Dr. Dawson's primary area of research is the mechanics and materials science associated with deformation processes of polycrystalline materials. The general aim of the research is to integrate modern constitutive theories for the mechanical behavior of these materials into rigorous mechanics frameworks and to solve the resulting systems of equations by numerical techniques. The end goal is a more fundamental understanding of the relation between a material's microstructure state and its derivative mechanical properties. Recent efforts include the application of state-variable constitutive models that quantify strain hardening, texture evolution, and damage growth into finite element based numerical formulations. Application areas include metal forming, solid-state welding, fatigue and accelerated property evaluation. Special attention is given to the coordination of in situ diffraction experiments and finite element simulations to investigate modeling of behavior at the scale of individual crystals.