The department has 31 full-time, tenured, or tenure-track faculty plus nine appointment-stream faculty whose expertise spans across a broad range of topics, including advanced manufacturing and design, energy and power technology, soft matter and solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, computational and data-enabled engineering, smart materials and systems, controls, acoustics, and nano-technology.

The research program in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science is significant with over $8 million in annual research expenditures from projects funded by government agencies and industry. 

The core competencies of the department's research are in many areas, most specifically: 

  • Advanced Manufacturing and Design
  • Materials for Extreme Conditions
  • Soft Matter Biomechanics
  • Computational and Data-Enabled Engineering
  • Cyber-Physical Systems and Security
  • Nuclear and other Sustainable Energies
  • Quantitative and In Situ Materials Characterization

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND DESIGN

Active faculty members:

Nikhil Bajaj, Markus Chmielus, Sung Kwon Cho, Minking Chyu, C. Isaac Garcia, Tevis Jacobs, Jung-Kun Lee, Qihan Liu, Ian Nettleship, Paul Ohodnicki, David Schmidt, Albert To, Jeffrey Vipperman, Qing-Ming Wang, Xiong Wei, Jörg Wiezorek, Xiayun Zhao

 

MATERIALS FOR EXTREME CONDITIONS

Active faculty members:

Minking Chyu, C. Isaac Garcia, Tevis Jacobs, Paul Ohodnicki, Wissam Saidi, Guofeng Wang, Qing-Ming Wang, Xiong Wei, Jörg Wiezorek, Sylvanus Wosu

 

SOFT MATTER BIOMECHANICS

Active faculty members:

Sung Kwon Cho, G. Paolo Galdi, Qihan Liu, Anne Robertson, Patrick Smolinski, Jeffrey Vipperman, Qing-Ming Wang, Sylvanus Wosu

 

MODELING AND SIMULATION

Active faculty members:

Hessam Babaee, G. Paolo Galdi, Peyman Givi, Sangyeop Lee, Anne Robertson, Wissam Saidi, David Schmidt, Patrick Smolinski, Albert To, Jeffrey Vipperman, Guofeng Wang, Xudong Zhang, Xiong Wei

 

COMPUTATIONAL AND DATA-ENABLED ENGINEERING

Active faculty members:

Hessam Babaee, Nikhil Bajaj, Daniel Cole, Ben Erichson, Albert To, Wei Xiong

CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND SECURITY

Active faculty members:

Nikhil Bajaj, Buddy Clark, Peyman Givi, Katherine Hornbostel, Inanc Senocak, Xiayun Zhao

NUCLEAR AND OTHER SUSTAINABLE ENERGIES

Active faculty members:

Nikhil Bajaj, Heng Ban, Peyman Givi, Katherine Hornbostel, Paul Ohodnicki, Inanc Senocak

QUANTITATIVE AND IN SITU MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION

Active faculty members:

Markus Chmielus, C. Isaac Garcia, Tevis Jacobs, Sangyeop Lee, Anne Robertson, Wissam Saidi, Qing-Ming Wang, Xiong Wei, Jörg Wiezorek, Sylvanus Wosu

 

HESSAM BABAEE

• Reduced-order modeling
• Uncertainity Quantification
• Physics-informed machine learning
• Combustion

NIKHIL BAJAJ

• Nonlinear dynamics and nonlinear oscillations
• Cyberphysical systems and mechatronics
• Machine learning in dynamic systems and controls
• Resonant sensor design, control, and instrumentation for nuclear and high-reliability applications
• Control of manufacturing systems

MARKUS CHMIELUS

• Additive manufacturing especially binder jet 3D printing and sintering
• Magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMA)
• Magnetocaloric materials
• Porous 3D printed structures
• Metallic thin films

SUNG KWON CHO

• MEMS design and fabrication
• Micro/biofluidics
• BioMEMS

MINKING K. CHYU

• Heat and mass transfer
• Gas turbine cooling and durability
• Fuel cells
• Energy technology

WILLIAM W. CLARK

• Cyber Physical Systems, Mechatronics
• Inertial Sensors 
• Human Motion Measurements 
• Computer Vision

