This thesis evaluates the possibility of identifying elastic and elasto-plastic material model parameters by inverse modeling (Finite Element updating) of static mechanical tests, using the digital image correlation measurement technique. The presented technique derives the different material properties or model parameters from the measured strains at the surface of a loaded specimen. The results show that the method is able to identify the in-plane elastic properties of both isotropic and orthotropic composite materials, performing a single mechanical test, i.e. a biaxial tensile test. Based on that same test it is also possible to retrieve the plastic model parameters of an orthotropic yield surface and an isotropic hardening law, in the case of sheet metals.