Faculty
Solomon Adera
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Adera obtained his Ph. D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and has worked as a postdoc in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. His research interests include fundamental studies of heat and mass transfer, fluid-structure interactions and water-energy systems.
Alauddin Ahmed
Assistant Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Applied machine learning and data mining for high-performance materials discovery; purpose-built hypothetical materials design for energy storage; structure-property-performance relationships; physicochemical properties of chemical compounds; solvation thermodynamics; systems far from equilibrium; phase equilibria; high-throughput and high-performance computing; computational algorithm and methods development; integrated computational framework for materials discovery and design; big data infrastructure for materials discovery.
Rayhaneh Akhavan
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Fluid mechanics; turbulence physics, modeling, and control; bio-mimetic fluid dynamics; multi-scale modeling and simulation, including direct, large-eddy and stochastic simulations; pseudo-spectral and lattice Boltzmann methods; parallel computing.
John Allison
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Materials Science and Engineering; William F. Hosford Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: My major research interest is in understanding the inter-relationships between processing, alloying, microstructure and properties in metallic materials – and in incorporating this knowledge into computational tools for use in research, education and engineering.
Ellen Arruda
Tim Manganello/BorgWarner Department Chair, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Biomedical Engineering; Professor, Program in Macromolecular Science and Engineering; Maria Comninou Collegiate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Mechanical behavior of materials including polymers, elastomers and soft tissue; tissue engineering of tendon and muscle constructs; constitutive modeling of growth, remodeling and functional adaptation in soft tissue; deformation mechanisms in polymers; crystal transformation mechanisms in semi-crystalline polymers; split Hopkinson pressure bar testing of polymers and elastomers for high strain rate applications including crashworthiness in automotive applications.
James Ashton-Miller
Research Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Albert Schultz Collegiate Research Professor & Distinguished Research Scientist; Associate Vice President - Research Policy and Compliance, OVPR; Director, Biomechanics Research Laboratory
Research Interests: Biomechanics including mobility impairments in the elderly; trips, slips, and falls; elderly decision-making and risk-taking in physical tasks; birth related injury; female stress urinary incontinence; spine biomechanics; athletic injuries; occupant vehicular safety.
Jesse Austin-Breneman
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Design research, complex systems design, design of product eco-systems, multi-disciplinary design teams, multi-disciplinary design optimization, modeling of team-based design decision-making, design for emerging markets, socially-engaged design, design for entrepreneurship.
Shorya Awtar
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Precision engineering; mechatronics; flexure mechanisms; high-precision high-bandwidth motion systems for applications in nanometrology and nanomanufacturing; MEMS sensors and actuators; minimally invasive surgery.
Rohini Bala Chandran
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Thermal and fluid sciences, multiscale computational model development, radiative heat transfer, optics, chemical kinetics of heterogeneous reactions, electrochemical engineering, semiconductor physics
Mihaela Banu
Research Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: The research focuses on lightweight materials, with emphasis on developing micro- and nanocellulose composites, natural fiber composites and associated manufacturing processes for automotive and aerospace applications, multi-scale modeling of materials and simulation of forming processes, manufacturing of personalized dental ligaplants.
James Barber
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Jon R. & Beverly S. Holt Professor, College of Engineering
Research Interests: Solid mechanics including thermoelasticity; elasticity; solidification; contact mechanics; tribology; elastodynamics, fracture; stability of thermoelastic contact; friction, contact of rough surfaces.
Kira Barton
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering ; Miller Faculty Scholar
Research Interests: Control theory and applications; high precision motion control; iterative learning control; high-performance nano-scale printing for electrical and biomedical applications; micro/nano-manufacturing; control for manufacturing; cooperative control; control for autonomous vehicles
Michael Bernitsas
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Mortimer E Cooley Collegiate Professor, Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Research Interests: Current Energy Conversion; Enhancement of High-Damping, High-Reynolds Vortex Induced Vibration; Suppression of Vortex Induced Vibration; Mooring System Dynamics; Structural Redesign and Topology/Material Evolution; Riser and Pipeline Mechanics
Andre Boehman
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Director, W.E. Lay Automotive Laboratory
Research Interests: Automotive engineering including: fuel production and formulation, alternative fuels, diesel combustion, spark ignition combustion, autoignition, spray behavior, particulate emissions, NOx emissions, emissions control, thermodynamics of energy conversion systems
Claus Borgnakke
Associate Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Combustion and turbulence modeling; engine combustion; pollutant formation; thermodynamic properties; diesel engine combustion; natural gas operation of diesels; compressible turbulence models; metal hydride heat pumps and hydrogen storage; refrigerant properties.
