The Department of Mechanical Engineering offers two graduate degree programs: the Master of Science (MS) and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The graduate program in mechanical engineering is designed to provide students with the necessary tools to begin a productive career in engineering practice or research, a career that probably will span a period of three to five decades. Although it is not possible to teach everything that one needs to know in the graduate program, the program provides the students with the skills, knowledge and philosophy that will enable them to continue to grow throughout his/her career. The graduate training a student receives emphasizes a fundamental approach to engineering whereby the student learns to identify needs, define problems and apply basic principles and techniques to obtain a solution. This philosophy is incorporated in classroom lectures, laboratory activities, design projects, and research.<br>It is essential that a successful department cultivates and maintains a diverse and dynamic program that is nationally recognized. The department is actively involved in basic research, which expands the frontiers of knowledge, as well as applied research designed to solve both present and future technological needs of society. The major research activities are focused in three primary areas: fluid mechanics and heat transfer, solid mechanics and materials science, and dynamic systems and controls (including mechatronics and robotics). State-of-the-art laboratories are associated with each of these areas. In addition, much of the research is conducted in cooperation with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, (NHMFL), the Department of Scientific Computing, the Center for Material Research and Technology (MARTECH), and the Center for Nonlinear and Non-equilibrium Aero Science.