MechE Features
Amy Smith: Service Engineering
Amy B. Smith is an inventor who creates useful technologies for others. Yet before she could do that, she had to invent something else: a way to channel her skills into a path that was meaningful to her. "When I was working towards my bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering here in the 1980s, the chief focus in the field seemed to be cars and bombs," she says. "I don't drive and I don't like war, so I had to find my own way." Read More...
Center for Ocean Engineering: Anchors Aweigh
Originally established in 1893 as the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NA&ME), and rechristened the Department of Ocean Engineering in 1970, the program officially merged with Mechanical Engineering on January 1, 2005. Thus also emerged the Center for Ocean Engineering (COE). Read More...
Course 2-A: Customized Curriculum
To borrow the tagline from a famous computer maker's advertising campaign, some of our undergraduate students "think different". In fact, many of them do, and for them MechE offers Course 2-A: SB in Engineering as recommended by the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Read More...
Ian Hunter: Innovator Actuator
Professor Ian Hunter has high standards for his students. Of the six areas of knowledge required for his Bioinstrumentation Lab - biology, optics, mechanics, mathematics, electronics, and chemistry (which he dubs BOMMEC) - he expects his students to be proficient in at least three. Hunter seeks, in his own words, "Renaissance types who are broadly trained and can march across disciplines to find solutions." Read More...
Energy Science & Engineering: Power Surge
The subject of energy - where it comes from, what it costs, its environmental footprint, how we use it, and how long current sources will last - is of primary importance today and will be one of the most critical areas of investment and research for decades to come. Energy Science & Engineering (ESE) focuses on discovering and refining technologies for clean, efficient, and safe energy conversion and utilization. Read More...
Nanoengineering: Giant Steps with Tiny Technologies
Working at nanoscale requires not only specialized knowledge but also specialized tools. Consider: a nanometer is roughly the length that one’s fingernails grow in one second; therefore, the typical tools and instruments one uses to work with materials on a macro scale are impractical in nanoengineering. Having the most advanced tools and facilities, therefore, is critical to successful research. Read More...
Thermal-Fluids Engineering: The Engine of Innovation
From the time of Caesar until the advent of the railroad in the 19th century, there were no major changes in mechanics that made a trip around the world faster, cheaper, or safer. In the fewer than 200 years since passenger railroads were introduced, however, transportation technology has advanced to such an extent that one can travel the globe with relative comfort and ease in a single day. Such is one impact of mechanical engineering in modern history. Read More...
