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Graduate Program

The Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS) offers graduate degree programs that emphasize applied as well as fundamental aspects of mechanical engineering and materials science.

The graduate training and research programs are supported by modern computational and experimental emphasis and a strong tradition of applied sciences and mathematics.

The graduate programs lead to degrees of Master of Science (M.S.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Master of Mechanical Engineering (M.M.E.), and Master of Materials Science (M.M.S.).

The degrees of M.S. and Ph.D. require research and theses, while the M.M.E. and M.M.S. are non-research degrees.

Mechanical Engineering Graduate Studies

Graduate students in mechanical engineering receive training and conduct research in the traditional mechanical engineering areas as well as the specialized interests of its outstanding faculty, which include mechanics, computational mechanics, stochastic mechanics, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, dynamics and control, robotics, biomedical systems, and aerospace sciences.

Materials Science Graduate Studies

The graduate program in materials science and engineering is an interdisciplinary program with a core activity in advanced materials research and special research opportunities in nanotechnology, metals physics, statistical mechanics, metallic solid thermodynamics, materials chemistry, aspects of composites, coatings and thin films, and interface science. Materials science has several faculty with joint appointments in other science and engineering areas, assuring a diverse program in a broad materials science field.

Collaborations with Other Rice Departments

The MEMS graduate program also partners with other departments in its educational and research activities. Collaboration with the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics involves computational methods and optimization. Work on expert systems and robotics is done in cooperation with the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science. Computer graphics research involves the cooperation of the Department of Computer Science and the School of Architecture. The campus wide Rice Quantum Institute is also active in the research of electronic materials and other aspects of materials science. Finally, biomechanics and biomaterials research involve several institutions in the Texas Medical Center. These collaborations reflect the comprehensive scope of the research activities that make graduate study in MEMS an enjoyable challenge.

Facilities

Graduate education and research are supported by state-of-the-art equipment within the department’s main building, including a departmental computational and graphics facility. The powerful engineering OWLNET system of workstations and personal computers also are available to all MEMS students.

The MEMS department houses the Team for Advanced Flow Simulation and Modeling, the Advanced Thermal Processing Lab, the Biomedical System and Instrumentation Lab, the Dynamic Systems Vibrations and Control Lab, the Flow Physics and Simulation Lab and the Robotics Lab. The building also includes a network of materials labs with two new electron microscopes, X-ray diffractometers, electron beam characterization systems, thin film equipment and advanced mechanical testing equipment to support research and education in materials science.

An online brochure is available for information regarding Graduate Study in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Admission in 2010.
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