2000 Summary of Engineering Research
R. O. BUCKIUS, Head
J. E. PETERS, Associate Head
P. M. FERREIRA, Associate Head
140 Mechanical Engineering Building
1206 W. Green St.
Urbana
Urbana 61801 · 217-333-1176
The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering seeks to lead our profession and society through education, research, and service; to educate engineers who will become leaders in their fields; to generate new knowledge that will strengthen the engineering profession and respond to societal needs; and to foster effective professional and public service.
Research in the department, while addressing the diverse disciplines of mechanical engineering and industrial engineering, also explores a spectrum of emerging areas. These research directions reflect the interests and creativity of the faculty and students. Education of new generations of researchers is integral to the department's research mission.
The generation of new knowledge is central to the mission of the department. Yet the application of this knowledge and its transfer to practice are driving factors in the department's research. The faculty is committed to meeting the needs of the state of Illinois and the nation.
The department is continually expanding its cooperative research with state and federal government agencies and its outreach to industry. Several departmental center initiatives focus on research and technology transfer: the Building Systems Laboratory; the Consortium on Novel Energetic Materials to Stabilize Rockets; the Continuous Casting Consortium; the Fracture Control Program; the Institute for Competitive Manufacturing; the Machine Tool Agile Manufacturing Research Institute; the Manufacturing Research Center; two National Science Foundation industry/university cooperative centers, the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center and the Center for Machine-Tool Systems Research; and two major DARPA-funded programs, the Integrated Mesoscopic Cooler Circuits Project and the Mesoscopic Thermo-Mechanical Water Purifier Project.
The department is strongly committed to cross-disciplinary research and works closely with other departments across the College of Engineering and University. The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the Materials Research Laboratory, and other campus resources add strength and diversity to the department's research.
Areas of focus are described on the following pages.
2000 Summary of Engineering Research
