Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Hamid Hefazi, Ph.D., Head

Associate Head and Aerospace Engineering Program Chair
Chelakara S. Subramanian, Ph.D., P.Eng.

Flight Test Engineering Program Chair
Brian Kish, Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineering Program Chair
Hamid Hefazi, Ph.D.

Degree Programs

Graduate Certificate Program

Flight Test Engineering Graduate Certificate  

​Professors
Martin Glicksman, Ph.D., Allen S. Henry Chair of Engineering, solidification of metals and semiconductors, atomic diffusion processes, energetics and kinetics of material interfaces, microstructure evolution.

Hector M. Gutierrez, Ph.D., P.E., mechatronics, nonlinear control, electromechanical systems, electromechanical energy conversion, magnetic suspension systems, computer-based instrumentation, computer-aided engineering of control systems.

Hamid Hefazi, Ph.D., geophysical fluid mechanics, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in turbomachinery, aerodynamic design optimization, aeroacoustics, hydrodynamics, advanced optimization methods.

Pei-feng Hsu, Ph.D., micro/nanoscale radiation transfer, radiative and multimode heat transfer, premixed combustion in porous ceramics, numerical methods in heat transfer, pulsed laser applications in medical imaging and material property diagnostics, thermal systems designs (heat exchangers, HVAC).

Daniel R. Kirk, Ph.D., fluid mechanics, heat transfer, combustion, airbreathing propulsion, chemical and nuclear thermal rocket propulsion, shock tube flow experimentation, high-speed aerodynamics, internal flows, superconductivity for launch assist, spacecraft shielding, energy storage and propulsion.

Pierre M. Larochelle, Ph.D., P.E., synthesis and analysis of mechanisms and machines, design and control of robotic manipulators, theoretical kinematics, design of spherical and spatial mechanisms, computer-aided design.

T. Dwayne McCay, Ph.D., University President, low-density gas dynamics, high-speed flows, propulsion systems, laser interaction with materials.

G. John Micklow, Ph.D., P.E., automotive engineering, thermodynamics, computational fluid dynamics, gas turbine engines, compressible gas dynamics, jet and rocket propulsion, external aerodynamics.

Yahya I. Sharaf-Eldeen, Ph.D., P.E., modeling/simulation/design of dynamic systems, advanced dynamics, vibration, design of machinery, thermal-fluid sciences, energy/power systems.

Steven W. Shaw, Ph.D., Harris Professor, dynamics and vibrations, nonlinear system modeling and analysis, micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS), torsional vibration absorbers.

Chelakara S. Subramanian, Ph.D., P.Eng. (U.K.), FllE, complex boundary layer flows (LDV, PIV/PDA, PSP/TSP), energy systems, film cooling, turbulence measurement/analysis low/high speed wind tunnel testing, wireless sensor network for wind, hurricane wind monitoring.

Ke-gang Wang, Ph.D., materials science and engineering, phase transformation, nanomaterials, statistical mechanics for different transport processes.

Associate Professors
Mark R. Archambault, Ph.D., rocket combustion and propulsion, rocket fuel injector modeling, computational fluid dynamics, multi-phase fluid flow, spray and particulate dynamics.

David C. Fleming, Ph.D., structural mechanics, advanced composite materials, crashworthy aerospace vehicle design, finite element analysis, fracture mechanics.

Tiauw H. Go, Sc.D., aircraft and spacecraft dynamics and control, unmanned aerial vehicles, flight modeling and simulation.

Razvan Rusovici, Ph.D., structural dynamics, smart material applications, damping modeling, vibration and acoustics, sensors and instrumentation, experimental modal analysis, turbomachinery, biomechanics.

Paavo Sepri, Ph.D., fluid mechanics, turbulence, convective heat transfer, boundary layers, aerodynamics, wind tunnel testing, droplet combustion, computational fluid dynamics.

Ju Zhang, Ph.D., computational fluid dynamics, combustion, detonation, solid rocket and propellant propulsion, planetary astrophysics.

Assistant Professors
Kimberly B. Demoret, Ph.D., P.E., engineering design, space launch umbilical and ground support equipment, aerospace systems engineering, vibration damping.

Matthew Jensen, Ph.D., automotive/transportation safety, electro-mechanical systems, data analysis strategies, dynamic modeling.

Brian D. Kaplinger, Ph.D., astrodynamics, trajectory and mission design, modeling and simulation of satellite systems, GPU computing, aerospace systems design.

Brian A. Kish, Ph.D., flight test engineering, airplane performance, airplane stability and control, avionics, control systems.

Ilya Mingareev, Ph.D., laser-based manufacturing, ultrafast laser micro-processing, laser–matter interactions, predictive process modeling, 3D printing.

