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Mechanical Engineering Research

Mechanical Engineering research at UCSB explores the mechanics of biological systems, computational modeling of dynamic systems, fluid dynamics and thermal sciences, control systems and robotics, and solid mechanics.

Bioengineering & Systems Biology

Mechanics of biological systems, bioinspired wet and dry adhesives, bioinspired materials mechanics. Microfluidic and nanofluidic devices for next-generation technology to sort and analyze biological moleculres. Theoretical and computational modeling of dynamic biological systems, multiscale modelins for biochemical networks and signaling pathways.

Computational Science & Engineering

Computational algorithms and software for discrete stochastic simulation. Solution of partial differential equations. Graph analysis via linear algebra techniques. Computational physics, medicine, and biology. Health informatics. Computational fluid dynamics.

Dynamic Systems, Control & Robotics

Dynamics and control of aircraft and space structures. Control of building structures due to earthquakes and wind. Control of switched and discontinuous sytems. Automotive drive-train control. Chaotic advection in fluid flows, dispersion, reaction, and diffusion in chaotic flows; volume-preserving dynamical systems.

Micro & Nano Technology

Design, analysis and control of nanometer scale structure and functions. Nanomechanics and biology.

Solid Mechanics, Materials & Structures

Behavior of new and advanced materials; ceramics, polymers, metallic and intermetallic composites and metallic alloys. Large-scale computational techniquest applies to mechanics and optimization. Materials for advanced thermo-structural systems; high temperature materials for power generation and propulsion; ultralight materials for aerospace systems; low weight and compact materials. Predicting safe lifetime limits in structural components.

Thermal Sciences & Fluid Mechanics

Energy efficiency of large-scale cooling and heating systems. Material processing and manufacturing. Thermal sciences; study of turbulent convection of non-Newtonian fluids; study of thermal-mechanical properties at low and high temperatures. Fluid mechanics; rheology and turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids; computational fluid dynamics and aeroelasticity of transonic flow; environmental applications such as water, sediment and ocean flow engineering.

Academic Programs