Mechanical Engineering Building
Faculty Research Groups
The Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin is recognized as one of the premiere 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 a nuclear reactor.
Our Faculty are deeply committed to providing students the individual guidance and resources to confront complex engineering challenges. Faculty actively supervise graduate student research and, typically, one or two Ph.D. candidates and two or three M.S. candidates per professor to ensure a personalized environment. Modest Graduate class sizes - 10 to 15 students on average - encourage open and informal discussions. Many of the Faculty in our Department participate with faculty and engineers from other areas of the University and other institutions from around the world.
Acoustics
The Acoustics Program at the University of Texas offers excellent opportunities to learn the fundamentals of acoustics and use them in basic and applied research projects.
Professors: David T. Blackstock, Mark F. Hamilton, Ron Panton, and Preston Wilson.
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, AMCs mission is education, collaborative research and service to the manufacturing community.
Professors: Jonathan Bard, J. Wesley Barnes, Joseph J. Beaman, David L. Bourell, Mike Bryant, Matthew Campbell, Shaochen Chen, Rich Crawford, Janet L. Ellzey, Eric Fahrenthold, Paulo Ferreira, John B. Goodenough, John J. Hasenbein, Paul Ho, John R. Howell, Joseph H. Koo, Desiderio Kovar, Erhan Kutanoglu, Arumugam Manthiram, Glenn Masada, Tess Moon, David Morton, Steven Nichols, Ron Panton, Elmira Popova, Lew Rabenberg, Ken Ralls, Juan Sanchez, Phil Schmidt, Li Shi, S.V. Sreenivasan, Eric Taleff, Del Tesar, Al Traver, Harovel Wheat, and Kris Wood.
Clean Energy Technologies (cet) 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.
Professors: Janet L. Ellzey, John B. Goodenough, John R. Howell, Desiderio Kovar, Arumugam Manthiram, Jeremy P. Meyers, Li Shi, and Gary C. Vliet.
Graphics Lab
Biosignal Analysis - Computer Graphics - Biomechanics
Professors: Affiliated ME Departmental faculty are: Ronald E. Barr and Thomas J. Krueger.
Inverse Design Of Energy Applications (idea) Lab
The IDEA lab is located on the seventh floor of the Engineering Teaching Center II and is a part of the Thermal/Fluids Systems Area of the Mechanical Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Austin.
Professors: Ofodike A. Ezekoye, John R. Howell, and David P. Morton.
Integrated Mechanics Of Processing And Composites Manufacturing Technologies (impact) Lab
In the IMPACT lab we study materials processing and manufacturing methods to enable industry to make their processes: Better, Greener, Faster, & Cheaper. Our research program involves both detailed modeling and extensive experimentation in order to develop a phenomenological understanding of various processes for enhanced process control and optimization.
Professors: Tess Moon.
Laboratory For Freeform Fabrication
The Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication seeks to develop and disseminate processes that enable exceptional improvement in the manufacture and maintenance of geometrically and functionally complex objects. These objects can have spatially varying materials and microstructures oversize ranges from the nano- to the macro scale. This is achieved by precise application of energy and materials in space and time. Measures of improvements are the introduction of novel products and higher quality existing products more quickly and economically, with positive impact on the environment.
Professors: Joseph J. Beaman, David L. Bourell, Richard H. Crawford, and Kristin L. Wood.
Manufacturing And Design (mad) Lab
The MADLab endeavors to improve manufacturing and engineering design through the application of systematic design methodologies and the development of computer-based design tools.
Professors: Matthew I. Campbell, Richard Crawford, and Kristin L. Wood.
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.
Professors: Shaochen Chen, Paulo Ferreira, Paul Ho, and Li Shi.
Neuro Engineering Research & Development Laboratory
NERDLab's research addresses the development of new neural network architectures and learning algorithms, and the application of neural networks to system identification of nonlinear dynamic systems, adaptive control, intelligent control, fault diagnostics, optimization, knowledge representation, reverse engineering, and precision machining.
Professors: Benito Fernandez-Rodriguez.
Neuromuscular Biomechanics Laboratory
The research program of the Neuromuscular Biomechanics Lab is centered on three primary areas: 1) analyzing normal and pathological human locomotion to identify the neuromotor and biomechanical mechanisms that contribute to locomotor impairments; 2) applying rapid prototyping techniques to optimize orthotic and prosthetic components and improve the functional mobility of those with lower-limb disabilities; and 3) improving sports performance by optimizing muscle coordination and equipment setup, and identifying mechanisms that lead to overuse injuries.
Professors: Richard Neptune.
Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory
The Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratoryis utilized in the instruction of our Mechanical Engineering students who are involved in Nuclear and Radiation Engineering.
Professors:
Robotics Research Group
The Robotics Research Group represents over 30 years of concentration on the design, test and operation of manipulator systems. The main technical thrust of the program focuses strongly on the following goal: To produce modular systems which exhibit advancedperformance at reduced costs whose architecture matches that of today's computers, allowing rapid repairs and reduced threat of obsolescence.
Professors: Delbert Tesar.
Solar Energy Laboratory
The solar energy program 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 Mechanical Engineering Building. It includes space and equipment for solar energy related projects, and research.
Professors: Gary C. Vliet.