Diann Brei
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Design; smart materials and structures; sensor and actuator design; structural dynamics; vibration and noise control; mechatronics, smart mechanisms
Ashley Bucsek
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Mechanical behavior of materials; micromechanical modeling; in situ/in operando characterization including X-ray imaging and diffraction; functional materials; lightweight structural metals; shape memory alloys; phase transformations; energy conversion
Jesse Capecelatro
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Fluid mechanics, with an emphasis on computational methods, multiphase and granular flow, turbulence, combustion, and high-performance computing. Applications include renewable energy, carbon capture, environmental flows, aerosols, turbomachinery, and space.
Steve Ceccio
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering ; Vincent T and Gloria M Gorguze Professor of Engineering; Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Research Interests: Fluid mechanics with emphasis on experimental methods, multiphase flows, high Reynolds number flows, cavitation and bubbly flows, optical flow measurement methods, electrical and radiation based tomography.
Erin Cech
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Assistant Professor, Sociology
Research Interests: Gender and Sexuality; Inequalities and Stratification; Sociology of Culture; Theory, Knowledge, and Science; Work, Economy, and Organizations; Mixed Methods; Sociology; Administration
Michael Chen
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Heat transfer and fluid mechanics, including fundamentals and manufacturing applications; buoyant and thermocapillary convection; multiphase flows; asymptotic, computational, and experimental methods; alloy solidification theory; laser processing; welding; spray forming; spray coating.
John Clark
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Heat transfer, thermodynamics, solar energy, solar thermal processes, solar systems design, economics, multi-phase systems, thermal recovery heat exchangers.
David Cole
Associate Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Strategic issues related to the restructuring of the North American industry and trends in globalization, technology, market factors, and human resource requirements.
Rhima Coleman
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: My research is focused on investigation 2 key areas of manipulating cell behavior for cartilage tissue regeneration: 1) genetic reprogramming of cells; and 2) cell-matrix interactions.
Maria Comninou
Professor Emerita, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
Research Interests: Elasticity; elastodynamics; fracture mechanics; dislocations; fatigue.
Daniel Cooper
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: My research, which focuses on making impactful contributions to the areas of manufacturing and sustainability, considers multiple scales: identifying significant opportunities to cut emissions and/or costs by conducting large scale analyses on processes, factories and material supply chains, and pursuing a rigorous technical analysis in order to capitalize on the opportunities.
Shanna Daly
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering ; Miller Faculty Scholar
Research Interests: Front-end design processes; idea generation; engineering creativity and innovation; divergent and convergent thinking; design cognition; socially-engaged design; socio-technical engineering skillsets; design ethnography; design problem finding and framing; concept development; cross-disciplinary design practices; prototypes; design education.
Neil Dasgupta
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering; Miller Faculty Scholar
Research Interests: Renewable energy and energy storage; nanomanufacturing; atomic layer deposition; high-resolution microscopy and spectroscopy of nanomaterials; surface science and catalysis; electrochemistry; nanowires; energy policy and economics
Joseph Datsko
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Manufacturing processes, mechanical properties of materials, modeling of the manufacturing processes, effect of processing on the strength of fabricated parts.
Cheri Deng
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: Research and development in the field of biomedical ultrasound; understanding of the processes and mechanism involved in ultrasound interaction with biological systems for the purpose of developing efficient techniques for diagnosis and treatment of human diseases; ultrasound mediated drug and gene delivery for cancer treatment and gene therapy, high intensity focus ultrasound ablation of cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation, as well as quantitative ultrasound imaging for improved pancreatic cancer detection.
Pingsha Dong
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering; Director, Welded Structures Laboratory
Research Interests: Advanced design and analysis methods for fabricated structures; geometric discontinuity, and residual stresses; fracture mechanics based Engineering Critical Assessment (FFS) methodologies for life extension of aging structures through Fitness-for-Service (FFS) based, inspection, assessment, repair, and monitoring; Advanced computational computational procedures for integrated evaluation of material characteristics, manufacturing process effects, and structural performance; Novel analysis methods for characterizing residual stresses and distortions in welded structures and effective mitigation techniques
David Dowling
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Fluid mechanics and acoustics; turbulence and turbulent mixing; fluid-structure interaction, free-surface flows; liquid polymer flow.
