about.

Welcome to the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University. Since 1931, this department has pioneered in teaching some of the nation's finest students and made important contributions to the research frontiers of mechanical engineering and materials science.

Mechanical engineers are concerned with many facets of modern engineering, including the optimum use of materials, energy, time and individual effort to serve societal needs through the analysis, creation and design of machines, structures, mechanical and thermal systems and through better understanding of dynamic processes involving these systems.

Mechanical engineers have leading roles in many industries, including aerospace, biomechanical and biomedical engineering, construction, electronics, national defense, power generation, and transportation. Within these industries, engineers may participate in the design of machinery or fluid handling systems, the analysis of heat transfer from electronics packages or of vibration in mechanical systems, the automation of manufacturing processes, the efficient operation of industrial plants, the marketing of technical products or services, or any number of other activities. The individual's contribution may be anywhere in the spectrum from the highly theoretical to imminently practical and often involves taking a role as a leader of engineers and other members of the organization.

Because mechanical engineers in industry, government or the university engage in such a great variety of activities, their education must be broadly based. Although individual engineers may specialize within their industry positions or in their graduate study, each must have the background needed to contribute in any of several technical areas, to combine knowledge of multiple topics when necessary and to interact with members of other disciplines and professions in accomplishing engineering goals. Because of their breadth and depth, they are often called on to lead the efforts of organizational teams.

Thus, the mechanical engineer's program of study must include fundamental grounding in mathematics and basic sciences, applications in several engineering sciences and team-based experience in the process of design - where theory is applied in the context of real needs and limitations and where judgment must be exercised. Furthermore, to be a responsible member of the engineering profession, each graduate must be aware of social, ethical, environmental and economic factors and constraints on engineering activity, and must understand the importance of these matters in a global context.

Our curriculum capitalizes on the exceptional abilities of our highly select students and distinguished faculty to cultivate the learning, thinking and problem-solving abilities needed to adapt, to develop and to exercise responsible leadership through times of rapid change. Our program provides excellent preparation in the essential engineering topics while allowing wide flexibility for students to pursue their own broader interests.

Today our graduates are working in every level of government, industry and academe. Alumni from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science are pursuing their careers at Boeing in St. Louis and Seattle; Duke University; Harvard University; McGill University in Montreal; NASA Ames in California; NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia; the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC; Pratt and Whitney Corporation in Hartford, Connecticut; the Science Magnet School in Birmingham, Alabama; Sun Microsystems in Palo Alto; Technology Modeling in Boston; University of Connecticut; University of Michigan; University of Pittsburgh; Washington State University; and Washington University in St. Louis, just to name a few of the many organizations where Duke graduates have found exciting opportunities for their life after Duke.

We invite you to inquire further about our program, and we hope you will join us in exciting research and study here at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University.