DANIEL G. COLE

• Dynamic systems, measurement, and control
• Modeling, simulation, and data-driven modeling
• Statistical and Bayesian methods for systems modeling and control
• Cyber-physical systems
• Industrial internet of things
• Cybersecurity

BEN ERICHSON

• Continuous and recurrent neural networks
• Physics-constrained machine learning
• robust learning
• transfer learning
• randomized numerical linear alegbra

GIOVANNI P. GALDI

• Linear and nonlinear stability
• Fluid/particle interaction
• Flow in channels and pipes

C. ISAAC GARCIA

• Ferrous physical metallurgy - modern steels and stainless steels
• Microstructural optimization through alloy design and thermomechanical process
• Development of computer controlled systems for physical simulations of annealing process (batch annealing, CAL, CGL, and induction heating)
• Advanced microstructural characterization
• Additive manufacturing - powder design for free sintering low alloys

PEYMAN GIVI

• Turbulence
• Combustion
• Computational fluid dynamics
• Propulsion
• Stochastic processes
• Quantum computing
• Data-assisted modeling

BRIAN GLEESON

• High temperature oxidation and corrosion
• Physical metallurgy
• Materials for extreme conditions

KATHERINE HORNBOSTEL - Hornbostel Lab

•modeling deposition/resuspension of nuclear fission particles
• Processing modeling of novel carbon capture systems

TEVIS JACOBS - Surfaces and Small-scale Structures Lab 

• Surfaces and interfaces
• Nanoscale mechanical behavior of materials
• Advanced and in situ transmission electron microscopy

TONY KERZMANN - Renewable Energy Systems Research Lab

• Concentrating Solar Energy
• Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Systems
• Green Hydrogen Production
• Kinetic Energy Harvesting

JUNG-KUN LEE

• Solar cell application of nanostructured materials
• Ion beam process and characterization
• Functional oxide materials

SANGYEOP LEE

• Heat transfer in small scales
• Solid state energy conversion
• Ab initio simulations of materials

QIHAN LIU - Laboratory of Soft Materials Mechanics and Manufacturing

• Mechanics and Manufacturing of Soft Materials

Ian NETTLESHIP

• Power processing of materials
• Sintering
• Filter Materials
• Locally sourced, sustainable engineering materials

PAUL OHODNICKI - Functional Materials and Devices

• Photonic materials and fiber options
• Magnetic materials and electric power conversion
• Electronic materials and microwave devices
• Power electronics, motors and sensors

ANNE M. ROBERTSON

• Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid dynamics
• Cerebral vascular disease
• Constitutive modeling of soft biological tissues

INANC SENOCAK - HiPerSimLab

• Fluid mechanics
• Atmospheric flows
• Turbulence
• Wind energy
• Computational methods
• Parallel computing
• Machine learning

WILLIAM S. SLAUGHTER

• Theoretical Solid Mechanics
• Life Prediction Models
• Strain Gradient Plasticity
• Sintered Materials
• Biomaterials

PATRICK SMOLINSKI

• Computational simulation and finite element analysis
• Orthopaedic device engineering, tissue characterization and tissue engineering
• Simulation and testing of surgical procedures and injury mechanisms
• Quantitative Anatomic characterization

ALBERT TO - ANSYS Additive Manufacturing Research Laboratory

• Additive Manufacturing
• Computational Mechanics
• Solid Mechanics
• Topology Optimization
• Simulation & Modeling

JONATHAN VANDE GEEST - Soft Tissue Biomechanics Laboratory

• mechanobiology
• multiphase finite element modeling
• medial device design
• intravital imaging

JEFFREY VIPPERMAN

• Acoustics, structural acoustics, noise control, and hearing loss prevention
• Applied control, including active noise and vibration control
• Control algorithm development (feedback and adaptive feedforward)
• Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) design and fabrication
• Modeling and simulation of dynamic systems
• Smart structures and systems, including sensor and actuator development

GUOFENG WANG

• Computational materials science and engineering
• Catalysis for renewable energy and sustainability
• Modeling of advanced manufacturing
• High entropy materials
• Magnetic materials

