Though advanced fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites have been under development for decades, their use in load-bearing structures is far more recent. The reason for such reticence in their use is readily seen in news stories: structural failure of composite components, catastrophic collapse of deep-sea submersibles, including the recent Titan disaster, etc. Composite components are subject to damage that affects strength, fatigue resistance, and durability— issues that continue to this day. As a first step in addressing these challenges, the primary research objective of this award is to develop an experimental-computational framework for a methodic characterization of damage magnitude as well as mechanisms in the emerging field of mesostructured composites. Knowledge developed from this effort would look to enable the development of more accurate damage evolution models while reducing the time-intensive design and certification timeline of lightweight, damage-tolerant, and energy-efficient composites for transportation, defense, and energy applications. In addition, an educational module based on this research will be incorporated into the courses for undergraduate and graduate students to prepare them with critical skills in the mechanics of composite materials. In this research project, a combined digital image correlation (DIC) and discontinuous finite element method (DFEM) approach will be developed to determine damage and fracture parameters from experiments