Research/Areas of Expertise:
Research in mechanical engineering spans several exciting areas. There is a large program in design optimization addressing large structures, die shapes, flight trajectories, and other applications. Work is also being done in structural dynamics areas including vehicle suspensions and turbine blades. Mechanical design studies include the characterization of carbon-carbon composites. Fluid dynamics research is being conducted both experimentally and via computer computation (CFD). Projects include study of flows in turbine engines and reciprocating compressors. There is also a large thermal science program in the analysis and application of heat pipes and related devices.
Research at Wright State is not limited to the laboratory facilities on campus. Several industrial companies, laboratories, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are involved in joint research efforts with the university and have unique facilities that are available for faculty and graduate research.
Graduate students have access to a wide range of modern facilities including classrooms, laboratories, and computer systems interconnected by local and wide area communication networks. Computational facilities include numerous PC clusters, workstations, X-windowing terminals and personal computers.