The mechanical engineering (ME) profession is dedicated to applying principles of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics in the analysis, design, manufacturing and maintenance of mechanical components, devices, and systems. Oregon State's graduate program in Mechanical Engineering is designed to educate leaders who will develop and improve systems for transforming energy, health, materials, and information to meet the needs of society. To be eligible for graduate studies at Oregon State, Mechanical Engineering applicants must have a baccalaureate or master’s degree in science, mathematics, or engineering.
Please review the program options and milestones of our ME degree offerings:
Please review the information below to learn about MIME's Graduate Options in Mechanical Engineering. Mechanical Engineering graduate students may also declare a secondary option, such as Engineering Management or Renewable Energy Studies.
Advanced Manufacturing focuses on the integration of nanomaterial synthesis and microfabrication techniques and conventional macroscale manufacturing technologies to produce nano- and microscale systems in an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable manner.
Such efforts require both an understanding of the physical and chemical phenomena influencing manufacturing processes and bottom-up cost estimating to evaluate the economics of competing manufacturing strategies. Process-specific manufacturability rules, tooling and metrology can then be developed and applied.
Advanced manufacturing work done at Oregon State University is summarized below:
Nanomanufacturing. Nanomanufacturing differs from nanotechnology in that it controls matter at the scale of a nanometer at high production rates. Low-cost routes to nanostructured surfaces and materials involve moving away from gas-phase processing to solution processing. Microchannel process technology (MPT) can enhance heat and mass transfer within solution processes leading to better process control. At Oregon State, researchers are using computational fluid dynamics to evaluate the effects of mixer design on nanoparticle size distribution during nanomaterial synthesis.
Micromanufacturing. Typical micromanufacturing processes are developed around microchannel lamination or powder processing platforms drawing on backgrounds in solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics and material science. Examples of analysis and modeling studies being conducted at OSU include effects of powder/binder systems on flow and compaction behavior in injection molds and effects of device geometry and materials on the outcome of bonding processes.
MIME Graduate Faculty in Advanced Manufacturing
Other Oregon State Advanced Manufacturing Faculty
The ME design engineering discipline focuses on developing analytical methods and tools to design products and systems associated with complex systems such as power plants, manufacturing machines, transport vehicles, renewable energy systems, robots, space stations, recycling, military hardware, prosthetic devices, and recreational equipment.
The fundamental challenge in design research is to develop theoretical foundations and repeatable and systematic methodologies that will help engineers:
Design research applications in MIME happen at both the device and systems levels and include model-based system design, risk- and reliability-based design, computational design and visualization, bio-inspired design, design optimization, decision making in design, design of renewable energy systems, and design of sustainable systems.
MIME Graduate Faculty in Design
MECHANICS AREA
The ME engineering mechanics specialty area focuses on computational and physical methods in mechanics. On the computational side, mechanics faculty expertise ranges from stress analysis to imaging techniques for stress/strain monitoring. On the physical side, faculty are involved in the design and testing of material properties, new biomedical materials, and composite structures.
Students who specialize in this area are equipped to solve technical problems in a wide range of fields including aerospace, automotive, biomedical, manufacturing, and computer engineering to name a few. Our faculty possess a broad range of expertise in experimental, theoretical, and computational mechanics.
MIME Graduate Faculty in Mechanics
MATERIALS AREA
The ME engineering specialty "materials" involves understanding what gives materials their properties -- and then using this knowledge to engineer new and better materials that can meet wide-ranging societal and environmental needs.
Materials scientists study how to fabricate new materials, predict their behavior, and control their structure and properties over length-scales spanning from meters down to the atomic scale.
The scope of materials science is immense: It encompasses diverse materials classes (metals, polymers, composites, glasses, and ceramics) and covers applications ranging from structural materials such as those used in bridges and aircraft to electronic, magnetic and optical materials used in computing, communications, and new electronic devices.
The MIME materials science faculty at OSU are engaged in research in many areas, including electroceramics, mechanical properties of materials, micro- and nanoelectro mechanical devices, multifunctional materials, nanomaterials, piezoelectric materials, superconducting materials, thin films, and thermal properties of materials.
Together their efforts address applications in areas ranging from sustainable energy to medicine and public health.
MIME Graduate Faculty in Materials
The ME dynamics and controls specialty area focuses on design and control of autonomous entities such as mobile robots, micro air vehicles, and wave energy converters and on principles and methods of path planning, multi-robot coordination, manipulation, human–robot interactions, and other robotics and control-related issue.
Dynamics and control applications currently being addressed by ME faculty include robotic hand manipulation, legged locomotion and other types of bio-inspired locomotion, air traffic control, micro-air vehicle operation, robots for use in human environments, and modeling and control of marine renewable energy converters. (These and other robotics applications are listed on the Robotics Area of Research Excellence page.)
MIME Graduate Faculty in Robotics
The Thermal–Fluid Sciences (TFS) involve the application of basic fundamental laws of fluid flow, heat transfer and thermodynamics to the development and understanding of many engineering and naturally occurring systems. Current work being done by Oregon State School of MIME TFS faculty encompasses the following areas:
MIME Graduate Faculty in Thermal–Fluid Sciences