Dr. Brian Giera is the Associate Program Director for Data Science, AI and Manufacturing in the Materials and Manufacturing Transformation Program within the Strategic Deterrence Directorate. He also serves as LLNL’s site lead for the Genesis Mission Data Pillar, advancing data science, digital transformation, and data management capabilities that support Strategic Deterrence and broader national security missions.
Giera leads multidisciplinary efforts at the intersection of data science, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and advanced manufacturing. His work focuses on developing mission-driven implementation strategies for data architecture, governance, and secure data sharing, while accelerating the integration of production, experimental, and simulation data into scalable digital ecosystems across LLNL and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) enterprise. 

Since joining LLNL in 2014, Giera has held several leadership roles, including Group Leader for Analytics for Advanced Manufacturing, Principal Investigator for digital twin initiatives, and Technical Lead for analytics and additive manufacturing efforts. He has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, is an inventor on eight patent applications (five granted), and has delivered numerous invited presentations on AI-enabled  manufacturing , including a featured Distinguished Lecture for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC Santa Barbara. He is recognized for leadership in digital twins and applied machine learning for manufacturing and helps lead a major portfolio in these areas across the NNSA.

His honors include selection to the National Academy of Engineering Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering Symposium in 2025, LLNL’s Early and Mid-Career Recognition Program in 2025, and the Science and Technology in Society Forum Young Leaders Program in 2023, as well as multiple LLNL Director’s Awards. He also serves on advisory bodies including the University of California AI Council, the California Council on Science and Technology AI Advisory Committee, and the National Science Foundation Center for Materials Data Science for Reliability and Degradation.
 

Research Interests

• Additive manufacturing
• Digital twins
• Machine learning
• In situ process monitoring
• Computational materials science
• Hyperspectral imaging
• Molecular Dynamics
• Electrophoretic Deposition

Conferences

• Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum – Young Leader
• CIRP General Assembly
• Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium – An Additive Manufacturing Conference – Advisory Board
• MSEC 2021 Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference – Co-chaired "Smart Additive Manufacturing" and "Advances in Micro- and Nano-scale Additive Manufacturing” symposia
• International Conference on Additive Manufacturing – 2021 Scientific Organizing Committee
• SPIE Optics & Photonics – Applications of Machine Learning 2021 Conference Chair

Ph.D., Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, 2014

B.S., Department of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, 2008

(see complete list on Google Scholar)

• "Modeling meso-and microstructure in materials patterned with acoustic focusing" Drew S Melchert, Keith Johnson, Brian Giera, Erika J Fong, Maxim Shusteff, Julie Mancini, John J Karnes, Corie L Cobb, Christopher Spadaccini, Daniel S Gianola, Matthew R Begley. Materials & Design 202, 109512 (2021)
• "Heterogeneous Sensing and Scientific Machine Learning for Quality Assurance in Laser Powder Bed Fusion–A Single-track Study" Aniruddha Gaikwad, Brian Giera, Gabriel M Guss, Jean-Baptiste Forien, Manyalibo J Matthews, Prahalada Rao. Additive Manufacturing 36, 101659 (2020)
• "Automated Detection of Part Quality during Two-Photon Lithography via Deep Learning" Xian Lee, Sourabh Saha, Soumik Sarkar, and Brian Giera. Additive Manufacturing 36, 101444 (2020)
• "Correlating dynamic microstructure to observed color in electrophoretic displays via in situ small-angle x-ray scattering." Scott C Bukosky, Joshua A Hammons, Brian Giera, Elaine Lee, Jinkyu Han, Megan C Freyman, Anna Ivanovskaya, Kerry G Krauter, Joshua D Kuntz, Marcus A Worsley, T Yong-Jin Han, William D Ristenpart, Andrew J Pascall. Physical Review Materials 4 (7) 075802 (2020)
• "Automated detection and sorting of microencapsulation via machine learning" Albert Chu, Du Nguyen, Sachin S Talathi, Aaron C Wilson, Congwang Ye, William L Smith, Alan D Kaplan, Eric B Duoss, Joshua K Stolaroff, Brian Giera. Lab on a Chip, 36, 101659 (2019)
• "Mesoscale particle-based model of electrophoretic deposition" Brian Giera, Luis A Zepeda-Ruiz, Andrew J Pascall, Todd H Weisgraber. Langmuir, 33 (2) 652-661 (2017)

• 2018 Mercator Fellowship – German Research Foundation
• 2017 Diversity & Inclusion Director’s Awards – LLNL
• 2014-2024 Science & Technology Publications and Strategic Partnership Awards – LLNL
• 2023 Science and Technology in Society Forum, Young Leaders Award