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Mechanical Engineering

This is an archived copy of the 2022-2023 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit .

The Mechanical Engineering graduate program prepares students in all aspects of mechanical and thermal systems design and manufacturing. Course offerings and research programs for mechanical engineering students are available in applied mechanics; biomechanics; combustion; design and manufacturing: dynamic systems and control; energy conversion and systems; experimental mechanics; fluid dynamics; heat transfer; mechanics of materials; micro, nano and MEMS; and vibration and acoustics. Sub-areas include adaptive and auto adaptive structures, controls and system identification, CFD, energy conversion and renewable energy, materials processing and tribology, mechatronics, precision engineering, and reactive and multiphase flows.

Admission Requirements

An applicant to the master's program must be a graduate of an accredited undergraduate program with a B.S. degree in either mechanical or aerospace engineering. Graduates of other accredited programs in engineering, physical sciences and mathematics may be considered but may be required to make up undergraduate deficiencies without graduate credit. The most qualified applicants are accepted first. Applicants to the Ph.D. program must have met the M.S. admission requirements and additionally must satisfy the Ph.D. admissions requirements. Applicants to the online, distance education M.S. program in mechanical or aerospace engineering are not required to take the GRE exam.

Master's Degree Requirements

The thesis-option M.S. degree program in mechanical engineering requires 21 hours of course credit and nine hours of thesis research. The non-thesis M.S. degree requires 27 hours of course credit and a three credit-hour project and is offered on campus as well as off campus, through distance education.

Ph.D. Degree Requirements

A minimum of 72 hours of credit are required to obtain the Ph.D. degree. A direct path to the Ph.D. from the B.S. is also available with which the student is granted the M.S. degree “enroute” to the Ph.D. The enroute Ph.D. (direct to Ph.D. path) requires a minimum of 3.5 undergraduate GPA.

Student Financial Support

Financial aid is offered to all admitted Ph.D. students.

Faculty

Full Professors

  • Gregory D. Buckner
  • Tarek Echekki
  • Tasnim Hassan
  • He Huang
  • Jack Ray Edwards Jr
  • Srinath Ekkad
  • Tiegang Fang
  • Ashok Gopalarathnam
  • Richard David Gould
  • Xiaoning Jiang
  • Richard F. Keltie
  • Clement Kleinstreuer
  • Andrey Valerevich Kuznetsov
  • Hong Luo
  • Kevin M. Lyons
  • Gracious Ngaile
  • Kara Jo Peters
  • Afsaneh Rabiei
  • Lawrence M. Silverberg
  • Juei Feng Tu
  • Fen Wu
  • Fuh-Gwo Yuan
  • Yong Zhu
  • Mohammed A. Zikry

Associate Professors

  • Matthew Bryant
  • Jeffrey W. Eischen
  • Scott M. Ferguson
  • Charles Edward Hall Jr.
  • Hsiao-Ying Shadow Huang
  • Andre P. Mazzoleni
  • Venkat Narayanaswamy
  • Brendan O’Connor
  • Katherine Saul
  • Alexei V. Saveliev
  • Rohan A. Shirwalker
  • Hooman Vahedi Tafreshi
  • Christopher R. Vermillion
  • Cheryl Xu

Assistant Professors

  • Landon Grace
  • Kenneth Granlund
  • Timothy Joseph Horn
  • Arun Kumar Kota
  • Jun Liu
  • Marie Muller
  • Mark R. Pankow
  • Jason F. Patrick
  • Jong Eun Ryu
  • Pramod K. V. Subbareddy
  • Jie Yin

Practice/Research/Teaching Professors

  • Stephen D. Terry

Emeritus Faculty

  • John A. Bailey
  • Herbert Martin Eckerlin
  • Francis J. Hale
  • Franklin D. Hart
  • Hassan A. Hassan
  • Thomas H. Hodgson
  • Richard R. Johnson
  • David S. McRae
  • James C. Mulligan
  • Robert T. Nagel
  • Larry H. Royster
  • Ronald O. Scattergood
  • Furman Y. Sorrell Jr.
  • John S. Strenkowski
  • Carl F. Zorowski

Lecturer

  • Steven Berg

Courses

Ѵ501Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics(3 credit hours)

Classical thermodynamics of a general reactive system; conservation of energy and principles of increase of entropy; fundamental relation of thermodynamics; Legendre transformations; phase transitions and critical phenomena; equilibrium and stability criteria in different representation; irreversible thermodynamics. Introduction to statistical thermodynamics.

