Mechanical Engineering is an evolving discipline that adapts to the current needs of society. Mechanical engineers are recruited in a variety of industries, including automotive, aerospace, defense, energy, power generation, environmental, electronics, bioengineering, food processing and consulting firms, among many others.
Due to the variety of fields relevant to this profession, the undergraduate program covers areas in dynamics, materials, thermal/fluids, vibrations, controls, computer aided engineering, design and manufacturing. The innovative curriculum at UC Merced also provides hands-on education that exposes students to engineering fundamentals, laboratory work and the use of computational tools to solve realistic engineering problems. The program also prepares students to pursue graduate work in engineering or other disciplines.
Some of the exciting current areas of research include advanced energy systems, sustainable energy, autonomous vehicles, biomechanics and biosensors, nano/micro-technology, computational modeling, design optimization and complex systems.
The Mechanical Engineering program at UC Merced is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
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Research Areas
- Interdisciplinary with Control/Electronic/Mechanical Systems and Computer Science
- Cost effective high quality and energy efficient systems
- Modeling and Control of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Systems
- Multi-Objective Optimization of Dynamical and Control Systems
- Mechanics and tribology at the nanoscale
- Superlubricity under ambient conditions
- Imagining and mechanical spectroscopy of biological materials
- Design of effective and efficient mechanical interfaces
- Friction, wear, and lubrication
- Incorporation of fluid and solid mechanics along with material science
- Physics of low temperature plasmas and non-continuum fluid mechanics
- Atmospheric-pressure microplasmas
- Measuring of spectral surface properties of solids
- Development of spectral models for combustion gases and hypersonic plasmas
- Modeling of turbulence-radiation interactions within combustion systems
Visit our Mechanical Engineering graduate website for more research areas
Potential Careers
- This industry contains sectors of commercial aviation, military aircraft, space systems, ground defense, and shipbuilding.
- Developing technologically advanced aircrafts and defense & space systems.
- The average aerospace & defense worker recieves an average of $102,900 of benefits and salary.
- This industry produces a wide-range of energy sources from oil, electricity, solar, nuclear power, and to many more.
- Transmitting, distributing, and storing energy though complex infrastructure networks.
- With the growth of demand for energy. Building, installing, and servicing such energy sources keeps the energy industry in high demand for new engineers.
- This industry contains the sectors of handling logistics, air & express delivery services, freight rails, maritime transports, and trucking.
- Providing an efficient methodlogy of transporting goods to the end-user.
- This industry consist of the manufacturing, processing, and storing food.
- Dependent on water/waste water systems, transportation, energy, and chemical production.
- Accountable for one-fifth of U.S. economy, leading to the Agricultural & Food industry in high demand for new engineers.
- This industry consist of hospital activity, mental/dental practices, healthcare equipment, and pharmaceuticals.
- Providing patients with services of curative, rehabilitation, and preventive care.
- As technology improves year-by-year, building efficient technology in the medical industry will become vital in improving human life.
- This industry contains the manufacturing of electronics, software, and informational technology.
- Creating software, managing logistic systems, and protecting databases are some aspects of the technology industry.
- The technology industry is considered to be one of the highest in-demand sector for new engineers.
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