Beshoy Morkos, Ph.D., complex system design, computational representation and reasoning, systems modeling, design theory, requirements analysis, computer-aided design and manufacturing, knowledge management, engineering education.

Hamidreza Najafi, Ph.D., heat transfer, industrial and residential energy efficiency, renewable energy systems, thermal systems design and optimization, inverse heat conduction problems.

Chiradeep Sen, Ph.D., unified theory of design, knowledge-based engineering systems, experimental exploration (cognitive, behavioral and social design), computational/linguistic modeling, artificial intelligence reasoning in engineering design.

Markus Wilde, Ph.D., robotic space systems, orbital robotics, on-orbit servicing, orbital debris removal.

Shengyuan Yang, Ph.D., cell and tissue mechanics and mechanobiology, micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), bio-MEMS/NEMS.

Professor Emerita
Mary H. McCay, Ph.D.

Professors Emeriti
Thomas E. Bowman, Ph.D.; John J. Engblom, Ph.D., P.E.; John M. Russell, Sc.D.; Palmer C. Stiles, M.S.

Mission Statement

The mission of the mechanical and aerospace engineering department is to prepare students to be successful professionals in the global industrial, research and/or academic environment. This is achieved via developing curricula and continually improving the quality of academic programs through assessment and professional accreditation, which enable students to achieve four education objectives: academic fundamentals, engineering practices, teamwork and communication, and professional development. Graduates of the mechanical and aerospace engineering department are equipped with the knowledge and capabilities to solve real-world engineering problems and to advance the state-of-the-art in their selected fields.

Research

Mechanical and aerospace engineering faculty are actively engaged in a wide range of research including areas of energy, fluid mechanics and aerodynamics, flight dynamics and control, orbital robotics, automotive, biomechanics, materials, combustion and propulsion, system dynamics and control, instrumentation and applied laser research, design and manufacturing, micro-electro-mechanical systems, structural and machinery vibration and computational fluid dynamics.

Major laboratories include the Orbital Robotics Interaction On-Orbit Servicing and Navigation (ORION) Laboratory; Florida Center for Automotive Research (FCAR); Robotics and Spatial Systems Laboratory (RASSL); Laser, Optics and Instrumentation Laboratory (LOIL); Fluid Dynamics Laboratory; and Aerospace Structures Laboratory.

ORION laboratory is equipped with a unique combination of Cartesian robot and air bearing flat-floor for study of dynamics and kinematics of relative motion and contact dynamics of space/air/underwater vehicles. FCAR is a complete engine testing facility for a 2,000+ Hp system including a 13-inch toroid water-brake absorber, associated software and an array of engine emissions testing systems. RASSL is equipped with several industrial robots as well as a state-of-the-art autonomous mobile robot. In LOIL, the current technologies in continuous wave and short-pulse lasers and optics are used to develop new techniques for measuring and characterizing material properties for biomedical and material processing applications. The Fluid Dynamics Laboratory features a low-speed, low-turbulence wind tunnel of open-return type. The Aerospace Structures Laboratory features a drop-tower for impact testing of structures and materials, and a shaker table for the vibration testing of structures. There are also ovens, vacuum pumps and other paraphernalia needed for the custom preparation of material specimens from advanced composite materials. 

Recent funded research activities have included modeling and design of MEMS resonators, torsional vibration absorbers for automotive applications, the study of micro- and nano-methods to reveal cell sensitivities to local stiffness, biomedical devices, brain-monitoring, bio-heat transfer, energy efficient solid-state lighting luminaires, virtual sensor systems for real-time 3DOF monitoring and control of flexible structures, novel electrical machine topologies for high power density applications, heat transfer models for hypersonic propulsion, computational modeling of engine plume erosion of the Martian surface, and mobile GPU computing for spacecraft payloads. Wireless sensor network system for measurement and characterization of hurricane winds, wake-boundary layer interaction analysis of low-drag thin flexible cylinders, lidar measurements and analysis of near-surface planetary winds, turbulence structure of strongly roughened boundary layers, the effect of hydrogen enrichment to enhance the performance of engines, renewable biofuels, advanced engine testing, supersonic combustion for advanced hypersonic aerospace operations, advanced materials and manufacturing for commercial gas turbine engines, information quantification for engineering design, development of nontraditional representations and reasoning algorithms to support complex system development, and integration of entrepreneurship and innovation in engineering education.

Faculty research have been supported through grants from National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, NASA Kennedy Space Center, NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Florida Space Grant Consortium, U.S. Army Research Office, DARPA, ONR, and industry and foundations such as Aerojet Rocketdyne, Valeo, Orbital-ATK and KEEN foundation. 

See the Institution Overview  section for further information regarding the Dynamic Systems and Controls Laboratory; the Laser, Optics and Instrumentation Laboratory; and the Robotics and Spatial Systems Laboratory.