There are approximately 200 undergraduate students (approximately 50 students per graduating class) and 22 faculty members in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Rochester. The Department is one of five engineering departments in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The other four are Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Optics. All of our mechanical engineering students apply the latest software to problems in the mechanics of solids and fluids, materials science, mechanical systems, and advanced power applications. They also have broad hands-on laboratory and design experience.
Our research strengths come from our links with research centers around the University. Many of our professors work at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, one of the world's foremost facilities for studying inertial confinement fusion. A second group of professors carries out materials and mechanics research at the Center for Optics Manufacturing. Faculty members in a third group work with Medical Doctors in the School of Medicine and Dentistry to investigate such things as the biomechanics of the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. Many mechanical engineering undergraduate students become involved in research projects or find summer jobs at these various research facilities. The wide variety of engineering firms in Rochester, such as Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch and Lomb provide additional opportunities for the students.