Paolo Elvati
Assistant Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Cellular membranes of human cells and several classes of small pollutants/drug-like molecules (e.g., carbonaceous nanoparticles, dendrimers, surfactants); Develop a procedure to automatically reduce the complexity of extended kinetic reaction network employing biased MD and AIMD.
Bogdan Epureanu
Professor, Mechanical Engineering ; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Director, Automotive Research Center
Research Interests: Research focuses on biological and epidemiological systems, aerospace and automotive structures, and turbomachinery. Examples include creating novel mechano-chemical dynamic models of nanoscale intracellular transport processes, developing the next generation of highly-sensitive diagnosis and monitoring techniques, discovering novel methods for forecasting tipping points in complex systems such as disease epidemics and ecological systems, developing innovative reduced order models of multi-physics systems such as Li-ion batteries and complex structures, creating advanced system identification and control methodologies for smart structures and fluid-structural systems. These blend novel methods and theory with fundamental experiments in linear and nonlinear dynamics from macro to nano-scale.
Tulga Ersal
Associate Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: System dynamics and control; mathematical modeling; model reduction; multi-body dynamics; networked hardware-in-the-loop simulation; biomechanics. Application areas: vehicle dynamics; vehicle powertrains; energy systems; driver modeling; human stance and balance.
Jon Estrada
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Experimental mechanics of soft and bio-materials, material characterization including high speed rheometry, magnetic resonance, and inverse techniques, inertial cavitation dynamics, photoacoustic and laser microscopy, cell mechanics, image processing techniques, digital image and volume correlation
Yue Fan
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Long time scale atomistic simulation, irradiation defects structure evolution in structure materials, deformation mechanisms and mechanical properties in amorphous system
Nima Fazeli
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Robotic Manipulation, inference and state-estimation, physics-based learning and semantic AI, controls for hybrid systems, contact modeling for robots interactions.
Evgueni Filipov
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: My research interests lie in the field of deployable and reconfigurable structural systems. Folding and adaptable structures based on the principles of origami can have practical applications ranging in scale and discipline from biomedical robotics to deployable architecture.
Theodor Freiheit
Research Associate Professor
Research Interests: Manufacturing systems engineering. Design of manufacturing and service systems. Reliability and productivity. Markov chain models, including the application of predictive control. Interaction between manufacturing process parameters and failure modes. Product quality. The influence of production system approaches across industries. Applications of controls to manufacturing systems. Design theory and methodology. Product development. New product design. Design of machine components and systems. The influence of designer personality and environment on design outcomes. Engineering Management - with a particular interest in product development. Lean product design. Interaction of business, product, and process in engineering systems. Products design for flexible manufacturing systems.
Jianping Fu
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Biomedical Engineering; Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology
Research Interests: Cell Mechanics, Mechanobiology, Stem Cell Bioengineering, Developmental Bioengineering, and BioMEMS
Krishna Garikipati
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Mathematics
Research Interests: Prof. Garikipati's work draws from nonlinear mechanics, materials physics, applied mathematics and numerical methods. He is particularly interested in problems of mathematical biology, biophysics and the mechanics of biology. Current research interests include: (1) growth and remodeling or biological tissue, cell adhesion and cell mechanics (2) stress-defect interactions and transport in semiconductor/microelectronic materials, and (3) multiscale aspects of material behavior with an emphasis on plasticity at small scales.
Vikram Gavini
Professor, Mechanical Engineering ; Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Developing computational and mathematical tools for electronic structure calculations at macroscopic scales, multi-scale modeling, analysis of approximation theories, electronic structure studies on defects in solids.
Steven Goldstein
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Biomedical Engineering; Henry Ruppenthal Family Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering; Associate Chair for Research, Orthopaedic Surgery
Research Interests: Connective tissue disorders, their prevention or treatment. Studies ranging from fracture repair and total joint replacement to investigating the mechanisms associated with inherited or degenerative connective tissue fragility to the development of strategies for tissue regeneration. Primary interests relate to the study of biologic or mechanical influences on bone repair and regeneration. His work includes basic studies of cell regulators as well as translational studies exploring therapeutic strategies involving cells, biofactors and delivery constructs.