QING-MING WANG

• Smart materials, including piezoelectrics and electrostrictives
• Thin films
• Actuator and sensor development
• MEMS design and fabrication
• Micro fuel cells
• BioMEMS

JÖRG M.K. WIEZOREK

• Material Science with emphasis on Processing-Structure-Property relationships in metals and intermetallic based alloys for high performance applications 
• Physical Metallurgy, Metal Physics:  Phase Transformations    
• Defects and Interfaces in Crystals, Microstructural Evolution, Mechanical and Magnetic properties
• Degradation of structural (steels & non-ferrous alloys, composites) in extreme environments  
• Advanced Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy (SEM & TEM)
• Dynamic in-situ TEM study of deformation and transformation processes
• Quantitative electron and X-ray diffraction

SYLVANUS N. WOSU

• Impact physics/experimental mechanics
• Composite materials
• Biomechanics of cerebral oxygen metabolism

WEI XIONG - Physical Metallurgy & Materials Design Laboratory

• Physical Metallurgy
• Advanced Manufacturing
• 3D Printing
• Computational Materials Design
• High-Throughput Experiments

MARKUS CHMIELUS

• Multiscale Structure-Mechanical Property Investigation of Additive Manufactured Components for Development of a Reliable Qualification Method, NSF
• A Database Relating Powder Properties to Fatigue Strength for Binder Jet Printed Inconel, RAMP

SUNG KWON CHO

• Enhanced Water Recovery of Power Plant Cooling Tower Systems, DOE-NETL  
• Micro Swimming Drone, NSF  
• Electrowetting, Dielectrowetting, Dielectrophoresis and Digital Microfluids  
• Active Membranes for Mass Transport Augmentation, CRDF
• Implantable Biosensors, DOD

MINKING K. CHYU

• Design, Fabrication and Performance Characterization of Near-Surface Embedding Cooling Channels with an Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) Coating Layer, DOE, University Turbine System Research

WILLIAM W. CLARK

• Structures with Reconfigurable Circulatory Systems, DARPA
• Light-Activated Shape Memory Polymer Composites, DARPA/Cornerstone Research Group
• Fiber-Reinforced Morphing Composite Skin, DARPA/NextGen Aeronautics 
• Augmenting the Lifetime of Batteries for Implantable Devices, NSF/Piezo Energy Technologies

ANTHONY J. DEARDO

• Development of TRIP and IF Steels using TSCE Processing, Baoshan Iron and Steel Company 
• Study of the Sources of Property Variability in HSLA Steels, U.S.  Steel, Rouge Steel, HyLSA Steel, Reference Metals Company and AISI
• New Ultra-low Carbon High Strength Steels with Improved Bake Hardenability for Enhanced Stretch Formability and Dent Resistance, DOE, ORNL, U.S. Steel, Weirton Steel, and Reference Metals Company
• Development of Ultra-high Strength Linepipe Steels, Wuhan Steel and TAMSA
• A New Approach to TRIP Steels, U.S. Steel and Reference Metals Company
• Physical Metallurgy of High Strength Thin Slab Casting Steels, Nucor Steel, HyLSA, and Reference Metals Company
• Development of Medium Carbon Steels with Enhanced Machinability, Machinability Consortium
• Development of Dual-phase and Trip Steels for Automotive Applications, Nucor Steel

PEYMAN GIVI

• Comprehensive Characterization of Oxy-fuel/Hydrogen Turbine Systems, DOE-NETL

TEVIS D. B. JACOBS

• Mechanics of Nanoscale Contacts
• Mechanical and Functional Properties of Rough Surfaces
• Fundamental Understanding of Tribological Processes

JUNG-KUN LEE

• Multifunctional Smart Nanoparticle Based Drilling Fluids for Ultra Deep Oil and Gas Exploration, DOE-NETL
• Enhanced Water Recovery of Power Plant Cooling Tower Systems, DOE-NETL

IAN NETTLESHIP

• Nanofluids for Enhanced Thermal Energy Transport, DOE-NETL
• The Processing of Highly Porous Ceramics by Analogy with Quasi-regular Eutectic Structures, NSF
• Validation of Sintering Models by the Application of Advanced Microstructural Analysis, Sandia National Laboratory
• An Interdisciplinary Approach to Process Control at the Microstructure Level: The Application to the Fracture Strength of Advanced Ceramics, with Professor Smith of the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering, Auburn University; NSF

