Project and Design Based Courses

MEMS 1043: Senior Design Project
MEMS 1049: Mechatronics
MEMS 1079: Senior Materials Research Project
ENGSCI 1801/1802: Engineering Physics Design 1 and 2

Research Projects

Undergraduate students may obtain practical experience through participating in undergraduate research with individual faculty members in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science or other engineering disciplines.
Each participant is required to submit a project proposal for approval before beginning a research project. This proposal sample can provide guidance.
Previous research projects include:
• Design, Fabrication and Testing of a Rectilinear Spring Mass Damper Simulator
• 2-D Cell Viability Model in a Diffusion Chamber
• Modeling of an Active Valve Using ANSYS FLOTRAN
• Design and Development of a Facial Mask Attachment System
• Review and Study of Artificial Intervertebral Discs
• A Thermo-Enviro-Economic Study of Hybrid Solid Oxide Fuel Cell-Turbine Power Generation Units 


Mascaro Center For Sustainable Innovation


The Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation offers three opportunities for undergraduates:
IRES: International Research Experience for Students Program is a 12-week summer internship, joining one of four research teams. Each team will be co-led by faculty from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
REU: Research Experience for Undergraduates a 12-week summer internship. Participants will be expected to work approximately 40 hours per week on their research projects. In addition, students will be required to participate in informal group meetings, brown bag sessions, and the research symposium which will be held during the last week of the program.
URP: Undergraduate Research in Sustainable Engineering is a 12-week summer program aimed at providing talented undergraduate students with creative opportunities that go beyond the engineering classroom curriculum and enable them to develop their own ideas and work independently on hands-on research projects in sustainable engineering with advice and guidance from a faculty mentor.


BRACKENRIDGE UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIP


The Brackenridge Fellowship supports University of Pittsburgh undergraduates conducting independent research projects and a roundtable discussion of progress in a weekly seminar in the summer months. Projects may be analytic or purely creative. The fellowship is open to undergraduates from any field and any class, including freshmen as well as seniors.


HERL UNDERGRADUATE AND SUMMER INTERN PROGRAM


The Internship Program at HERL provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to engage in a variety of educational, clinical, and research training activities at a state-of-the-art research facility. Engineering and clinical opportunities are available in many research areas related to the development and evaluation of new technologies and procedures to improve the mobility and quality of life for individuals with disabilities.


EXCEL PROGRAM'S SUMMER RESEARCH INTERNSHIP (SRI)


The EXCEL Program's Summer Research Internship selects underrepresented science and engineering undergraduates at the University of Pittsburgh in their sophomore, junior or senior year to participate in a nine-week Summer Research Internship (SRI). Students are assigned to faculty mentors who lead multi-disciplinary student teams in advanced research.


OTHER PROGRAMS AND PROGRAM SEARCH TOOLS


• Committee of Institutional Cooperation
• IGERT National Recruitment Program
• National Institutes of Health
• National Science Foundation
• The Leadership Alliance
• Web Guide to Research for Undergraduates