Prerequisite: Ѵ302; Ѵ401 or Ѵ511

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ504Fluid Dynamics Of Combustion I(3 credit hours)

Gas-phase thermochemistry including chemical equilibrium and introductory chemical kinetics. Homogeneous reaction phenomena. Subsonic and supersonic combustion waves in premixed reactants (deflagration and detonation). Effects of turbulence. Introduction to diffusion flame theory.

Prerequisite: Ѵ201 or Ѵ252 or Ѵ308

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ505Heat Transfer Theory and Applications(3 credit hours)

Development of basic equations for steady and transient heat and mass transfer processes. Emphasis on application of basic equations to engineering problems in areas of conduction, convection, mass transfer and thermal radiation.

Prerequisite: Ѵ310

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ508Automotive Power Systems(3 credit hours)

This course will cover topics related to automotive power systems. In particular, this course provides fundamental concepts and knowledge on different power station options for automotive applications including internal combustion engines, battery electrical vehicles, engine/battery hybrid vehicles, and fuel cell powered vehicles.

P: Graduate Standing

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ511Advanced Dynamics with Applications to Aerospace Systems(3 credit hours)

Basic topics in advanced dynamics and with applications to aerospace systems. Rotating coordinate systems, Euler angles, three-dimensional kinematics and kinetics, angular momentum methods and an introduction to analytical mechanics. Examples are concentrated in the area of aerospace vehicles, but the methods learned will be applicable to land-based vehicles and any engineering system undergoing rigid body rotation, e.g. wind turbines, biomechanical systems, machine tools, robotic systems, etc.

Prerequisite: (Ѵ208 or ʳ205) and Ѵ242 and (MA 301 or Ѵ341)

Typically offered in Fall and Summer

Ѵ513Principles of Structural Vibration(3 credit hours)

Principles of structural vibration beginning from single and multi-degree of freedom systems and extending to distributed systems. Forced system response, vibration of strings, bars, shafts and beams and an introduction to approximate methods.

Prerequisite: Ѵ315

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ515Advanced Automotive Vehicle Dynamics(3 credit hours)

This course covers advanced materials related to mathematical models and designs in automotive vehicles as multiple degrees of freedom systems for dynamic behaviors in acceleration, braking, rollover, aerodynamics, suspections, tire, and drive train.

Prerequisite: Ѵ208 or Ѵ315 or Ѵ472 or equivalent; or consent of the instructor

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ517Advanced Precision Manufacturing for Products, Systems and Processes(3 credit hours)

This is a graduate level course designed for graduate students and undergraduate seniors. This course examines precision issues for products, manufacturing machines, processes, and instruments. Modern manufacturing technologies are distinct in their multifarious nature in product sizes, materials, energy forms, theories, and information types; however, the key to their success relies on the management of precision. This course discusses issues critical to both existing precision manufacturing and future sub-micron/nano technology. Important topics include fundamental mechanical accuracies; manufacturing systems and processes; geometric dimensioning and tolerancing; process planning, tolerance charts, and statistical process control; principles of accuracy, repeatability, and resolution; error assessment and calibration; error budget; reversal principles; joint design and stiffness consideration; precision sensing and control; precision laser material processing.

Prerequisite: Ѵ496 or Ѵ415 or equivalent or instructor permission

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ518Acoustic Radiation I(3 credit hours)

Introduction to principles of acoustic radiation from vibrating bodies and their related fields. The radiation of simple sources, propagation of sound waves in confined spaces and transmission through different media.

