The Department of Mechanical Engineering is one of the largest departments in the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It enrolls more than 500 undergraduate students and more than 200 graduate students from all over the world in MS and PhD programs. They are taught by 40 faculty members.

If you are enrolled in the ME department, you have access to the resources of a lively campus of 40,000 students as well as the specialized facilities of a large Engineering campus: the Kurt F. Wendt Library, the well-equipped Computer-Aided Engineering with satellite sites within the Mechanical Engineering building, a cooperative education and internship program for undergraduate students, the Engineering Career Services Office, and top-of-the-line research laboratories.

Professor David Foster (upper left), scientist Glenn Bower (right) and visiting researcher Takeyuki Kato view a single cylinder diesel research engine which is being used to study the effects of fuel chemical composition and in-cylinder mixing processes on engine power and emissions.

As a mechanical engineering student, you are part of a stimulating learning community of highly motivated undergraduate and graduate students, energetic educators, creative researchers, and a dedicated staff. As an undergraduate working toward your bachelor's degree, you learn the science and engineering principles of designing and building machines, structures, components, powertrains, pumps, compressors, turbines, engines, power plants, furnaces, refrigerators, air conditioners, and more. In addition to the formal classes, you can join exciting student project teams that build robots, human-powered vehicles, and experimental cars.

As a student, you learn from internationally-known professors who conduct in-depth research as well as teaching the principles of engineering. Undergraduate students benefit from up-to-date knowledge and facilities. Graduate students benefit from research grants from industry and government as they work with these faculty in the study of thermal science; mechanics; mechatronics and robotics; design and manufacturing; and materials processing.

As an ME graduate student, you enhance this learning process through advanced formal courses and laboratory research experience. The research groups provide a learning community of students and faculty. Additionally, the department's weekly series of seminar speakers broadens exposure to current research endeavors in both academia and industry.

Mechanical engineers are the general practitioners of the engineering profession and they are involved in essentially every engineering application. It would not be possible to list all of the areas that depend on mechanical engineers. However, traditional areas are in the automotive, heating and refrigeration, robotics, machine design, materials processing, process control and manufacturing industries. In these and other areas, mechanical engineers apply physics and engineering principles to the analysis, design, and production of energy and mechanical equipment. Mechanical engineers are increasingly being called upon to improve the efficiency of processes so that they require less energy and production time, and have a reduced impact on the environment. The diversity within the Mechanical Engineering curriculum provides graduates with a breadth of career opportunities including sales, marketing, management and design.

The Mechanical Engineering Department at University of Wisconsin is staffed with internationally-known professors who conduct research and teach principles of engineering. The faculty have active research programs in solar energy utilization, internal combustion engines, cryogenics and refrigeration, polymer processing, applied mechanics, computer chip manufacturing processes, robotics, laser welding and other areas. Undergraduate students benefit from up-to-date knowledge of the faculty and the modern facilities.