PhD
Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics,
The Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) program provides a comprehensive graduate education at the Ph.D. level supported by over 30 faculty and 140 graduate students working to solve a broad range of problems.
Description
The program boasts expertise in fundamental areas such as solids, fluids, heat transfer, dynamics, vibrations, materials, manufacturing, and design with applications from medical robotics to rehabilitation, magnetic levitation to energy applications, 3D printing to nano-machining, tissue engineering to advanced fibers for composites, materials characterization to nondestructive evaluation, and computational analysis and simulation to computational materials optimization.
The faculty and students in the program work on a range of problems focusing frequently on a mix of experimental understanding and characterization, theoretical modeling and simulation, numerical analysis, and modeling and simulation. These activities are supported through a broad range of experimental facilities including laboratories for computational fluid and solid mechanics and thermodynamics; micro-mechanics, fabrication and combustion; robotics and mechatronics; rapid solidification; thin films; x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy; atomic force microscopy; biomaterial and mechanotranduction; tissue and arterial mechanics; nontraditional manufacturing; dynamics and vibrations; nondestructive evaluation and ultrasonics; organic and nano-electronics; polymer composites and advanced fibers; polymer mechanics and 3D printing; power systems; surface mechanics and tribology; trauma mechanics.
Students entering the program with a B.S. degree can either enter an M.S. program or directly start a Ph.D. program, with the option of obtaining an M.S. on the way to completing their Ph.D. Students in the program at the M.S. level can also select from a broad range of specializations.
Academic Pathways
Applying for Admission
Standard requirements for all graduate programs
- Application for Admission with $50 non-refundable application fee.
- Transcripts (unofficial): Uploaded as part of application form.
If International: Uploads must include all college- or university-level transcripts or mark sheets (records of courses and marks earned), with certificates, diplomas, and degrees plus certified English translations.
After admission: Official documents are required from all students who are admitted and enroll. Photocopies of certified records are not acceptable. International students enrolled in other U.S. institutions may have certified copies of all foreign records sent directly to the Office of Graduate Studies by their current school’s registrar office.
- If applicant’s native language is not English, verification of English proficiency
is required.
When sending TOEFL scores, our institution code is 6877 and a department code is not needed.
- If applicant is not a US citizen and expects an F or J visa: financial information.
- Applicants must also fulfill any additional requirements the department specifies at the time of application.
Additional requirements specific to this program
GRE: Optional
If an applicant self-reports GRE scores, they must also have ETS.org send official GRE scores sent to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (institution code 6877).
Applicants who wish to have their GRE scores evaluated as part of this application are expected to have at least a minimum Quantitative score of 155, and a minimum combined Quantitative and Verbal score of 305.- Resume/CV
- Personal Statement: Statement of Purpose including research interests and objectives
- Research Interest: Review current faculty and their research areas.
- Three letters of recommendation
Admission Application Deadlines
For full financial consideration, students must apply by January 15 for Fall, September 15 for Spring, and November 15 for Summer.
Department
Graduate Chair
Support Staff
Campus Address
Program Faculty
Eveline Baesu (bio)
Solid Mechanics, Electromechanical Effects, Fiber Networks, Biomechanics
Florin Bobaru (bio)
Damage and Fracture with Peridynamics, Modeling of Corrosion Damage and Stress Corrosion Cracking, Failure in Heterogeneous Materials, Dynamics of Granular Materials, Optimization of Material Composition and Optimal Shape Design
Bai Cui (bio)
Materials for Extreme Environments, Advanced Manufacturing, Corrosion, Irradiation Damage, Microstructural Characterizations
Asaf Dana (bio)
