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Detailed Information

Programs of Study

The graduate program in mechanical engineering has four areas of specialization: dynamic systems, robotics, and controls; structures, solid mechanics, and materials; thermal-fluid sciences; and biomedical engineering. The graduate program in aerospace engineering has three areas of specialization, which include aerodynamics and fluid dynamics, aerospace structures and materials, and combustion and propulsion. The master’s degree requires 30 semester credit hours of course work, which may include 6 semester credit hours of thesis. The Ph.D. degree is offered in the same areas of specialization for each program for students who wish to carry out advanced research. The Ph.D. is conferred primarily in recognition of creative accomplishments and ability to independently investigate scientific or engineering problems. The work should consist of advanced studies and research leading to a significant contribution to the knowledge in a particular subject.

Research Facilities

Located in the Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics Laboratory are two low-speed wind tunnels used for boundary layer studies and a shock tube for compressible flow studies. Instrumentation includes hot-wire anemometry, pressure scanning systems, flow visualization, and computerized data acquisition. The Heat Transfer Laboratory includes experimentation of buoyancy effects and combustion, emission, radiation effects in porous ceramic burners, and various energy conversion systems. The nearby Florida Solar Energy Center also provides the opportunity for collaborative energy research. The Structural Mechanics Laboratory includes ovens and axial test, vibration, and instrumented low-energy impact systems to study the mechanical behavior of advanced composite and recycled plastic materials. The Dynamic Systems and Controls Laboratory provides a facility for research work on machinery diagnostics and mechatronics. Also, the Robotics Laboratory provides advanced robot research capabilities. Research in biomedical material processing and bioheat transfer applications is conducted in the Laser, Optics, and Instrumentation Laboratory.

Financial Aid

Graduate student assistantships, awarded each year to a limited number of highly qualified entering students, provide full tuition beginning in the fall semester, plus a stipend for the 2009–10 academic year. Assistants are assigned duties related to both undergraduate instruction and faculty research.

Cost of Study

Tuition is $1015 per credit hour in 2009–10. There is a tuition deposit of $300 for new students. Book costs are estimated at $550 per year.

Living and Housing Costs

Room and board on campus cost approximately $4500 per semester in 2009–10. On-campus housing (dormitories and apartments) is available for full-time single and married graduate students, but priority for dormitory rooms is given to undergraduate students. Many apartment complexes and rental houses are available near the campus.

Student Group

Graduate students constitute more than one half of the approximately 4,100 students at Florida Tech’s Melbourne campus. Only about one fourth of the students are from the state of Florida; the remainder are from all parts of the United States and from many other countries. There are 60 graduate students in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Programs.

Student Outcomes

Graduates of the program obtained positions in various companies, such as Boeing, Siemens, Earth Tech, EG&G, Harris Corp., Honeywell Aircraft Systems, I-NET, Johnson Controls World Services, Lockheed Martin, Loral Aerospace, MCNC, NASA, Northrop Grumman, Rosemount Inc., Piper Aircraft, United Space Alliance, United Technologies, U.S. Air Force Civilian Personnel, and U.S. Navy Civilian Personnel.

Location

The greater Melbourne metropolitan area is located on Florida’s “Space Coast,” south of the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The climate is mild both winter and summer, with abundant sunshine and little variation in temperature. Opportunities for recreation include extensive ocean beaches; the Indian River, an attractive saltwater lagoon between the campus and the ocean; the St. Johns River and Lake Washington, west of Melbourne; and central Florida’s numerous commercial attractions in Orlando. There are also outstanding entertainment, shopping, and housing facilities in the Melbourne area.

The Institute

In response to a need for specialized and advanced educational opportunities, Florida Institute of Technology was founded in 1958 by a group of scientists and engineers pioneering America’s space program at Cape Canaveral. Florida Tech has rapidly developed into a residential institution that is the largest private technological university in the Southeast. Supported by community and industry, Florida Tech is currently the recipient of many research grants and contracts, a number of which provide financial support for graduate students. The campus is situated on 175 acres of partially wooded and beautifully landscaped grounds.

Applying

Forms for applying for admission and assistantships are sent on request. Admission in the fall semester is recommended, but full-time students may also enter in the spring semester, and part-time students may enter in any semester. Full-time students entering in the spring should plan a reduced course load in their first semester. International students should apply at least six months in advance. Assistantship applications and all supporting material must be received by March 1.