Prerequisite: MA 301 and Ѵ308 or MAE 356

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

Ѵ520/Ѵ420Dynamic Analysis of Human Movement(3 credit hours)

Topics in movement biomechanics and computational analyses of movement, including muscle physiology and mechanics, advanced muscle modeling, neural control of muscle and motor control theories, and dynamic simulation and optimization. Discussion of fundamental research underpinnings and clinical and sports applications.

P: MAE208 or equivalent

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ521Linear Control and Design For Mimo Systems(3 credit hours)

Linear Multivariable control and design for multibody engineering systems (robotics) and aircraft controls and navigation. Emphasis on multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) system analysis and design using frequency-based approach. Controllability andobservability, transmission zeroes and pole-zero cancellation, eigenstructures, singular value decomposition in frequency domain, stability and performance robustness of MIMO systems.

Prerequisite: Ѵ435, Ѵ341

Ѵ522Non Linear System Analysis and Control(3 credit hours)

Nonlinear system analysis, Lyapunov stability theory, absolute stability, feedback linearization, sliding mode control, backstepping control technique, as well as various advanced nonlinear control methods.

Prerequisite: Ѵ521 or equivalent

Ѵ525Advanced Flight Vehicle Stability and Control(3 credit hours)

Preliminary analysis and design of flight control systems to include autopilots and stability augmentation systems. Study of effects of inertial cross-coupling and nonrigid bodies on vehicle dynamics.

Prerequisite: Ѵ457

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ526/Ѵ426Fundamentals of Product Design(3 credit hours)

Many think of design as more of an art than a science. However, the growing body of research in the engineering design community teaches us ways to navigate the design of consumer products using interdisciplinary design tools and rational decision making. This course introduces students to scientific design techniques that are more effective than "ad hoc" tactics. By exploring how engineering principles integrate with "real world" design challenges, students will learn to solve product design problems that encompass heterogeneous markets, multiple disciplines, and large-scale complex systems.

Prerequisite: Ѵ241

Typically offered in Spring and Summer

Ѵ528Experimental Flight Testing(3 credit hours)

Application of engineering methods to experimental flight testing of fixed-wing aircraft for determination of performance and handling qualities of air vehicles. Risk minimization techniques are included in the formulation of a flight test plan. Collected flight test data is corrected for standard day and analyzed.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing, Aerospace Engineering Majors, Ѵ525

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ531Engineering Design Optimization(3 credit hours)

Nonlinear optimization techniques with applications in various aspects of engineering design. Terminology, problem formulation, single and multiple design variables, constraints, classical and heuristic approaches, single and multiobjective problems, response surface modeling, and tradeoffs in complex engineering systems. Numerical optimization algorithms and implementation of these optimization techniques. Graduate standing in engineering recommended.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing in Engineering is recommended.

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ532Smart Structures and Micro-Transducers(3 credit hours)

This course is designed for graduate students who wish to learn fundamentals and applications of smart structures and micro transducers. The course focuses on materials, structures, design, fabrication, and characterization of micro transducers. It also covers the recent progress in applications of micro transducers in aerospace, biomedical, civil, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Prerequisite: MAE 314, Ѵ315, or equivalent.

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ533Finite Element Analysis I(3 credit hours)

Fundamental concepts of the finite element method for linear stress and deformation analysis of mechanical components. Development of truss, beam, frame, plane stress, plane strain, axisymmetric and solid elements. Isoparametric formulations. Introduction to structural dynamics. Practical modeling techniques and use of general-purpose codes for solving practical stress analysis problems.

Prerequisite: Ѵ316 or Ѵ472

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ534Mechatronics Design(3 credit hours)

Principles of Mechatronics Design, review of logic gates, microprocessor architecture, sensors and actuators, A/D and D/A conversion techniques, real-time multi-tasking programming concepts, direct digital control implementation. "Hands-on" experience through several laboratory assignments and final team project.

Prerequisite: Structured Programming Experience, Senior/Graduate Standing in WPS/MAE.

