COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

OVERVIEW STATEMENTThe mechanical and aerospace engineering department offers a curriculum with an emphasis on hands-on projects to complement our classroom instruction by world-renowned faculty members. Hands-on student experiences include laboratory courses featuring state-of-the art equipment and instruments, instruction in the use of modern engineering computer tools and advanced software, as well as a variety of team projects that emphasize synthesis of course work, presentation skills and foster a commitment to life-long learning and personal growth. Team projects are introduced even during the freshman year and culminate with the multidisciplinary senior year capstone design project. Projects are sponsored directly by industry, private companies, government institutions or as a part of innovative research performed by our faculty. Some sponsored projects include turbine engineering analysis and wind tunnel testing for next generation clean-energy power systems, a light-guiding system to aid pilots in aerial refueling, robotics, development of autonomous flight and ground vehicles, and even a NASA-sponsored project currently flying on the International Space Station. Brand new programs in biomedical engineering and automotive engineering are now providing the basis for even more exciting projects for our students and faculty.

FACULTY AND RESEARCHMark R. Archambault, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, marchamb@fit.eduRocket propulsion and combustion, rocket plume flowfields, plume/lunar regolith interaction, computational fluid dynamics, multiphase flow, spray and particle dynamics

David C. Fleming, Ph.D., Associate Professor, dfleming@fit.eduStructural mechanics, advanced composite materials, crashworthy aerospace vehicle design, finite element analysis, fracture mechanics

Martin Glicksman, Ph.D., Allen S. Henry Chair Professor and University Professor, Member of the National Academy of Engineering, mglicksman@fit.eduSolidification of metals; kinetics and energetics of interfaces; microstructure evolution; and dendritic crystal growth

Hector Gutierrez, Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor, hgutier@fit.eduMechatronics, nonlinear control, microprocessor control of electromechanical systems, magnetic suspension systems, intelligent control, automation, instrumentation, control of flexible structures, aerospace systems and control

Pei-feng Hsu, Ph.D., Professor/Department Head, phsu@fit.eduRadiative and multimode heat transfer, premixed combustion in porous ceramics, numerical methods in heat transfer, pulsed laser applications in medical imaging and material property diagnostics, micro/nano-scale thermal radiative transfer for energy devices, HVAC systems design

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

Aerospace Engineering B.S., M.S., Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineering B.S., M.S., Ph.D.

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING SIGNATURE RESEARCH AREAS: Sustainability of the Environment • Intelligent Systems • Assured Information and Cyber Security

New Space Systems and Commercialization of Space • Communication Systems and Signal Processing • Biomedical Systems

Daniel R. Kirk, Ph.D., Associate Professor/Associate Department Head, dkirk@fit.eduFluid mechanics, heat transfer, combustion, air-breathing propulsion, chemical and nuclear thermal rocket propulsion, shock tube flow experimentation, high-speed aerodynamics, internal flows

Pierre Larochelle, Ph.D., P.E., Professor/Assistant Dean for Academics & Accreditation, pierrel@fit.eduSynthesis and analysis of mechanisms and machines, design and control of robotic manipulators, theoretical kinematics, design of spherical and spatial mechanisms, computer-aided design

Mary Helen McCay, Ph.D., P.E., Research Professor, mmccay@fit.eduMetallurgy, crystal growth, laser interaction with materials

T. Dwayne McCay, Ph.D., Executive Vice President/Professor, tdmccay@fit.eduLow-density gas dynamics, high-speed flows, propulsion systems, laser interaction with materials

Kunal Mitra, Ph.D., Professor, kmitra@fit.eduThermal fluid sciences with emphasis on laser applications, thermal radiation, microscale heat transfer, material processing, bio-heat transfer modeling

Razvan Rusovici, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, rrusovic@fit.eduStructural dynamics, intelligent material applications, orthopedic biomechanics, acoustics, sensors and instrumentation, experimental modal analysis, turbomachinery

Paavo Sepri, Ph.D., Associate Professor, sepri@fit.eduFluid mechanics, turbulence, convective heat transfer, boundary layers, aerodynamics, wind tunnel testing, droplet combustion, computational fluid dynamics

Yahya I. Sharaf-Eldeen, Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor, eldeen@fit.eduModeling, simulation and design of dynamic systems, advanced dynamics, vibration and design of machinery, thermal-fluid sciences, energy/power systems

Chelakara S. Subramanian, Ph.D., P.Eng. (UK), Professor/Program Chair, subraman@fit.eduExperimental fluid mechanics, turbulence measurements, LDV, photoluminescence barometry and thermometry, wind tunnel experimentation, wind engineering, structure of complex turbulent flows, turbulence modeling, boundary layer receptivity, energy efficient systems, film cooling

Ke-Gang Wang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, kwang@fit.edu Theoretical, computational and experimental materials science and engineering, structure and property of materials, statistical mechanics for different transport processes, and nanotechnology

Shengyuan Yang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, syang@fit.eduMicro and nano electro mechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), cell and tissue mechanics and mechanobiology, bio-MEMS/NEMS, mechanics of materials

Ju Zhang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, jzhang@fit.eduComputational fluid dynamics, numerical modeling of shock to detonation transition, numerical schemes and applications, direct numerical simulations of turbulence and combustion, computational astrophysics

CONTACT

College of EngineeringDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901Phone: (321) 674-8092mae@fit.eduhttp://coe.fit.edu/mae

Florida Institute of Technology does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, Vietnam-era veterans status or any other discrimination prohibited by law in the admission of students, administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, employment policies, and athletic or other university sponsored programs or activities. EN-327-412