Research within the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science is focused in six primary areas - manufacturing and metrology, computational mechanics and materials, motorsports engineering, bioengineering, thermal fluids science, and dynamics and controls. Within these areas, students pursue a variety of research topics that address design, manufacturing, metrology, thermal sciences and fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, biomedical engineering, materials engineering and science, and mechanical control and instrumentation. Students are encouraged to consider the variety of research and their interests as they progress in their degree program, choose an advisor, and develop their program of study.
Bioengineering
Gloria D. Elliott | Ahmed El-Ghannam | Charles Lee | In Hong Yang | Nigel Zheng
Bioengineering research areas include:
- Orthopedic biomechanics
- Cryopreservation and anhydrous cell preservation
- Biocompatibility of new materials
- Regenerative Neural Engineering
- Tissue engineering
- Cryosurgery
- Microfluidic chips
Computational Mechanics and Materials
Youxing Chen | Harish Cherukuri| Robert E. Johnson | Erina Joyee | Russell Keanini | Praveen Ramaprabhu | Ronald Smelser | Alireza Tabarraei | Mesbah Uddin | Qiuming Wei | Terry Xu | Haitao Zhang
Research areas in computational mechanics and materials include:
- Finite element modeling
- Multi-scale modeling
- Large-scale parallel simulations
- Nanomaterials synthesis and characterization
- Mechanical testing of nanostructures
- Ultrafine grain nanocrystalline materials
Manufacturing and Metrology
Matthew Davies | Christopher Evans | Kostantinos Falaggis | Kevin Lawton | Edward Morse | Brigid Mullany | Steven Patterson | Jeffrey Raquet| Steven Schmid | Stuart Smith
Research areas in manufacturing and metrology include:
- Additive and subtractive manufacturing
- Machining dynamics
- Dimensional metrology
- Machine tool metrology
- Ultra-precision machining
- Optics manufacturing and metrology
- Precision machine and instrument design
Motorsports Engineering
Amir Ghasemi| Mesbah Uddin | Jun Xu
Motorsports engineering research areas include:
- Vehicle dynamics and stability control
- Racecar modeling/simulation
- Driver modeling/simulation
- Aerodynamics
- Experimental and computational fluid mechanics
- Crash modeling/simulation
- Tire mechanics
- Automotive instrumentation
- Engine and propulsion
Thermal Sciences and Fluid Mechanics
Gloria Elliott | Russell Keanini | Scott Kelly | Charles Lee | Praveen Ramaprabhu | Nenad Sarunac| Mesbah Uddin
Thermal-fluids research areas include:
- Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), including both large-scale computing and turbulence modeling
- Experimental fluids
- Bioheat transfer and biopreservation
- Race car aerodynamics
- Bio-fluid dynamics
- Combustion
- Stochastic flow and thermal processes
- Applied math and modeling
- Heat transfer
Dynamics and Controls
Matthew Davies | Amir Ghasemi | Scott Kelly | Artur Wolek
Dynamics and controls research areas include:
- System dynamics
- Control systems
- Machining dynamics
- Mechatronics
- Robotics