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ535/䷡535Design of Electromechanical Systems(3 credit hours)

A practical introduction to electromechanical systems with emphasis on modeling, analysis, design, and control techniques. Provides theory and practical tools for the design of electric machines (standard motors, linear actuators, magnetic bearings, etc). Involves some self-directed laboratory work and culuminates in an industrial design project. Topics include Maxwell's equations, electromechanical energy conversion, finite element analysis, design and control techniques.

Prerequisite: Ѵ341

Typically offered in Spring and Summer

Ѵ536Micro/Nano Electromechanical Systems(3 credit hours)

Fundamentals and applications of micro/nano sensors and actuators. Emphasis upon MEMS/NEMS design, microfabrication techniques, and case studies of MEMS devices. Nanomaterials and NEMS devices also covered. Students have opportunity to learn commercial software packages on design and simulation of MEMS and hear from experts from leading MEMS companies through guest lectures. Previous knowledge of MEMS and nanotechnology is not required. The course is restricted to advanced undergrads and graduate students in engineering, materials science, physics and biomedical fields.

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ537Mechanics Of Composite Structures(3 credit hours)

Manufacturing techniques with emphasis on selection of those producing most favorable end result. Classical plate theory, materials properties and failure theories. Micromechanics, repair, plate solutions and elasticity solutions covered as requiredto meet special interests of students.

Prerequisite: Ѵ316 or Ѵ472

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ538Smart Structures and Materials(3 credit hours)

An application-oriented introduction to smart structures and materials with examples from mechanical, aerospace and biomedical engineering. Experimentally observed phenomena, micromechanisms, and models for material behavior. Team work developing simulation tools for typical applications. Validating results experimentally using PC-based data acquisition systems.

Prerequisite: Ѵ415 or Ѵ472

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ539/ѳ539Advanced Materials(3 credit hours)

Introduces production/structure/property/function relation and application of a number of materials mainly for biomedical, mechanical and aerospace applications. Topics include ultra light materials (production, processing and applications of cellular solids), biomaterials (classes and application of materials in medicine and dentistry), composites (classes and application), refractory materials and coatings for high temperature applications, thin film shape memory alloys for micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS).

Prerequisite: ѳ201 and MAE 314

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ540Advanced Air Conditioning Design(3 credit hours)

Psychrometric process representations. Heating and cooling coil design. Heat pump design. Air washer design. Direct contact heat and mass transfer systems. Ventilation requirements, air dilution calculations. Cooling load calculations; CLTD, CLF andtransfer functions methods. Room air distribution.

Prerequisite: Ѵ403, 404

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ541Advanced Solid Mechanics I(3 credit hours)

Development of principles of advanced strength of materials and elasticity theory leading to solution of practical engineering problems concerned with stress and deformation analysis. Tensor analysis, coordinate transformations, alternative measures of strain, elastic constitutive equations, stress measures, formulation and solution of two and three dimensional elasticity problems. Examples include advanced beam theory for shear deformation and large deformation, contact mechanics, stress concentration, pressure vessels and compound cylinders, thermal stress analysis, and stresses in layered microelectronic devices.

Prerequisite: Ѵ316

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ543Fracture Mechanics(3 credit hours)

Concept of elastic stress intensity factor, Griffith energy balance, determination of the elastic field at a sharp crack tip via eigenfunction expansion methods, J integrals analysis, experimental determination of fracture toughness, fatigue crack growth, elastic-plastic crack tip fields. Emphasis on modern numerical methods for determination of stress intensity factors, critical crack sizes and fatigue crack propagation rate predictions.

Prerequisite: Ѵ316

Typically offered in Spring and Summer

Ѵ544Real Time Robotics(3 credit hours)

Real-time programming for servo control using an embedded controller. Software and hardware interfacing for control of a D.C. servo device. Introduction of multi-tasking to establish concurrent control of several processes, transforming servo loop into a process executing concurrently on single board computer. Provision for hands-on development systems and software emulators.

Prerequisite: Pascal, C, FORTRAN or Assembly language experience

Ѵ545Metrology For Precision Manufacturing(3 credit hours)

Foundations of dimensional metrology and error analysis as applied to accuracy and repeatability in machine design. Plane, length, angle, and roundness metrology. Design of precision systems, Abbe' principle, error analysis, measurement, and compensation. Precision instruments and operating principles. Hands-on experience with measurement instruments and techniques.

Prerequisite: Senior standing in MAE or BS in other curriculum

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ546Photonic Sensor Applications in Structure(3 credit hours)

Use of optical fiber and other photonic device based sensors to measure strain, temperature and other measurands in aerospace, mechanical, civil and biomedical applications. An introduction to optical waveguide analysis will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Prerequisite: Ѵ371 or Ѵ316

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ550Foundations Of Fluid Dynamics(3 credit hours)

Review of basic thermodynamics pertinent to gas dynamics. Detailed development of general equations governing fluid motion in both differential and integral forms. Simplification of the equations to those for specialized flow regimes. Similarity parameters. Applications to simple problems in various flow regimes.

Prerequisite: Ѵ201 or Ѵ252 or Ѵ308

Typically offered in Fall and Summer

Ѵ551Airfoil Theory(3 credit hours)

Development of fundamental aerodynamic theory. Emphasis upon mathematical analysis and derivation of equations of motion, airfoil theory and comparison with experimental results. Introduction to super sonic flow theory.

Prerequisite: Ѵ252

Ѵ552Introduction to Experimental Fluid Dynamics and Measurement Systems(3 credit hours)

This course educates graduate students in the design of experiments and basis for model testing and scaling laws; uncertainty and error analysis in selecting measurement systems for experiments; qualitative and quantitative technologies for obtaining measurements; analysis, post-processing and visualization techniques of data.

Prerequisite: Ѵ308 and Ѵ451 or equivalent

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ553Compressible Fluid Flow(3 credit hours)

Equations of motion in supersonic flow; unsteady wave motion, velocity potential equation; linearized flow; conical flow. Slender body theory. Methods of characteristics. Shockwave/ boundary layer interactions.

Prerequisite: Ѵ351 or Ѵ550

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ554Hypersonic Aerodynamics(3 credit hours)

Fundamentals of inviscid and viscous hypersonic flowfields. Classical and modern techniques for calculating shock wave shapes, expansions, surface pressures, heat transfer and skin friction. Applications to high speed aircraft, rockets and spacecraft.

Prerequisite: Ѵ553

Ѵ555Applications of Acoustic and Elastic Wave Propagation(3 credit hours)

This course covers the principles for acoustic and elastic propagation in fluids and solids. Diffraction theory is developed for finite sources. The notions of wavepacket, dispersion and waveguiding are reviewed. The fundamentals of the theory of elasticity and elastic propagation in solids are introduced, based on tensor analysis. Time reversal of acoustic waves is presented, as well as applications to underwater acoustics, medical imaging and therapy, nondestructive testing, elasticity imaging.

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ558Microfluidics and Nanofluidics(3 credit hours)

Macroscale fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer. Theories of microfluidics and nanofluidics. Applications in mechanical, biomedical, and chemical engineering. Discussions of journal articles and modern fluid dynamics projects. Expert guest lectures on advanced micro/nanotechnology topics.

Prerequisite: Ѵ310 and Ѵ427

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ560Computational Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer(3 credit hours)

Introduction to integration of the governing partial differential equations of fluid flow and heat transfer by numerical finite difference and finite volume means. Methods for parabolic, hyper-bolic and elliptical equations and application to model equations. Error analysis and physical considerations.

Prerequisite: Ѵ501 or MA 512, Ѵ550 or MAE 557, proficiency in the FORTRAN programming language is required

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ561Wing Theory(3 credit hours)

Discussion of inviscid flow fields over wings in subsonic flow. Vortex lattice methods, lifting surface theories and panel methods developed for wings with attached flow and leading-edge separation. Calculation of aerodynamic characteristics and determination of effects of planform and airfoil shapes.

Prerequisite: Ѵ551

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ562Physical Gas Dynamics(3 credit hours)

Introduction to kinetic theory, statistical mechanics and chemical thermodynamics. Law of Action. Vibrational and chemical rate processes. Application to equilibrium and nonequilibrium flows.

Prerequisite: Ѵ550

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ570/Ѵ470Space Exploration Systems(3 credit hours)

This course will cover topics related to space exploration systems. In particular, the basic concepts of orbital mechanics needed for space mission planning will be covered, along with the essential subsystems found on a typical spacecraft.

Prerequisite: Ѵ467 Introduction to Space Flight or Graduate Standing and Consent of Instructor

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ573Hydrodynamic Stability and Transition(3 credit hours)

Conceptual framework and development of hydrodynamic stability theory. Application of the theory to two-dimensional incompressible and compressible subsonic, transonic, supersonic and hypersonic flows. Results for three-dimensional flows. Introduction of mechanisms of transition and discussion of transition models in numerical methods.

Prerequisite: Ѵ550

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ575Advanced Propulsion Systems(3 credit hours)

The course will focus on non-turbomachinery, air-breathing hypersonic aeropropulsion applications. Specific propulsion systems to be covered include ramjets and scramjets, pulsed detonation engines, and combined cycle engines, with historical perspective.

Prerequisite: Both Ѵ458 and Ѵ459 or both Ѵ302 and Ѵ308

Ѵ577/577Multiscale Two-phase Flow Simulations(3 credit hours)

Modeling and simulation of two-phase flows using interface tracking approach and ensemble averaging approaches. Model validation and verification based on interface-tracking data, boiling models. Nuclear reactor applications. The course focuses on interface tracking methods understanding as applied to bubbly flow simulations. Students will develop a simplified solver to track 2D bubbles/droplets throughout the course homework assignments and will learn how to apply this approach for better understanding of multi-phase flow as part of the course project.

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ586Project Work In Mechanical Engineering(1-6 credit hours)

Individual or small group investigation of a problem stemming from a mutual student-faculty interest. Emphasis on providing a situation for exploiting student curiosity.

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

Ѵ589Special Topics In Mechanical Engineering(1-6 credit hours)

Faculty and student discussions of special topics in mechanical engineering.

Prerequisite: Advanced Undergraduate standing or Graduate standing

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

Ѵ685Master's Supervised Teaching(1-3 credit hours)

Teaching experience under the mentorship of faculty who assist the student in planning for the teaching assignment, observe and provide feedback to the student during the teaching assignment, and evaluate the student upon completion of the assignment.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

Ѵ688Non-Thesis Masters Continuous Registration - Half Time Registration(1 credit hours)

For students in non-thesis master's programs who have completed all credit hour requirements for their degree but need to maintain half-time continuous registration to complete incomplete grades, projects, final master's exam, etc.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

Ѵ689Non-Thesis Master Continuous Registration - Full Time Registration(3 credit hours)

For students in non-thesis master's programs who have completed all credit hour requirements for their degree but need to maintain full-time continuous registration to complete incomplete grades, projects, final master's exam, etc. Students may register for this course a maximum of one semester.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

Ѵ690Master's Examination(1-9 credit hours)

For students in non thesis master's programs who have completed all other requirements of the degree except preparing for and taking the final master's exam.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

Ѵ693Master's Supervised Research(1-9 credit hours)

Instruction in research and research under the mentorship of a member of the Graduate Faculty.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

Ѵ695Master's Thesis Research(1-9 credit hours)

Thesis Research

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

Ѵ696Summer Thesis Research(1 credit hours)

For graduate students whose programs of work specify no formal course work during a summer session and who will be devoting full time to thesis research.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Summer only

Ѵ699Master's Thesis Preparation(1-9 credit hours)

Individual research in the field of mechanical engineering.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing in Mechanical Engineering, Consent of Adviser

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

Ѵ702Statistical Thermodynamics(3 credit hours)

Analysis and establishment of conclusions of classical thermodynamics from the microscopic viewpoint. Topics include: ensemble methods, partition functions, translational, rotational and vibrational energy modes of an ideal gas, chemical equilibrium, imperfect gases, dense fluids, critical-point theories, mean free path concepts, Boltzmann equation, hydrodynamic equations from kinetic theory and properties of disordered composite media.

Prerequisite: Ѵ501

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ703Direct Energy Conversion(3 credit hours)

The course is intended to be an introduction to fundamentals of energy transport and energy conversion concepts from nano to macro scales. The course will cover the state of energy carriers (photons, electrons, and phonons) and their transport characteristics. A focus will be on material properties that dictate energy related processes. The foundational concepts will then be applied to direct energy conversion devices including thermoelectrics and photovoltaics. Finally, the course will cover system analysis of solid-state energy conversion applications.

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ704Fluid Dynamics of Combustion II(3 credit hours)

Advanced theory of detonation and deflagration. Ignition criteria. Direct initiation of detonation including blast-wave theory. Transition from deflagration to detonation. Combustion wave structure and stability. Liquid droplet and solid particle combustion.

Prerequisite: Ѵ504

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ707Advanced Conductive Heat Transfer(3 credit hours)

Comprehensive, unified treatment of methodologies for solving multidimensional transient and steady heat conduction. Approximate and exact methods of solving nonlinear problems, including phase and temperature-dependent thermal properties, nonlinearboundary conditions. Heat conduction in composite media and anisotropic solids. Use of finite integral transform and Green's function techniques.

Prerequisite: Ѵ505 or Ѵ501

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ708Advanced Convective Heat Transfer(3 credit hours)

Advanced topics in steady and transient, natural and forced convective heat transfer for laminar and turbulent flow through conduits and over surfaces. Mass transfer in laminar and turbulent flow. Inclusion of topics on compressible flow with heat and mass transfer.

Prerequisite: Ѵ550

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ709Advanced Radiative Heat Transfer(3 credit hours)

Comprehensive and unified treatment of basic theories; exact and approximate methods of solution of radiative heat transfer and the interaction of radiation with conductive and convective modes of heat transfer in participating and non-participatingmedia.

Prerequisite: Ѵ505

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ718Acoustic Radiation II(3 credit hours)

Advanced treatment of the theory of sound generation and transmission. Topics include: techniques for solution of the wave equation, radiation from spheres, cylinders and plates, sound propagation in ducts, scattering.

Prerequisite: Ѵ518

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ721Robust Control with Convex Methods(3 credit hours)

This course emphasizes on control design techniques which result in closed-loop systems that are insensitive to modeling errors and which achieve a prespecified level of performance. Robustness margins against model uncertainty. Robust control design techniques based on linear matrix inequalities. Topics include uncertainty modeling, robust stability and performance, H_inf control, convex optimization technique (LMI), mu-analysis and synthesis, computer-aided analysis and control design.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing in Engineering and Applied Mathematics, Ѵ521 or ECE 716

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ725Geophysical Fluid Mechanics(3 credit hours)

The principles of fluid mechanics applied to geophysical systems. Special emphasis placed on those features of these systems, such as almost rigid rotation and stable stratification, which produce unique and important effects. The effects of almost rigid rotations on homogeneous and stratified flows examined in detail.

Prerequisite: Ѵ501

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ726Advanced Geophysical Fluid Mechanics(3 credit hours)

Principles of fluid mechanics applied to geophysical systems. Special emphasis on role of stable stratification on the flows in these systems. Detailed study of generation, interaction, propagation and dissipation of internal gravity waves. Studyof other geophysically important flows.

Prerequisite: Ѵ725 or equivalent

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ730Modem Plasticity(3 credit hours)

Classical theories of plasticity and solutions pertaining to rate-independent and -dependent deformations modes in metals, geomaterials and concrete. Ductile failure modes, i.e., shear-strain localization and other failure modes associated with large deformation modes. Inelastic wave propagation, crystalline constitutive formulations and computational aspects of quasi-static and dynamic plasticity.

Prerequisite: Grad. course in elasticity or strength of materials

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ731/ѳ731Materials Processing by Deformation(3 credit hours)

Presentation of mechanical and metallurgical fundamentals of materials processing by deformation. Principles of metal working, friction, forging, rolling, extrusion, drawing, high energy rate forming, chipless forming techniques, manufacturing system concept in production.

