Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Research

The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia is a thriving program of undergraduates, graduate students and faculty with a commitment to exploration, innovation and engineering excellence. The department has a proven record of outstanding research with strong inter-departmental and inter-school collaborations and is committed to increasing diversity among our faculty and graduate student populations. Our research programs have organically formed from our world-class faculty and include the core focus areas of: biomechanical engineering for health, cyber-physical systems and autonomy and sustainability in energy, manufacturing and transportation.

Biomechanical Engineering for Health

We are bridging critical gaps in technical expertise between engineering and medicine to facilitate transformative research and innovation; we are leveraging recent successes in manufacturing of materials and devices for drug delivery and cancer research. We have strengths in active autonomous safety and orthopedics and brain health.

Cyber-Physical Systems and Autonomy

We are taking a national leadership role in the area of underwater, ground-based and aerial autonomous systems, bio-inspired systems, robotics, sensing, and autonomous vehicles. We are able to leverage our state-of-the-art facilities in mechatronics rapid prototyping as well as cyber-physical systems and manufacturing with our strong industrial ties.

Sustainability in Energy, Manufacturing and Transportation

We are leveraging our strong success in thermal management, high-speed propulsion, turbo-machinery, and additive manufacturing. Our goals are to make major impact with national needs in manufacturing, hypersonics, energy systems, and quantum materials, and grow our relationships with government agencies and industry.