The Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS) has a strong local, national, and international reputation as a premier teaching and research institution. Essential to MEMS is a commitment to excellence.  MEMS alumni find rewarding and well-paying jobs in industry and other employment sectors around the globe, thanks in great part to the academic, research, and extracurricular experiences they enjoy as students.

Our faculty place a high importance on teaching, encouraging students to think critically and to establish a sound knowledgebase for future success. Many of the faculty are world-renowned researchers who are well positioned to bring the latest technological advances to the classroom.

To that end, MEMS students have access to first-rate laboratory facilities that enhance learning through hands-on experience. That experience extends itself to many student activities, including design projects, entrepreneurship programs, and student-led groups like the Formula SAE Team, which designs, builds and competes a small Formula-style race car on an international level. The Department is actively involved in the Cooperative Education (Co-Op) Program, bringing students together with industry for three terms of professional work before graduation. Likewise, our students have access to several outstanding education abroad programs in Europe and elsewhere that provide the global engineering experience that is sought by many employers.

At the graduate level, advanced research is complemented with classwork. The graduate students work with faculty on a wide range of research projects that enable and support forefront technologies. With annual research expenditures exceeding $6 million, MEMS has particularly renowned research competencies in:

• Advanced manufacturing and design

• Materials for extreme conditions

• Soft matter biomechanics 

• Computational and data-enabled engineering

• Nuclear and other sustainable energies

• Quantitative and in situ materials characterization

Our graduate education also reaches beyond the Pittsburgh community, offering on-site professional master’s degrees and certificates in mechanical engineering, materials science, and nuclear engineering.

Whether you are a former, current or prospective student, or an employer, researcher or educator, you will undoubtedly be impressed with Pitt’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. I invite you to explore the academic excellence, significant achievements and many opportunities that we have to offer.

Brian Gleeson, PhD 
Harry S. Tack Chair Professor 
Department Chairman