Prerequisite: Six hrs. of solid mechanics and/or materials

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ734Finite Element Analysis II(3 credit hours)

Advanced treatment of finite element analysis for non-linear mechanics problems, including most recent developments in efficient solution procedures. Plate bending and shell elements, computational plasticity and viscoplastic materials, large deformation formulations, initial stability and buckling, structural vibrations, incompressible elasticity, contact problems, flow in incompressible media, weighted residuals and field problems. Development of efficient algorithms for practical application.

Prerequisite: Ѵ533

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ742Mechanical Design for Automated Assembly(3 credit hours)

Mechanical design principles important in high volume production using modern automated assembly technology. Production and component design for ease of assembly as dictated by part handling, feeding, orientation, insertion and fastening requirements. Existing product evaluation and redesign for improved assemblage.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing or PBS status in Engineering

Typically offered in Fall only

Ѵ766Computational Fluid Dynamics(3 credit hours)

Advanced computational methods for integrating, by use of finite differences, and finite volume discretizations, non-linear governing equations of fluid flow; the Euler equations and the Navier-Stokes equations. Topics from current literature.

Prerequisite: Ѵ560; proficiency in the FORTRAN programming language is required

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ770Computation of Reacting Flows(3 credit hours)

Development of governing equations for chemically and thermally nonequilibrium flows. Numerical formulation with application to planetary entry flows and supersonic combustion. Numerical examples. Computational problems.

Prerequisite: Ѵ560, Ѵ766

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ776Turbulence(3 credit hours)

Development of basic concepts and governing equations for turbulence and turbulent field motion. Formulations of various correlation tensors and energy spectra for isotropic and nonisotropic turbulence. Introduction to turbulent transport processes,free turbulence, and wall turbulence.

Prerequisite: Ѵ550

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ787Structural Health Monitoring(3 credit hours)

The course will provide the students with in-depth knowledge of technologies in structural health monitoring using smart materials as sensing and actuating elements to interrogate the structures. Damage detection techniques such as wave, impedance, and vibration-based damage detection techniques will be discussed and applied to different types of structures. Advanced signal processing techniques such as wavelet, neural network, principal component analysis will be used to make the damage more quantifiable.

Prerequisite: Ѵ541 or Ѵ513 or equivalent

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ789Advanced Topics In Mechanical Engineering(1-3 credit hours)

Faculty and graduate student discussions of advanced topics in contemporary mechanical engineering.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

Ѵ801Mechanical Engineering Seminar(1 credit hours)

Faculty and graduate student discussions centered around current research problems and advanced engineering theories.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

Ѵ830Doctoral Independent Study(1-3 credit hours)

Individual investigation of advanced topics under the direction of member(s) of the graduate faculty.

Typically offered in Spring only

Ѵ885Doctoral Supervised Teaching(1-3 credit hours)

Teaching experience under the mentorship of faculty who assist the student in planning for the teaching assignment, observe and provide feedback to the student during the teaching assignment, and evaluate the student upon completion of the assignment.

Prerequisite: Doctoral student

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

Ѵ890Doctoral Preliminary Examination(1-9 credit hours)

For students who are preparing for and taking written and/or oral preliminary exams.

Prerequisite: Doctoral student

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

Ѵ893Doctoral Supervised Research(1-9 credit hours)

Instruction in research and research under the mentorship of a member of the Graduate Faculty.

Prerequisite: Doctoral student

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

Ѵ895Doctoral Dissertation Research(1-9 credit hours)

Dissertation Research

Prerequisite: Doctoral student

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

Ѵ896Summer Dissertation Research(1 credit hours)

For graduate students whose programs of work specify no formal course work during a summer session and who will be devoting full time to thesis research.

Prerequisite: Doctoral student

Typically offered in Summer only

Ѵ899Doctoral Dissertation Preparation(1-9 credit hours)

For students who have completed all credit hour, full-time enrollment, preliminary examination, and residency requirements for the doctoral degree, and are writing and defending their dissertations.

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer