Dr. Antoun is the Program Manager of the Energy and Homeland Security Program (E Program) in the Global Security Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He has held this position since 1 June 2020. The Energy and Homeland Security Program (E Program) develops innovative multidisciplinary science and technology solutions for reliable clean energy supply, resilient infrastructure, domestic and cyber security, and defense systems.

Dr. Antoun’s prior position was as Division Leader of the Atmospheric, Earth and Energy Division (AEED) in the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate. Researchers in AEED utilize world-class scientific capabilities and modern high-performance computing facilities to engage in multidisciplinary research across a broad spectrum of atmospheric and Earth sciences supporting Laboratory programs in mission areas ranging from energy to national security.

Before becoming Division Leader in 2013, Dr. Antoun was the Computational Geosciences Group Leader in AEED where research efforts are focused on developing and using computational tools to gain fundamental understanding of the response of geologic materials in a wide range of environments and under a wide range of loading conditions. Dr. Antoun has extensive experience in using high performance computing to study the response of frictional materials (ceramics, glass, concrete and geologic materials) to strong shock waves, and the interaction of those waves with underground structures. Dr. Antoun led the effort to maintain a world-class computational geomechanics capability for the laboratory with applications to problems in national security, homeland defense and energy and environment.

He joined the laboratory in 1998, after a six-year tenure with the Stanford Research Institute (SRI International) during which he performed numerical and experimental investigations aimed at understanding dynamic fracture and fragmentation in geologic materials. Dr. Antoun, along with SRI and international colleagues, published a book titled Spall Fracture. This book represented the state of the art in analytical, experimental, and computational investigations of dynamic fracture. Tarabay is also the author of well over 100 technical publication, and a patent on a novel high strain rate method of producing optimized fracture networks in the subsurface for geothermal and other energy applications.

Dr. Antoun received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton in 1991, following a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering (1983) and a Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering (1986). He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. He is also a recipient of many awards, including several achievement awards from Stanford Research Institute, LLNL and DOE.