Materials & Mechanics
From self-fitting fabrics to 3D-printed bionic eyes, ME is changing the way we think about materials and mechanics.
Materials and mechanics are at the heart of mechanical engineering, and they play critical roles in exciting new avenues for next-generation manufacturing technologies. These include traditional manufacturing, such as creating load-bearing mechanical components, metal forming, polymer and composite manufacturing, or additive manufacturing. This also extends to new directions, such as integrating functional materials into 3D printing technologies, and the fabrication of personalized biomedical devices which can be seamlessly merged with the body and change their shape in response to body heat. Our department is exploring the use of atomically thin yet strong materials such as graphene to create ubiquitous biomedical sensors for point-of-care applications. Materials and mechanics also underlies exciting advances in manufacturing automation, robotic assembly, and even medical robotic devices for high precision, automated surgery. Our department house faculty who are pioneers in the synthesis and assembly of nanoscale materials and devices, including plasma synthesis of nanoparticles for energy harvesting applications, and 3D printing nano-ink electronic tattoos directly on the body.