Jerard Gordon
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Process-structure-property relationships of advanced materials; metal additive manufacturing; in-situ property evaluation; experimental and computational mechanics; materials discovery; design and manufacturing.
Eleni Gourgou
Assistant Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: I. Cell physiology of micro-interference & technology inspired approach of cell physiology : use of nanoparticles to interrogate physiological systems, neurophysiology by the use of microfluidics, neuronal function under stress, cell physiology under stress. II. Non-linear dynamics in biological systems of various scales: neuronal circuits and axonal transport dynamics, modeling of calcium dynamics, small model organisms' manipulation. III. Memory and learning in invertebrate model organisms.
William Graebel
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Fluid mechanics, including computational fluid dynamics, heat pumps, thermoelectrics, computer modeling.
Robert Gregg
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Associate Director for Graduate Education, Michigan Robotics; Director, Locomotor Control Systems Laboratory
Research Interests: Wearable Robots, Legged Robots, Prosthetics & Orthotics, Bipedal Locomotion, Nonlinear Control Theory, Rehabilitation Engineering
Jessy Grizzle
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Elmer G Gilbert Distinguished University Professor of Engineering; Jerry W and Carol L Levin Professor of Engineering; Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science ; Director Academic Program, Robotics Institute
Research Interests: Analysis and feedback control of nonlinear systems; control of bipedal robot locomotion; automotive powertrain control; hybrid electric vehicles; nonlinear discrete-time systems.
Karl Grosh
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; ME Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Lead; Professor, Biomedical Engineering Department
Research Interests: Cochlear mechanics and hearing; acoustic and vibrational transducers; prosthetics and sensors for biomedical applications; MEMS; distributed, active metamaterials; mechanics and computational mechanics; structural acoustics.
Jay Guo
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Professor, Macromolecular Science and Engineering; Professor, Applied Physics
Research Interests: Polymer-based photonic devices and sensor applications, organic photovoltaics, plasmonic nanophotonics/metamaterials, nanomanufacturing technologies and applications.
Robert Hess
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Dynamics and control systems, biomechanics of humans.
James Holly, Jr.
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: My research is interdisciplinary, using scholarship in education, engineering, and Black studies, I study methods of counteracting anti-Black racism within mechanical engineering study and practice. Specific topics include: Black-centered design, pre-college engineering instruction, eco-centric materials and decision-making, sociotransformative engineering.
Jingwen Hu
Research Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Research Associate Professor, UMTRI
Research Interests: Impact/Injury Biomechanics: Parametric Human Modeling, Statistical Injury Data Analysis, Cadaver/Volunteer/Dummy Testing Occupant Protection: Restraint Design Optimization, Rear Seat Occupants, Oblique Impacts, Adaptive Restraint Design, Active and Passive Safety Integration, Tactical Vehicle Safety, Vulnerable Populations, Automated Vehicles, Child Seat Design, Rollover Crashes Others: Pediatric Fall and Child Abuse, Seat Comfort, Computer Aided Surgery
S. Jack Hu
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering; Professor Emeritus, Industrial and Operations Engineering; J. Reid and Polly Anderson Professor Emeritus of Manufacturing
Research Interests: Manufacturing systems: configuration design, performance analysis (quality, productivity and responsiveness), mass customization. Assembly and materials joining: Assembly system design, variation propagation analysis, joint design, joining/welding methods Sheet Metal forming: stamping, hydroforming Engineering statistics: statistical process control and monitoring, robust design
Xun (Ryan) Huan
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Uncertainty quantification, data-driven modeling, numerical optimization, optimal experimental design, Bayesian analysis, machine learning
Greg Hulbert
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Computational mechanics; finite element methods; structural dynamics; flexible multibody dynamics; dynamic response of composites; vehicle dynamics; engineering mechanics education.
Eric Johnsen
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering ; Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Fluid mechanics, with an emphasis on multiphase flow, cavitation and bubble dynamics, computational fluid dynamics, high-speed flow and shock waves, turbulence and mixing, interfacial instabilities, plasmas, and high-performance computing. Applications include biomedical engineering, energy, aeronautics, turbomachinery, naval engineering and high-energy density physics.
Elijah Kannatey-Asibu Jr.
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Multi-sensor monitoring of manufacturing processes, specifically machining, welding, and laser processing; multiple-beam laser processing.
