Program Website: http://www.ces.clemson.edu/me/
Introduction
Clemson University’s mechanical engineering program has earned an outstanding reputation among area industries for the quality and competence of its graduates. Much of our program’s reputation is a result of its focus on hands-on experience and exploration. The University offers courses of study leading to the MS and PhD degrees.
If you are accepted, you may select from program concentrations in the areas of mechanical and manufacturing systems design (MMS), thermal/fluid sciences (TFS) or engineering mechanics (EM). MMS includes CAD/CAM, design, kinematics and dynamics, materials, mechatronics, robotics and vibrations. TFS includes fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics and energy systems. EM includes solid mechanics, composite materials, experimental mechanics, moiré techniques, numerical methods and dynamics.
The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University also offers a graduate program in automotive engineering. This program emphasizes systems integration and product realization in an interdisciplinary fashion. The thrust of the program is the integration of technical areas in design and development, manufacturing and electronics with leadership, innovation management and policy/regulation in a global economy. The University offers courses of study leading to the MS and the PhD degrees. The automobile is used as a platform for an intensive hands-on educational experience.
Programs of Study
MS Enrollment in the MS program is open to you if you have a degree in physics, applied mathematics or any branch of engineering. You may choose the thesis or non-thesis option. In the thesis program, you will be required to complete 30 hours of course work, including six hours of thesis research. In the nonthesis program, you will be required to complete 33 hours of course work.
The mechanical engineering faculty believes that three semesters and a summer are usually sufficient for full-time graduate students to complete the necessary work to obtain the Master of Science degree.
PhD Although no minimum course work requirements exist for acquiring the PhD, committees generally require courses other than those that directly support the dissertation defense. A minimum of 18 semester hours of doctoral research credit is required. Work in the minor field or fields, if required, normally comprises 12 to 24 hours in courses carrying graduate credit. In general, the degree is awarded when the committee members are satisfied that the research program is complete and that all other formal requirements have been met. Typically, the doctoral degree programs are completed in three or four years.
Applying
You may apply on the web at www.grad.clemson.edu/Admission.php. Application packages from US citizens should be submitted at least four weeks prior to registration. International student application packages must be completed by May 1 and October 1 for registration in the fall and spring semesters, respectively. To be considered for assistantship support, your application package must be received by February for fall admission and by October for spring admission.
Research
Research in the Department of Mechanical Engineering includes the three major subject areas: engineering mechanics, mechanical and manufacturing systems and thermal/fluid sciences. Research emphasis areas within the department include automotive engineering, energy, advanced materials engineering, biotechnology and nanotechnology. Research labs and offices of the faculty, staff and graduate students of the department are housed within the Fluor Daniel Engineering Innovation Building.
Centers, Institutes and Facilities
Facilities used by students and faculty in the department include experimental, computational, design, material processing and many other research laboratories:
Beowulf Parallel Computer Cluster
Computational Engineering and Mechanics Laboratory
Composites Mechanical Characterization Laboratory
Ultrasonic Inspection Facility
Laboratory for Opto-Mechanics
Functionally Graded Material Laboratory
Automotive Research Laboratory
Clemson Research in Engineering Design and Optimization Lab
Automation in Design Group
Robotics and Mechatronics Laboratory
Square D Laboratory for Mechatronics Research
Virtual Reality Laboratory
Product Realization Laboratory
Smart Structures and Nanoelectromechanical Systems Laboratory
Subsonic Wind Tunnel
Gas Dynamics Laboratory
Unsteady Heat Transfer Measurements Facility
Laboratory for Materials Processing, Mixing and Environmental Studies
Gas Turbine Laboratory
Heat Pipe and Capillary Pumped Devices Laboratory
Vacuum Facilities and Thermal Property Characterization Laboratory
Advanced Computational Research Laboratory
Particulate Systems Laboratory
Laser Diagnostics Laboratory
Interfacial Hydrodynamics Research Laboratory
Clemson Avanced Manufacturing and System Integration Laboratory
Interdisciplinary research centers associated with the Department of Mechanical Engineering include:
International Center for Automotive Research
Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films
Center for Advanced Manufacturing
Laboratory to Advance Industrial Prototyping
For more information on these facilities, visit www.ces.clemson.edu/me/research/centers.
