Research & Facilities
Research in the Department of Mechanical Engineering is diverse and students are directly exposed to the multidisciplinary nature of modern mechanical engineering. Current research activity includes theoretical, numerical, and experimental work in rarefied gas and plasma dynamics, electric propulsion, multiphase flows, turbulent flows, fluid-structure interactions, structural analysis, nonlinear dynamics and control, random vibrations, biomechanics, microgravity combustion, materials processing, mechanics of granular materials, laser holography, MEMS, and engineering design. Funding is provided by a wide range of government and industry sources. The department is the home of the Metal Processing Institute, which is an industry/university consortium with approximately 180 dues-paying member companies.