Overview
In the Department of Mechanical Engineering, you'll work extensively with the tools you need to succeed across many different engineering industries, such as automotive, aerospace, shipping, power, heating and cooling, and machinery‚ as well as the new and emerging fields of robotics, micro-devices and nano-devices, and medical equipment.
Program Highlights
The master's program in mechanical engineering provides students with opportunities to strengthen their technical backgrounds for pursuing successful professional careers in engineering research, development and management.
Our program is distinguished by its opportunities to work closely with faculty. Graduate students have the chance to collaborate with and learn from some of the most renowned experts in the country, all while seamlessly transitioning from graduate studies to a full-time career.
Applicants do not declare a thesis or non-thesis option upon submitting their application. After matriculation, a thesis option may be selected with the support of a faculty advisor.
Common research areas include:
- Thermo-fluid systems
- Material mechanics and processing
- Robotic, autonomous, and aerospace systems
- Product design and human factors engineering
- Engineering education
Graduate Cooperative Education (Co-Op) Program
The School of Engineering's Graduate Cooperative Education (Co-Op) Program provides students with the opportunity to apply the theoretical principles they have learned in their coursework to real-world engineering projects. Gain up to six months of full-time work experience, build your resume, and develop a competitive advantage for post-graduation employment. Learn more about the Co-Op Program.
Career Outcomes
Mechanical engineers participate in every phase of the research and development process. Regardless of what industry you're in, you'll invent, analyze, and manufacture mechanical components and systems to help solve a particular problem or create a new product.
With an MS from Tufts School of Engineering, you'll graduate with a high level of comfort working in computational design and simulation tools‚ allowing you to apply the principles of your mechanical engineering degree to virtually any field. That's the beauty of mechanical engineering. Countless industries need designers and thinkers with a systems background in solving complex engineering problems‚ and that's exactly what you'll offer.
Careers for graduates include:
- Manufacturing engineer
- Systems engineer
- Aerospace engineer
- Robotics engineer
- Automotive engineer
- Waste management engineer
- Marine and ocean engineer
- HVAC engineer
- Nuclear engineer
- Bioengineer
- Agricultural engineer
Faculty
Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering
Jason
Rife
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Chair, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
navigation, safety-critical transportation systems, state estimation, human-robot interaction
Luisa
Chiesa
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
sustainable energy, superconducting materials, materials science
Jeffrey
Guasto
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Associate Professor, Physics & Astronomy
Research Interests:
biophysics and soft matter, microscale fluid mechanics and transport phenomena, microfluidic devices
Professor of the Practice
Daniel
Hannon
Professor of the Practice, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
human factors, airspace systems
Marc
Hodes
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
heat transfer, apparent slip, thermal management of electronics, mass transfer in supercritical fluids and thermoelectricity, material science
Felix
Huang
Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
human factors, human motor learning, human motor control, neuro-rehabilitation, robotics, virtual reality, surgery skill training
Professor of the Practice
James
Intriligator
Professor of the Practice, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
Human Factors Engineering, Innovation, Design Thinking, AI-powered Innovation and R&D, Human Machine System Design, Robotics, Machine Learning, Perception, Psychology
Mark
Kachanov
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interests:
Mechanics of materials; effective properties of heterogeneous materials; microstructure-property relationships; applications to material science
Assistant Teaching Professor
Erica
Kemmerling
Assistant Teaching Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
Fluid mechanics, flow in the human body, hemodynamics, aneurysms, heart development, flow in tumors, cardiac assist devices
Assistant Teaching Professor
Hoda
Koushyar
Assistant Teaching Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
biomechanics, applied mechanics, materials characterization, engineering education
Associate Teaching Professor
Gary
Leisk
Associate Teaching Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
machine design, nondestructive testing
Douglas
Matson
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
solidification processes, thermal manufacturing, machine design, materials science
Professor of the Practice
Pratap
Misra
Professor of the Practice, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
GPS, emerging satellite navigation systems
John R. Beaver Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Chris
Rogers
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
John R. Beaver Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
Engineering Education, Human Robot Interaction, Mechanical Engineering, Music Engineering, Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Anil
Saigal
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
materials engineering, materials science, manufacturing processes, quality control
Igor
Sokolov
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Bernard M. Gordon Senior Faculty Fellow in Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Professor, Physics & Astronomy
Research Interests:
Engineering for Health, Mechanics of biomaterials at the nanoscale, Synthesis and study of functionals nanomaterials for biomedical imaging and drug delivery, Advanced imaging for medical diagnostics, Novel processes and materials for dentistry: nano-polishing and self-healing materials
Associate Professor and Stacey and Robert Morse Fellow
Kristen
Wendell
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Stacey and Robert Morse Fellow, Mechanical Engineering
Associate Professor, Education
Research Interests:
learning sciences, engineering education, design practices, design discourse, project-based learning
Robert
White
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication, modeling, and testing. Particularly acoustic MEMS (microphones, ultrasound), and aerodynamic measurement technologies (skin friction sensors, aeroacoustic sensors). Acoustics, vibrations, dynamics and controls. Electromechanical systems including robotics. Finite element methods and system modeling. Electronics for measurement. Mechanical measurements.
Professor of the Practice
Michael
Wiklund
Professor of the Practice, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
human factors
Matthew
Woodward
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
Animals, as a consequence of evolution, employ multiple, complex, highly interconnected, locomotion modes to overcome obstacles and move through unstructured environments; the individual contributions of which are not well understood. While roboticists have made great strides in enhancing robot performance, the focus has been on the control system (brain, sensors), and yet a significant gap still exists between robots and their biological counterparts. The Robot Locomotion & Biomechanics Laboratory at Tufts University focuses on enhancing robot mobility through a deeper understanding of the fundamental design methodologies employed by animals to combine locomotion modes (integrated multimodal locomotion), interact deterministically yet passively with the environment (morphological intelligence), and actuate their physical systems (advance actuation). Current projects include, adapting the complex, passive, multifunctional feet of desert locusts to enhance the dynamic surface interactions of terrestrial robots and support highly dynamic behaviors, studying how flying animals may use their physical systems (bodies) to transform relatively simple inputs into complex non-linear outputs through an understanding of the unsteady aerodynamics, and understand how swarms communicate and create complex structures.
Professor of the Practice
Michael
Zimmerman
Professor of the Practice, Mechanical Engineering
Research Interests:
novel polymer electrolytes for batteries, liquid crystal polymers, composite materials, materials science