Financial Aid
After being accepted, you may be offered support through fellowships or as a graduate research assistant (GRA), graduate
lab assistant or teaching assistant (GLA) or grader. A GRA is hired by a professor to work on that professor’s research project and assist the professor in related teaching duties. A GLA is hired by the subject area group to work as a lab instructor or lecturer. Graders are occasionally hired during each semester by the graduate coordinator. They are selected from a group of on-campus students who have good academic credentials.
If you have an assistantship, you must enroll for 12 hours each semester (typically three courses in addition to credit received for research). Assistantships are usually available for only MS thesis option and PhD students.
Faculty Listing
David C. Angstadt, Assistant Professor; PhD, Lehigh, 2004. Mechanical engineering.
Eric M. Austin, Senior Lecturer; PhD, Virginia Tech, 1999. Engineering mechanics.
Beshah Ayalew, Assistant Professor; PhD, Penn State, 1995. Aerospace engineering.
Donald E. Beasley, Professor; PhD, Michigan, 1983. Mechanical engineering.
Sherrill B. Biggers, Professor; PhD, Duke, 1971. Civil engineering.
Mohammed F. Daqaq, Assistant Professor; PhD, Virginia Tech, 2006. Mechanical engineering.
Georges M. Fadel, Professor; PhD, Georgia Tech, 1988. Mechanical engineering.
Richard S. Figliola, Professor; PhD, Notre Dame, 1979. Aerospace/mechanical engineering.
Mica Grujicic, Wilfred P. and Helen S. Tiencken Professor; PhD, MIT, 1983. Material science and engineering.
Imtiaz ul Haque, Professor and Department Chair; PhD, Clemson, 1982. Engineering mechanics.
Yong Huang, Assistant Professor; PhD, Georgia Tech, 2002. Mechanical engineering.
Cecil O. Huey Jr., Professor Emeritus; PhD, Clemson, 1973. Mechanical engineering.
Nader Jalili, Associate Professor; PhD, Connecticut, 1998. Mechanical engineering.
Paul F. Joseph, Associate Professor; PhD, Lehigh, 1987. Applied mechanics. Thomas R. Kurfess, Professor; PhD, MIT, 1989. Mechanical engineering.
E. Harry Law, Professor Emeritus; PhD, Connecticut, 1971. Applied mechanics.
James H. Leylek, Professor; PhD, Illinois, 1984. Aeronautical and astronautical engineering.
Gang Li, Assistant Professor; PhD, Illinois/Urbana-Champaign, 2003. Mechanical engineering.
Lin Ma, Assistant Professor; PhD, Stanford, 2006. Mechanical engineering.
Laine M. Mears, Assistant Professor; PhD, Georgia Tech, 2006. Mechanical engineering.
Richard S. Miller, Associate Professor; PhD, SUNY at Buffalo, 1995. Mechanical engineering.
Greg M. Mocko, Assistant Professor; PhD, Georgia Tech, 2006. Mechanical engineering.
Jay M. Ochterbeck, Professor; PhD, Texas A&M, 1993. Mechanical engineering.
M.A. Omar, Assistant Professor; PhD, Kentucky, 2005. Mechanical engineering.
Pierluigi Pisu, Assistant Professor; PhD, Ohio State, 2002. Electrical engineering.
John R. Saylor, Associate Professor; PhD, Yale, 1993. Mechanical engineering.
Joshua D. Summers, Assistant Professor; PhD, Arizona State, 2002. Mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Lonny L. Thompson, Associate Professor; PhD, Stanford, 1994. Civil engineering.
Chenning Tong, Associate Professor; PhD, Cornell, 1995. Aerospace engineering.
Ardalan Vahidi, Assistant Professor; PhD, Michigan, 2005. Mechanical engineering.
John R. Wagner, Associate Professor; PhD, Purdue, 1989. Mechanical engineering.
Xiangchun Xuan, Assistant Professor; PhD, Toronto, 2006. Mechanical engineering.
John C. Ziegert, Professor; PhD, Rhode Island, 1989. Mechanical engineering.
David A. Zumbrunnen, Warren H. Owen Professor; PhD, Purdue, 1988. Mechanical engineering.
For More Information
Lindsey Mahaffey
Student Services Program Coordinator
Department of Mechanical Engineering
242 Fluor Daniel Engineering Innovation Building
Clemson University
Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Telephone: 864-656-0999
866-269-1363 (toll-free)
Email: combs2@clemson.edu
08/07