The Faculty and Their Research

• Mark Archambault, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Stanford. Fluid dynamics, spray and particulate dynamics, liquid droplet modeling, rocket and air-breathing propulsion, modeling and simulation of rocket engine chambers and fuel injectors, hydrogen fuel cell modeling, computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
• Youngsik Choi, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Purdue. Nanomachining, biomanufacturing processes, mechanical design, precision engineering, superfinish hard machining, nanomechanics, fracture mechanics.
• David C. Fleming, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Maryland. Structural mechanics, advanced composite materials, crashworthy aerospace vehicle design, finite-element analysis.
• Hector Gutierrez, Associate Professor; Ph.D., North Carolina State. Dynamic systems, mechatronics, magnetic suspension systems, electromechanical energy conversion, precision motion control, nonlinear control, characterization and control of novel actuators (electromagnetic, magneto-rheological).
• Pei-feng Hsu, Professor; Ph.D., Texas at Austin. Radiative and multimode heat transfer, numerical methods, premixed combustion modeling in porous ceramics, radiative properties of microscale and nanoscale devices, heat exchangers and thermal systems design.
• Daniel R. Kirk, Associate Professor; Ph.D., MIT. Propulsion, air-breathing and rocket engine modeling, nuclear thermal rocket propulsion, experimental and computational fluid dynamics, low-gravity fluid dynamics and slosh, structure of internal and vortical flows, transient compressible flow and shock tube experimentation, combustion, reacting shear layers, heat transfer, aeroacoustics, blast field and blast-induced traumatic brain injury modeling.
• Pierre Larochelle, Professor; Ph.D., California, Irvine. Theoretical kinematics, mechanism and machine design, robotics, dynamics and controls of mechanical systems, computer-aided design.
• Taeyoung Lee, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Michigan. Geometric mechanics and control, geometric numerical integration, nonlinear control, adaptive control, estimation, neural network, multibody systems.
• Mary Helen McCay, Research Professor; Ph.D., Florida. Metallurgy, crystal growth, laser interaction with materials.
• T. Dwayne McCay, Professor and Provost; Ph.D., Auburn. Low-density gas dynamics, high-speed flows, propulsion systems, laser interaction with materials.
• Kunal Mitra, Professor; Ph.D., Polytechnic. Thermal-fluid sciences, lasers for biomedical and material processing applications, thermal radiation, bio-heat transfer, heat conduction, nanobiosensors, solar energy and nanomaterials-based photovoltaic systems.
• Razvan Rusovici, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Virginia Tech. Smart materials and structures, structural dynamics, instrumentation, experimental modal analysis, finite-element analysis, turbomachinery, bioengineering structures.
• Paavo Sepri, Associate Professor; Ph.D., California, San Diego. Fluid mechanics, turbulence, convective heat transfer, boundary layers, aerodynamics, wind-tunnel testing, droplet combustion, computational fluid dynamics.
• Yahya I. Sharaf-Eldeen, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Ohio State; Ph.D., Oklahoma State. Modeling, simulation, and design of dynamic systems; advanced dynamics, vibration, and design of machinery; thermal-fluid sciences and energy/power systems.
• Chelakara S. Subramanian, Professor; Ph.D., Newcastle (Australia). Experimental fluid mechanics, turbulence measurements and modeling, wireless instrumentation, data processing techniques, wind-tunnel experimentation, flow instabilities, structure of complex turbulent flows, boundary layer receptivity.
• Bo Yang, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Houston. Nanomechanics, fabrication of semiconductor nanodevices, composites, fracture mechanics, Green’s functions, boundary-element method, multiscale modeling.
• Shengyuan Yang, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Cell and tissue mechanobiology, microelectromechanical and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), sensors and actuators, mechanics of materials.
• Research Areas
• Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics
• Turbulence research within the mechanical and aerospace engineering programs is being carried out experimentally in topics such as boundary layers with embedded vortices, spinning objects, passive control of flow separation, and the effect of unsteadiness on shear-layer instabilities. Theoretical and computational research is being pursued to characterize flow instabilities, leaks of cryogenic fluids, turbulent boundary-layer structure, aerodynamic interactions, moisture transport, internal flow configurations, and pressure and temperature sensitive paints. Research is also underway in wind engineering and advanced instrumentation.
• Structures, Solid Mechanics, and Materials
• Efforts in mechanics and materials engineering focus on characterizing the mechanical behavior of composite materials and on the design and manufacture of structures made of them. The relationship between microstructure and macroscopic behavior is being studied to better understand the effects of environmental conditions on the constituents of composite materials. Research is being conducted experimentally by the application of static and dynamic loads, including impact and vibration on composite and biomaterials, leading to an understanding of damage mechanisms. Computational models are being developed for predicting the mechanical performance of structures for the propagation of delaminations, for the optimization of composite structure geometries, and for improving vehicle crashworthiness.
• Dynamic Systems, Robotics, and Mechatronics
• Research in the design and control of machine systems and other generalized systems is being pursued along both theoretical and practical avenues. Recent research contributions have been made in the synthesis and analysis of spatial and spherical mechanisms. Along the experimental avenue, research is being conducted in the monitoring and diagnosis of vibration and flutter in rotating machinery, dynamic systems, and control and mechatronics. Other research topics include magnetic suspension systems, electromechanical energy conversion, and precision motion control.
• Thermal Sciences and Propulsion
• In the disciplines of energy, heat transfer, and combustion, research programs address aspects relevant to steady-state and transient radiative transfer in thermal and biomedical applications; advanced computational methods for solving problems in radiative transport, bio–heat transfer, mixed-mode heat transfer, and electronic cooling applications; combustion in porous ceramics; aerospace propulsion; modeling of fuel spray dynamics; automotive combustion; issues related to environmental pollution and energy; liquid rocket propulsion system modeling and analysis; low-gravity propellant thermal stratification and slosh computational and experiments for future space vehicles; 6-degree-of-freedom flight dynamics, controls, and heat transfer modeling of launch vehicles; combustion chamber modeling and kinetics; modeling of advanced reactor concepts for nuclear thermal rocket propulsion; 6-degree-of-freedom thrust measurement of existing and new solid rocket motor concepts; microscale rocket and air-breathing engines.

Correspondence and Information

Florida Institute of Technology
Dr. Pei-feng Hsu, Head
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
150 West University Boulevard
Melbourne, Florida 32901
Telephone: 321-674-8092
Email: vborton@fit.edu


Florida Institute of Technology
Graduate Admissions Office
150 West University Boulevard
Melbourne, Florida 32901-6975
Telephone: 321-674-8027
Email: grad-admissions@fit.edu