Massoud Kaviany
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Applied Physics
Research Interests: Heat Transfer Physics: efficient and innovative energy transport and conversion (transformation) through atomic tailoring of the principal energy carriers (phonon, electron, fluid particle, and photon). Current energy-related projects include thermoelectricity, phonoelectricity, thermal switch, and multidimensional wicks for record conductance and heat flux.
Noboru Kikuchi
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering; Roger L. McCarthy Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Computational mechanics including mechanics of composite materials, structural design optimization, analysis of material processing; development of computational methods for composite mechanics using the homogenization method; topology and shape optimization of elastic structures; development of adaptive remesh methods for simulation of metal forming processes.
Yoram Koren
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering; James J. Duderstadt Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Manufacturing, Mechanical Engineering; Paul G. Goebel Professor Emeritus of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering; Director, NSF Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems
Research Interests: Reconfigurable manufacturing systems; global manufacturing; flexible automation; sensing and controls of machining processes; generation of complex surfaces in CNC
Sridhar Kota
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering; Herrick Professor Emeritus of Engineering; Executive Director, MForesight
Research Interests: Bio-inspired engineering design - soft robots, complaint and shape-adaptive systems; Topology, size and shape optimization of complaint mechanisms - product design for no-assembly; Design for manufacturability; Technology policy and advanced manufacturing.
Grant Kruger
Assistant Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Biomedical design and manufacturing; Digital health; Wearable technology; Intelligent systems; Robotics
Katsuo Kurabayashi
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Research Interests: Microelectromechanical systems; microscale thermal engineering and design; heat transfer in micro/nano structures; semiconductor processing for micromechanical structure fabrication; microfluidic device; sensors and actuators.
David Kwabi
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Electrochemistry, energy storage materials, CO2 capture and storage, electrodeposition, solar energy conversion, organic batteries, renewable energy, climate change mitigation
Edward Lady
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Thermal sciences, power systems, cryogenics, boiling heat transfer, superconducting power transmission.
Ronald Larson
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Chemical Engineering; Professor, Macromolecular Science & Engineering; George Granger Brown Professor of Chemical Engineering; A H White Distinguished University Professor of Chemical Engineering
Research Interests: Complex fluids, polymers, fluid mechanics, surfactants, biomolecules, transport theory, rheology, instabilities, constitutive theory.
George Lavoie
Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Internal combustion engines, combustion and emissions, engine Modeling, flammability, fuels, automotive evaporative emission control systems, carbon canisters,optical engine diagnostics, and currently HCCI engines and HCCI engine modeling.
Xiaogan Liang
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Advanced Nanofabrication and Nanomanufacturing Technologies Nanolithography in Combination with Bottom-Up Methods for Assembling and Tailoring Nanomaterials into Functional Device Architectures Scale-up Applications in Photovoltaics, Nanoelectronics and Nanophotonics, Nanofluidic Devices, and Integrated Bio/Chemical Sensors
Allen Liu
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: Mechanobiology and mechanotransduction, bottom-up synthetic biology, droplet microfluidics, systems biology of endocytosis and cell migration.
Wei Lu
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Energy storage and electrochemistry; simulation of nano/microstructure evolution; mechanics in nano/micro systems; advanced manufacturing; mechanical properties and performance of advanced materials and relation to microstructures.
Jon Luntz
Associate Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Mechamatronic system design methodology; smart materials and structures
Zheng-Dong Ma
Research Scientist Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Computational mechanics including flexible multibody dynamics, structural optimization, structural dynamics and structural acoustics; development of numerical tools for the evaluation and analysis of rattle noise.
Herman Merte
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Heat transfer including dynamics of phase change, boiling, and condensation; study of boiling heat transfer (pool and flow) in microgravity; heat transfer in wire bundles.
Edgar Meyhofer
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: Nanotechnology, bionanotechnology, cellular and molecular biomechanics
Robert Middleton
Assistant Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Combustion, focusing primarily on automotive engines. Simulations of spark ignited and advanced autoignition combustion modes using 1D models and 3D CFD including large scale parallel simulations. Impact of fuel properties and kinetics on engine efficiency and emissions.
Amit Misra
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Materials Science & Engineering; Department Chair, Materials Science & Engineering
Research Interests: Research focuses on light-weight structural materials, radiation-damage tolerant materials, high strength and high electrical conductivity materials and other metal-based multiphase and composite materials, with emphasis on designing materials with enhanced functionality through understanding and control of interface and defect phenomena.
Talia Moore
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Dynamics of terrestrial locomotion, arrhythmic and transient locomotion, bio-inspired design, soft robotics, animal-robot interaction.
James Moyne
Associate Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Industrial networks, networked control systems, network performance, model-based process control, real-virtual environment fusion, prediction technologies, renewal energy “grid” networks and diagnosis, “Big Data” methods.
Lauro Ojeda
Associate Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Mobile robotics, position estimation, sensor fusion, adaptive systems, control systems, simulation and digital signal processing.
Chinedum Okwudire
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Manufacturing Automation: with key applications in 3-D printing, nano-positioning, machining, and smart manufacturing systems; Vehicle Automation: with key applications in electric power assist steering, steer-by-wire, and electric vehicle charging.
Kenn Oldham
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: MEMS and micro-mechatronic systems; design for controllability; optimal and robust control; micro-robotics; low-power servo control; vibration control; smart structures.
Gabor Orosz
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Nonlinear dynamics and control, time delay systems, reinforcement learning, connected and automated vehicles, traffic flow, biological networks.
Jwo Pan
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Fracture and failure of materials, fatigue testing and modeling, constitutive laws for porous and pressure-sensitive materials, sheet metal forming, crankshaft fillet rolling and residual stresses, rolling modeling and fatigue, modeling/testing of fusion welds, solid state welds and mechanical joints, modeling/testing of deformation behavior of lithium-ion battery
Panos Papalambros
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; James B Angell Distinguished University Professor & Donald C Graham Professor; Professor of Art and Design; Professor of Architecture
Research Interests: Design optimization; large scale system synthesis; automotive systems design, including hybrid vehicles; eco-design; product design.
Young Geun Park
Assistant Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Optofluidics; Functional Nanomaterials; Bioinspired Active Optical System; Solar Optics Based Active Panel for Energy Harvesting and Storage: Integrated Molecular Detection System
Donald Patterson
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Internal combustion engines, emissions.
Raymond Pearson
Professor Emeritus, Department of Physical Medicine; Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Automatic control of mechanical systems, mechanical design, biomechanics, design of prosthetic and orthotic devices.
Huei Peng
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; US Director, US-China Clean Energy Research Center-Clean Vehicle Consortium; Roger L. McCarthy Professor ; U-M MCity Director
Research Interests: Vehicle dynamics and control; electromechanical systems; optimal control; human driver modeling; vehicle active safety systems; control of hybrid and fuel cell vehicles; energy system design and control for mobile robots.
Noel Perkins
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering; Donald T. Greenwood Collegiate Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Dynamics including vibration and stability, nonlinear dynamics, experimental methods. Applications to nonlinear dynamics of elastic cables, nonlinear fluid-structure interaction, DNA supercoiling, sports engineering, MEMS inertial sensor applications, vehicle systems, axially moving materials.
Marc Perlin
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering; Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: Nonlinear water-wave dynamics, contact-line dynamics, drag-reduction technologies, and coastal engineering.
Kevin Pipe
Professor, Mechanical Engineering ; Professor, Applied Physics Program; Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department ; Director of Graduate Degree Programs, College of Engineering
Research Interests: Microscale heat transfer, especially related to electronic and optoelectronic devices; thermoelectric energy conversion; scanning probe techniques; photovoltaic energy conversion; organic and hybrid organic/inorganic devices.
Bogdan Popa
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Design, optimization, and dynamics of new generations of engineered materials (metamaterials) that allow improved control over the propagation of acoustic, elastic and electromagnetic waves with applications in biomedical engineering, telecommunications, aero- and underwater acoustics; noise control; smart materials; mechatronics.
Venkat Raman
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Aerospace Engineering
Research Interests: Development of computational models for turbulent reacting flows with application to aircraft and scramjet engines, stationary power generation, and synthesis of novel materials. High-performance supercomputers and detailed numerical simulations to study the performance of combustion devices. Recent focus in the areas of numerical error analysis, uncertainty quantification, and failure predictions, aimed towards modeling catastrophic and rare events in complex devices and natural systems.
Pramod Sangi Reddy
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Materials Science and Engineering; Associate Chair for Research
Research Interests: Nanoscale charge and energy transport, thermoelectric devices, microscale heat transfer, organic photovoltaics, scanning probe microscopy and optics.
Elliott Rouse
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Precision machine design; development of exoskeletons and robotic prostheses; dynamics of human locomotion; biomedical system identification; neural control of movement; biomechanics; human performance augmentation
Kazu Saitou
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Associate Chair for Graduate Education, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Computer modeling and optimal synthesis of mechanical (and non-mechanical) products and systems. Computational design for manufacture/assembly/environment. Simultaneous design of products/manufacturing systems/supply chains. Computer modeling and synthesis of MEMS/NEMS. Chemo/bio-informatics. Structure-based virtual screening for drug discovery and design.
Jeff Sakamoto
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: As a materials scientist and engineer with an interest in synthesis, processing, and functionalization of ceramics and hydrogels, his research is highly interdisciplinary guided by the fields of energy storage/conversion and biomedicine.
Ulrich Scheven
Associate Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Development and use of quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to explore and constrain the physics of displacements (1) in full volume non-linear elasticity in soft tissues, tendons, ligaments, polymers, elastomers; (2) in Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid flow and tracer transport within natural and manufactured porous media.
Bill Schultz
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering; Faculty Director, Ginsberg Center
Research Interests: Fluid mechanics including waves, computation, stability, asymptotics; steep and breaking waves; spectral method development; mechanics of fish swimming; saliva rheology and swallowing physics,fluid mechanics of industrial processes including laser and arc welding, coating and mixing, and tribology.
Albert Shih
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Biomedical Engineering; Faculty Member, Integrative Systems and Design
Research Interests: Design and manufacturing; biomedical device design; biomedical manufacturing; medical innovation; surgical thermal management; machining of advanced engineering materials; micro manufacturing; precision engineering; optical metrology.
Alex Shorter
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Design, Fabrication, Control and Evaluation of Human Assist Devices, Gait Analysis, Biomechanics, Instrument Design.
Volker Sick
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering; DTE Energy Professor of Advanced Energy Research; Director, Global CO2 Initiative
Research Interests: Accelerating deployments of CO2-utilization technologies that will innovate existing infrastructure and manufacturing processes, thereby finding sustainable decarbonization solutions to help address the climate crisis. Developing and applying optical measurement techniques for studies of mass and energy transfer as well as diseases of the human eye.
Jason Siegel
Associate Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: I am working modeling and control of Lithium-Ion batteries. I use neutron imaging to better understand how Lithium is distributed throughout the electrode in high power applications.
Kathleen Sienko
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Sensory augmentation, rehabilitation engineering, biomechanics, medical device design (emphasis on global health contexts and task-shifting devices), design science, engineering design education
Steve Skerlos
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Environmental and sustainable technology systems; life cycle product design optimization; pollution prevention technologies for manufacturing; metalworking fluid formulation and performance; membrane filtration; supercritical fluid delivery of lubricants; biological detection and control in aqueous systems; technology policy analysis.
Anna Stefanopoulou
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; William Clay Ford Professor of Technology
Research Interests: Estimation and control of internal combustion engines and electrochemical processes such as fuel cells and batteries
Jeffrey Stein
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Systems and control including machine design, control, monitoring, and diagnostics; physical system modeling; automated modeling; bond graph theory; proper modeling of active suspensions; proper vehicle handling and ride models; high efficiency dynamic formulations for vehicle dynamics; monitoring and control of thermally induced spindle bearing loads; design and control of high speed spindles and novel milling machines.
Jing Sun
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Michael G. Parsons Collegiate Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering; Chair, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Research Interests: Control system development and optimization for marine and automotive propulsion systems, with focus on system modeling, identification, control algorithm development and integration, control system rapid prototyping and experimental validation; Modeling, control and optimization of electrified vehicles, with emphasis on transient energy management for mobile applications; Adaptive control theory, with focus on algorithm and tool development aiming at improved transient performance and convergence properties; Advanced control methodologies, including optimal control and nonlinear control, and their real-time applications to marine and automotive systems.
Sita Syal
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: ***Starting 8/29/2022*** Energy justice and equity, sustainable energy and mobility systems, human-centered design methods, design needfinding, socially-engaged design, community engagement, optimization, cost modeling, agent-based modeling, uncertainty quantification, multi-attribute decision making, energy policy.
