Students pursuing a doctoral degree or a master's degree with financial support from The University must meet the TFS Area Research Requirements. Both master's and doctoral students are expected to establish a relationship with a TFS Area Faculty member for supervision of their research within their first semester in the graduate program.

The Mechanical Engineering Department provides the TFS Area with an abundance of Research Resources and Research Facilities. The Department, along with the entire College of Engineering and the University of Texas at Austin are recognized as premier research institutions in the world. The cornerstone of our Department is the excellent research talent marshalled here.

Our primary facilities are located on campus in the ten-story Engineering Teaching Center II and on the J.J. Pickle Research Campus. These resources offer everything from wood shops to electron micropes, and microcomputers to an active teaching nuclear reactor.

 

TFS AND AFFILIATED RESEARCH GROUPS

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING CENTER: The Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC) at The University of Texas at Austin, created to lead innovation and education in key sectors of manufacturing, spans many university disciplines and draws from the expertise of industry and academic leaders. Technical focus areas include semiconductor manufacturing, advanced materials processing, micro- and nano-scale manufacturing, physics-based modeling and control, small-lot and adroit manufacturing technologies and rapid manufacturing. The work within the center also includes policy, operations and management. Within this arena, AMC's mission is education, collaborative research and service to the manufacturing community.

CENTER FOR NANO- AND MOLECULAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: The Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology (CNM), founded in October 2000, is a multidisciplinary research center within the Texas Materials Institute (TMI). The Center's mission is to foster research, education, and outreach in nanotechnology at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). The CNM has made substantial progress toward establishing UT as one of the leading university programs in Nano-science and Nanotechnology. Development has been rapid in critical areas such as the CNM/TMI core Nano instrumentation facility, the building project for the CNM's new home (North Wing in the Experimental Science Building, ESB), faculty recruiting, educational programs, and outreach activities.

CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES GROUP: The CET group focuses on fuel cells, rechargeable batteries, electrochemical supercapacitors, and solar energy with an emphasis on the development of new materials; efficient manufacturing processes; system integration and control; analysis, testing and design of components at both the microscale and system levels; and analysis of off-design and transient behavior.

INVERSE DESIGN of ENERGY APPLICATIONS (IDEA) LAB: The IDEA Lab is dedicated to providing design, measurement and control tools for energy systems to industry. IDEALab research is based on the use of inverse analysis methods. These methods start with specifying the desired outcome of the design (what temperatures and heat fluxes are needed to meet the design requirements for steady-state or transient heating of an object such as a semiconductor wafer, coated object to be dried or cured, material to be processed, etc.).

MICROELECTRONICS RESEARCH CENTER: The Microelectronics Research Center (MRC) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) is to perform education and research/development in materials and electronic devices that will: 1) provide opportunities to perform research in novel materials of interest to the IC industry, optoelectronics and nanophotonics, novel electronic devices and nanostructures, and interconnects and packaging for academic as well as industrial users; 2) provide the training and experience for graduating students to successfully pursue a rewarding career in microelectronics, and; 3) contribute strongly to advancements in microelectronic devices, integrated circuits, and optoelectronic components.

NANO- AND MICRO-SYTEMS GROUP: This is a new research group focusing on micro- and nano-systems covering Design, Fabrication, Simulation, Materials, and Thermal/Fluids.

SOLAR ENERGY LABORATORY: The Solar Energy Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin resides within the Mechanical Engineering Department. The Solar Energy Laboratory was established in 1982 and is located in the ETC II Building. It includes space and equipment for solar energy related projects and research.

TEXAS MATERIALS INSTITUTE: The Texas Materials Institute (TMI) was established in 1998 to ensure that UT-Austin achieves excellence in graduate education and research in the broad field of materials. The role of TMI is to be a "virtual" department that guides the destiny of materials science and engineering on the UT campus without imposing the limitations or boundaries inherent to departmental structures.

 

Thermal/Fluids Systems | Mechanical Engineering Department | College of Engineering | The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station C2200 | Austin TX 78712-0292 | Phone: 512-471-4584 | Fax: 512-471-1045 | Email: dena.wagner@engr.utexas.edu
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