Curriculum

Prerequisites: Undergraduate Calculus

A first semester graduate course intended primarily for students in mechanical and aerospace engineering, biomedical engineering, and other engineering programs. Power series and the method of Frobenius for solving differential equations; nonlinear differential equations and phase plane methods; vector spaces of functions, Hilbert spaces, and orthonormal bases; Fourier series and Sturm-Liouville theory; Fourier and Laplace transforms; separation of variables and other elementary solution methods for the linear differential equations of physics: the heat, wave, and Laplace equations.

Formulation and solution of engineering optimal design problems in mechanical engineering. Introduction to algorithms for constrained and unconstrained searching. Application to optimal design of mechanical and structural components. Use of discretization techniques and shape optimization problems.

Physical properties of fluids; basic equations of motion; kinematics; exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations; incompressible boundary layer equations and applications; flow past bodies, jets, and wakes; introduction to turbulent flows.

This course provides a comprehensive overview of various additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, fundamental physics, material science, and process models of major AM techniques, as well as existing and emerging applications of AM.

Critical examination and application of the theories and methods for evaluating stresses and deformations of mechanical components and structures under static and dynamic loading.

This course provides an introduction to the analysis, mathematical modeling, and numerical simulation of the multi-physical mechanics underlying various manufacturing processes, with application to the design and optimization of the relevant systems.

Analytical methods in steady and transient heat conduction in solids; finite difference and finite volume methods in heat conduction.

Prerequisites: Undergraduate Strength of Materials or similar course

This course provides a systematic description of mechanical behavior for a broad range of modern advanced materials with complex internal structure and/or unique mechanical properties. Such materials are widely used in aircraft, rotorcraft, biomedical applications, and other areas requiring low weight but exceptional load-bearing capabilities. Different types of fiber-reinforced composites and lightweight metals/alloys are typical examples of these advanced materials. The course is designed as a natural expansion of basic material mechanics to account for critical specifics of advanced materials associated with their anisotropy, heterogeneous structure, laminated designs, failure modes, methods of testing, sensitivity to environments, etc. The course provides sufficient knowledge to understand differences between advanced and more conventional metallic materials and successfully apply it for their mechanical analysis, design, optimization, and efficient experimental characterization.

This course covers fundamentals and applications of drones. Among other topics, the course will cover design, analysis, and fabrication of a custom drone (or a related system), fundamentals of control, propulsion and performance, subjects in general aviation relevant to drone operators, applications such as aerial imagery, and 3D photogrammetry.

The course is focused on modeling and control of multi-agent systems, with experimentation on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Students will work on designing drone systems and algorithms to autonomously fulfill a mission of their choice, such as search and rescue, inspection, building digitalization, etc. The module is taught for students with basic knowledge in automatic control and optimization and it intends to increase their interest in applying advanced control techniques on UAVs in an enjoyable framework favorable to develop creativity, practical, and team-working skills.

Lectures by invited speakers, faculty, and graduate students on current research topics in mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Introduction to the concepts of emerging smart manufacturing (a.k.a., Industry 4.0) including advanced manufacturing processes, smart sensors, 5G communications, data integration, data analytics, edge computing, and advanced controls. Manufacturing cybersecurity in the connected machines and robots is also introduced. This project-driven course will also explore applications to different manufacturing sectors.