications like Advanced Engineering Materials and the Journal of Applied Mechanics.

Restrepo has received more than $3 million in competitive grant funding from organizations like the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Naval Research, Science and Technology.  He was awarded the prestigious NSF CAREER award in 2023, which supports early-career faculty who are academic role models in research and education.

At UTSA, Restrepo has chaired or been a member of multiple thesis and dissertation committees. He also serves as a mentor for both undergraduate and graduate students and is a faculty advisor for first-generation students as part of the First-Gen STEM Scholars program. Additionally, Restrepo is a member of the faculty advisory committee and the graduate student committee for his department.

Restrepo earned his doctorate in engineering with a concentration in materials engineering from Purdue University. He was a postdoctoral associate at Purdue and a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University before joining UTSA in 2018.