Soft stimuli-responsive material platforms for applications in soft robotics, Tissue engineering, Materials processing, Integrating experimental mechanics with materials design and phase-transition physics
Jessica Deters (bio)
Engineering Culture, Workplace Preparedness, International engineering Education (global engineering programs and comparative research)
Yuris Dzenis (bio)
Multi-Domain Networks, Structural and Algorithmic Graph Theory, Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Bioinformatics, Data Mining Models
Shane Farritor (bio)
Robotic Highway Safety Markers, Miniature Surgical Robots, Real-Time Measurement of Track Stiffness, Planetary Cliff Descent Using Cooperative Robots
Lucia Fernandez-Ballester (bio)
Processing and Flow-Induced Crystallization of Polymers, Biopolymers, Self-Assembly and Micro/Nanostructures in Polymers and Supramolecules, Syncrhotron X-ray Scattering, Optical Birefringence, Polarized Microscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry
George Gogos (bio)
Transport Phenomena in Vaporizing and Combusting Sprays, Thermal Processes in DNA Multiplication, Laser and Materials Interactions
Piyush Grover (bio)
Geometric and Topological Methods in Dynamical Systems, Operator Theoretic Methods (Perron-Frobenius/Koopman) for Analysis and Control, Continuum Approach to Multi-agent System Control and Decision Making (Mean-field Control and Mean-field Games, Optimal Transport)
Qilin Guo (bio)
Metal Additive Manufacturing, Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Laser Processing, In-situ Characterization, Synchrotron X-ray Imaging & Diffraction, New Alloy Development for AM, Microstructural Characterization
Abdelghani Laraoui (bio)
Quantum Sensing, Defect Discovery and Spectroscopy in Two Dimensional Materials and Wide Bandgap Semiconductors, Quantum Computing, Hybrid Photonics
Jung Yul Lim (bio)
Regulate Cell Function and Fate via Applying Biomaterial Cues, Integrate Molecular Engineering of Key Signaling Molecules to Reveal the Role of Focal Adhesion, Cytoskeletal Tension, Cell-Cell Interaction, and Immune Response
Eric Markvicka (bio)
Robotics, Stretchable Electronics, Soft Materials, Liquid Metals
Fanben Meng (bio)
Bioprinting, 3D Printing, Nanofabrication, Reconstruction of Physiological Microenvironments, 3D In Vitro Disease Models, Drug Screening, Regenerative Medicine, Biosensors & Bioelectronics, Biomedical Devices
Nitesh Nama (bio)
Computational Cardiovascular Biomechanics, Cardiovascular Mass Transport, Fluid-Structure Interaction, Finite Element Analysis, Continuum Mechanics, Nonlinear Elasticity, Microfluidics, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Acoustofluidics, Lab-on-a-chip
Mehrdad Negahban (bio)
Large Deformation Thermo-Mechanical Response of Materials
Carl Nelson (bio)
Mechanical Systems Design and Analysis, Medical Robotics, Modularity in Mechanical Systems, Graph-Theoretic Techniques in Robotics and Mechanical Systems Design
Jae Sung Park (bio)
Fluid mechanics, Turbulence, Complex fluids, Electrokinetics, Rheology, Biofluids, Microscale transport, Mathematical modeling, Scientific computing
Ryan Pedrigi (bio)
Mechanobiology, Experimental and Computational Biomechanics, Cell Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Medical Devices, Cardiovascular Medicine, Ophthalmology, and Wound Healing
Kamlakar Rajurkar (bio)
Advanced Machining of Materials Used in Aerospace, Automotive and Medical Device Industries
Mohammad Razavi (bio)
Lymphatic Bioengineering, Tissue Biomechanics & Computational Modeling, Biomedical Imaging, Regenerative Medicine
Jeffrey Shield (bio)
Microstructural Development, Nanoscale Materials, Magnetic Materials, Electron Microscopy, X-ray Diffraction
Eli Sutter (bio)
Novel Materials and Materials for Energy Applications
Li Tan (bio)
Nanofabrication, Monolayers for Virus Detection, Patterned Metallic Alloys, Patterned Metallic Alloys, Polymer Thin Films
Devahdhanush VS (bio)
Thermo-fluid sciences, Two-phase flows and heat transfer, High-heat-flux thermal management systems, Cryogenics, HVAC, Machine learning tools, Gravitational effects, Computational fluid dynamics
Jian Wang (bio)
Wilmer J. and Sally L. Hergenrader Presidential Chair of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Graduate Chair of Materials Engineering, Interface Engineering: Improve Mechanical Properties and Irradiation Tolerance of Materials by Tailoring Interfaces in Solids
Jiashi Yang (bio)
Electromechanical Materials and Devices
Zhaoyan Zhang (bio)
Food Physical Chemistry
UNL Graduate Chairs and staff please complete the program update form to provide edits. Updates to graduate program pages are made on an annual basis in conjunction with the Graduate Application for Admission.