Composite materials are composed of more than two different constituents to obtain a superior mechanical performance that would not be found from a monolithic material. However, it is not an easy task to find such an optimal combination tailored for a specific application and the combination itself results in very complicated damage and failure mechanisms, so different than metals. The primary focus of our research group is to develop a fundamental understanding of the underlying damage and failure mechanisms in various types of composite materials. Our goal is to enhance the field of composite materials in lightweight structures, through the state-of-the-art computational methods combined with advanced experimental techniques, which can expedite the process of developing reliable composite materials for structures under extreme loading conditions.