Materials are real-world realizations of quantum mechanics and a platform for novel states that emerge depending on relative coupling of charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom, and external excitations. My group (http://schleife.matse.illinois.edu) uses advanced computation to understand and predict this intricate interplay for materials in electronic and energy applications and under extreme conditions. We study electronic excitations, triggered by interaction with electromagnetic and particle radiation, and subsequent femto-second relaxation processes. These are of high fundamental scientific interest, critically important for materials characterization, and determine efficiency of materials in electronic, optical, and photonic applications. We have extensive expertise with first-principles simulations, based on density func- tional, many-body perturbation, and time-dependent density functional theory, of hard materials, modern semiconductors, and nanomaterials. We also use this insight to advance the theoretical framework and its numerical implementation, positioning us well in an exciting and modern field.