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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.