Graduate students pursuing the Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees work closely with faculty in advancing the frontiers of knowledge in the following focused research thrusts:

Applied Mechanics and Advanced Materials Processing: mechanics of soft and hard matter, properties of ceramic and metallic materials and coatings, optical ceramics, photonic crystals, optical fibers, thin films, polymer and composite materials processing, micro-fabrication processes.

Biomedical Related Applications: cellular mechanics, tissue engineering, cellular micro-manipulations, cell membrane mechanics and transport, modeling of protein motion, human skeletal motion analysis.

Computational Shape Modeling, Design and Optimization: geometric modeling, computational design and design optimization, geometric reasoning, design methodologies for complex systems, gear systems and structures, structural shape and topology optimization, optimization for manufacturing ability.

Computational Fluid Dynamics: computational algorithms, intersection among fluid dynamics, nonlinear dynamical system, control theory, thermal and water management in polymer electrolyte fuel cells, structure of chemically reacting flow, catalytic combustion, micro-propulsion, laser diagnostics, supersonic combustion, modeling and simulation of multiphysics turbulent flows, reactive flows, radiative heat transfer, and multi-phase combustion.

Energy Systems: experimental and computational research in fluid mechanics, heat and mass transport and combustion as applied to technologically important systems such as gas turbines, combustion systems, fuel cells, heat pipes and thermo-electric devices.  Other areas include research into alternative fuels and their utilization and emissions.

Micro and Nano-scale Systems: experimental, computational and theoretical studies on fluid and heat transport in micro devices, micro electro-mechanical systems, mechanics of structures at nanometer length scales, nano-structured materials synthesis, carbon nanotubes.

Robotics, Dynamics, Sensing and Control: smart materials for control and sensing, advanced sensors, vibration suppression, new perspectives in time-delayed systems and stability, high-speed machining chatter, non-linear vibrations, real-time detection and on-line monitoring.