ANNE M. ROBERTSON

• Improving Cerebral Aneurysm Risk Assessment through Understanding Wall Vulnerability and Failure Modes
• Determining the Link between Hemodynamics and Wall Structure in Cerebral Aneurysms
• In vivo Tissue Engineering of Small Arteries - Experiments and predictive modeling
• Translational, Multimodality Correlation between Human Saccular Aneurysms and Aneurysm Models
• Mathematical and Computational Modeling of Human Physiology
• Effect of Aging on the Structure and Mechanical Function of the Bladder Wall

WISSAM SAIDI

• Experimentally Verified Nano-oxidation of Copper Surfaces, NSF
• Dynamic Atomic-Scale Metal Oxidation Using Multiscale Simulations, NSF

NITIN SHARMA

• Coordinating Electrical Stimulation and Motor Assist in a Hybrid Neuroprosthesis Using Control Strategies Inspired by Human Motor Control, NSF
• Optimal Adaptive Control Methods for Hybrid Exoskeleton, NSF
• Control of FES and an Electric Motor Drive Swimming Drone for a Hybrid Neuroprosthesis, NIH
• 3-D Maneuverable Feedback-Controlled Micro Swimming Drone for Biomedical Application, NSF, NRI
• Closed-loop Hybrid Exoskeleton utilizing Wearable Ultrasound Imaging Sensors for Measuring Fatigue, NSF, CPS

WILLIAM S. SLAUGHTER

• Nano and Microscale Experiments and Theoretical Modeling for Strain Gradient laPsticity, NSF
• The use of Micromechanical Models in the Prediction of Microstructural Paths and Constitutive Parameters for Densification of Powders, NSF 
• Fatigue Damage Behavior of Chemically Treated Bioprosthetic Heart Valve Tissues, NSF
• Turbine Aerothermal and Material Research for Oxy-fuel and Hydrogen Cycles, DOE-NETL
• Aerothermal-Material Integrated Thermal Protection, DOE-NETL

PATRICK SMOLINSKI

• Design, Construction, and Evaluation of a Prototype Wear Testing Machine for Ankle mpIlants, National Collegiate Investors and Innovators Alliance 
• Design for Non-round Can Development, Weirton Steel 
• Modeling and Analysis of Open Coil Cooling, U.S. Steel
• Modeling and Analysis of Total Ankle Arthroplasty, Depuy, Inc
• Development of a Precision Roll Alignment System, U.S. Steel and Weirton Steel

JEFFREY VIPPERMAN

• Acoustic Control using Damped, Resonant Filters (Electronic Helmholtz Absorbers)
• Evaluation of Impact Noise and Acoustical Signal Processing, NIOSH-Cincinnati
• Variable Orifice Area Technique (VOAT) Design, DOE
• Vibro-acoustic Studies on a Chamber Core Cylinder, Air Force Research Lab
• Worker Dose and Equipment Noise Identification, NIOSH-Pittsburgh Research Lab 
• Enhanced Time Domain Signal Processing for the Study of Noise Generation Mechanisms, NIOSH-Pittsburgh Research Lab 
• MEMS Microvalve Technology: Phase II, DOE

GUOFENG WANG

• Atomistic Simulation Investigation on Processing-structure-property Relation of Magnetic Metal Alloy Nanostructures, NSF

QING-MING WANG

• Acoustic Wave Gas Sensors for Ultra-high Temperature Environments, NSF
• An Acoustic Wave Cytosensor System for Living Cell Study, NSF
• Fabrication of Functional Oxide Nanotubes and Nanorods for Nanoelectromechanical Devices, NSF
• Field-assisted Manufacturing of Multifunctional Nanowire-polymer Nanocomposites, NSF
• Integrated Multimode Thin Film Bulk Acoustic Wave Resonators, ARO
•  Scanning Probe Microscopy of Nanomechanics and Biomechanics Research, ARO

SYLVANUS N. WOSU

• Pitt Engineering Impact Program, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania