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Washington University in St. Louis News & Information > University Groups > School of Engineering & Applied Science >
Mechanical, Aerospace, and Structural Engineering
Mechanical engineers study the behavior of solids, liquids and gases when forces are applied to them and when they are heated and cooled. They learn how to convert energy efficiently from one form to another. Using these knowledge bases, mechanical engineers play key roles in the design of transportation systems, including automobiles and space vehicles; environmental control systems, including air conditioners and furnaces; manufacturing machinery and processes, including robots; energy conversion technology, including engines and power plants; biomedical devices; and the list goes on. This tremendous breadth in the scope of the mechanical engineering profession gives the mechanical engineer access to employment in every major industry imaginable. Mechanical engineering faculty are highly acclaimed and research areas as diverse as combustion mechanics, the movement of aerosols, rotocrafts, biomedical and aerospace engineering.
| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
Showing Stories 1 through 3 of 33.
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Kind of a drag
Engineer devises ways to improve gas mileage
March 16,
2009 --
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| Agarwal |
A mechanical engineer at Washington University in St. Louis is developing techniques that will lessen our monetary pain at the pump by reducing the drag of vehicles — planes, autos and trucks. Drag is an aerodynamic force that is the result of resistance a body encounters when it moves in a liquid or gaseous medium (such as air). Reduction in drag means less fuel would be required to overcome the fluid resistance encountered by the moving vehicle. Working with undergraduate and graduate students, Ramesh K. Agarwal, Ph.D, the William Palm Professor of Engineering at WUSTL, has successfully demonstrated that the drag of airplane wings and cars/trucks can be reduced by employing the active flow control technology.
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500-pound gorilla on the dais
Population growth puts dent in natural resources
Nov. 5,
2008 --
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| Criss |
It's a 500-pound gorilla that Robert Criss, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, sees standing on the speaker's dais at political rallies, debates and campaigns. Its name is population growth. And sometime during President-elect Barack Obama's first several months in office, he will have to factor it into future environmental policy, says Criss."Population growth is driving all of our resource problems, including water and energy. The three are intertwined," Criss says. "The United States has over 305 million people of the 6.7 billion on the planet. We are dividing a finite resource pie among a growing number of people on Earth. We cannot expect to sustain exponential population growth matched by increased per capita use of water and energy. It's troubling. But politicians and religious leaders totally ignore the topic."
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500-pound gorilla on the dais
Population growth puts dent in natural resources
Oct. 7,
2008 --
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| Who can ignore this 500-pound gorilla? |
It's a 500-pound gorilla that Robert Criss, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, sees standing on the speaker's dais at political rallies, debates and campaigns. Its name is population growth. "Population growth is driving all of our resource problems, including water and energy. The three are intertwined," Criss says. "The United States has over 305 million people of the 6.7 billion on the planet. We are dividing a finite resource pie among a growing number of people on Earth. We cannot expect to sustain exponential population growth matched by increased per capita use of water and energy. It's troubling. But politicians and religious leaders totally ignore the topic."
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Showing Stories 1 through 3 of 33.
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| Faculty Experts: |
Showing 4 Experts.
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David Peters
McDonnell Douglas Professor of Engineering
David Peters is widely recognized as an expert in design and analysis of rotary-wing aircraft. His theory of dynamic inflow is the world standard for wake modeling in rotorcraft dynamics and simulation. His continuing research on rotorcraft modeling and analysis has led to the publication of more than ...
Expertise: rotary-wing aircraft, helicopters, rotocraft dynamics, aeronautics, astronautics
Media assistance: (314) 935-5272 / dlutz@wustl.edu
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Kenneth F. Kelton
Professor of Physics in Arts & Sciences
Kenneth Kelton is an expert in a phenomenon called nucleation, which is the most common way that physical systems change from one phase to another and is a governing process in nearly all phase transformations. Kelton has a long history of collaboration with Patrick Gibbons, Ph.D., professor of physics ...
Expertise: quasicrystals, metallurgy, nucleation processes, metallic liquids, materials science, materials physics, non-crystaline solids, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-6228
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kfk@wuphys.wustl.edu
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Rudolf Husar
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Husar is the director of Washington University's Center for Air Pollution Impact, Trends and Analysis (CAPITA), the world's largest private library of air pollution literature and computerized statistics. CAPITA spans more than 100 years of American pollution and energy consumption. Using CAPITA data, ...
Expertise: air pollution, clean air, aerosols, fluid mechanics, Monte Carlo Modeling, ozone
Direct contact: (314) 935-6054
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rhusar@me.wustl.edu
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Frank Yin
Chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering; The Stephen and Camilla Brauer Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Frank C. P. Yin, M.D., Ph.D., the Stephen and Camilla Brauer Professor of Biomedical Engineering and chair of the biomedical engineering department, is a world-renowned biomedical engineer. Yin heads a dynamic, young department, not yet five years old and already ranked among the top 20 in the nation. ...
Expertise: soft tissue mechanics, cell mechanics, hemodynamics
Direct contact: (314) 935-6164
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yin@wustl.edu
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Showing 4 Experts.
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Engineer finds ways to improve gas mileage
United Press International
and 2 others
March 23,
2009 -- A U.S. engineer says he is trying to develop methods of reducing vehicle drag so as to improve the gas mileage of planes, automobiles and trucks. WUSTL mechanical engineering professor Ramesh Agarwal said that although the technology has not yet been deployed on any commercially available vehicle, it is being investigated by airplane and automobile companies worldwide.
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Head-First Slide a Heads-Up Play
The Washington Post
and 6 others
Oct. 21,
2008 -- As base runners weigh whether to slide head first or feet first during Wednesday's first game of the World Series, they might want to talk to a physicist instead of a coach. WUSTL mechanical engineering professor David Peters explains that the effectiveness of either approach is closely tied to the principles of physics and factors like a baseball player's center of gravity.
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Batter Up: Shattering Sticks Create Peril in MLB Ballparks
Scientific American
July 15,
2008 -- This season, an alarming number of baseball bats have been exploding on contact with pitches -- shooting sharp timber projectiles onto the field and into the stands, where they have struck coaches, fans, players and umpires -- prompting players and management to call for testing that will get to the root of the problem. One theory blames the increased use of maple wood instead of more traditional ash and the players' preference for bats with thinner handles. WUSTL engineering professor Dave Peters comments.
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Baseball is built for lefties
Associated Press
and 55 others
July 10,
2008 -- Peters is a WUSTL engineering professor who happens to be a baseball nut. He looked at baseball from an engineer's perspective and determined that southpaws have a decided advantage. "Ninety percent of the human population is right-handed, but in baseball 25 percent of the players, both pitchers and hitters, are left-handed," Peters said.
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devised a technique on humans that for the first time shows just what the brain does when the skull accelerates
Space Daily
Dec. 16,
2005 -- Mechanical engineers at WUSTL along with collaborators, have devised a technique using MRI technology that shows how the human brain reacts when the skull accelerates. The research shows that as the skull accelerates, the numerous vessels, membranes and nerves at the base of the brain, try to pull away, from the spine leading to a significant deformation in the front of the brain. Philip Bayly, Ph.D., Lilyan and E. Lisle Hughes Professor in Engineering, discussed the group's findings Nov. 10, 2005, at the annual meeting of the National Neurotrauma Society in Washington, DC.
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