Alan Taub
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: My major research interest is in understanding the inter-relationships between processing, microstructure and properties in materials; with an emphasis on mechanical, electrical and magnetic applications. Present research focus is on lightweight structures for land, sea and air transportation applications. Projects include incremental forming of sheet metal and nano-particle additions to aluminum alloys. For polymer composites, we are studying the effect of carbon nanotube and graphene additions to polymer composites utilizing electrical and magnetic fields to produce oriented particles for improved mechanical properties.
Michael Thouless
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Materials Science and Engineering; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Janine Johnson Weins Professor; ME Associate Chair for Facilities and Planning
Research Interests: Micromechanics modeling of materials; interfacial fracture mechanics and adhesion; mechanical properties of thin films and coatings; toughening mechanisms in polymers; mechanical properties of structural adhesives.
Dawn Tilbury
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Research Interests: Control theory and applications; logic control for manufacturing systems including diagnostics, fault handling, and recovery; modular control systems; networked control systems; performance management of computing systems; web-based tutorials for controls education.
Serife Tol
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Dynamical systems, smart materials, metamaterials, phononic crystals, electromechanical systems, energy harvesting, mechanical vibrations, wave propagation
Aaron Towne
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Fluid mechanics, low-order modeling, flow control
Galip Ulsoy
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering; C.D. Mote Jr. Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering; William Clay Ford Professor Emeritus of Manufacturing; Deputy Director, NSF Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Machining Systems
Research Interests: Modeling, analysis and control of dynamic systems; rotating or translating elastic systems; manufacturing automation; vehicle control.
Michael Umbriac
LEO Lecturer IV, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Lecturer for ME250 and ME350 (Design and Manufacturing)
Ramanarayan Vasudevan
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Optimization, modeling, design and control of nonlinear and hybrid dynamical systems especially as related to human and robot interaction with one another and the environment; specific applications include the locomotion of legged robots, driver modeling for retraining and semiautonomous vehicle active safety systems, and the development of techniques to automate diagnostic and rehabilitative tasks.
Hugo Gonzalez Villasanti
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Starting 1/1/2022
Angela Violi
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Chemical Engineering; Professor, Biomedical Engineering; Professor, Macromolecular Science and Engineering; Professor, Applied Physics; Professor, Biophysics; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Multiscale simulations of complex systems, nanoparticle growth and self-assembly, nanoparticle interactions with biomolecular systems, applied chemical kinetics, aerosols. Chemical and physical properties of fuels, alternative fuels, lubricants.
Kon-Well Wang
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Stephen P. Timoshenko Collegiate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Structural dynamics and controls, including metastable & multi-stable metastructures, origami mechanics & dynamics, adaptive structural & materials systems, with applications in vibration & wave controls, vibration energy harvesting, structural health monitoring, and vehicle and robotics dynamics & controls.
Thomas Wang
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Associate Professor, Internal Medicine; Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: Biomedical instrument design, imaging systems, micro-optics, bio-microelectromechanical systems (bio-MEMS), miniature sensors, mirrors and actuators
Alan Wineman
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Mechanics of continua including nonlinear elasticity and viscoelasticity of polymers; theory of interacting continua; non-Fickian diffusion in polymers; yield-induced phenomena in polymers; modeling microstructural changes in polymers; studies in electrorheological fluids.
Margaret Wooldridge
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Combustion, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics including combustion synthesis; pollution mitigation; reburn and co-firing technologies; reaction kinetics; aerosol sampling and transport; optical diagnostics; gas dynamics.
Shaobing Xu
Assistant Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Motion control, path planning and decision making of autonomous cars; optimal control and optimization theory; reinforcement learning; eco-driving; design and development of connected automated vehicles
Wei-Hsuin Yang
Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Solid mechanics, applied mathematics, and numerical analysis including plasticity; structural optimization; manufacturing process optimization; structural crash worthiness; optional design of wheels; welding.
John Young
Associate Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests: Heat power, thermodynamics, experiential learning.
Yin Lu Young
Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Professor, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering; Director, Aaron Friedman Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory
Research Interests: Numerical and physical modeling of multiphase flow & composite structures with a focus on: advanced rotary structures that take advantage of novel materials and fluid-structure interaction; smart/adaptive marine propulsors and turbines; multi-functional composite marine structures; smart energy conversion systems
