Information About

	The Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student Society (MEGSS) is involved in many aspects of graduate student life at Northwestern. The group actively supports new student recruitment and orientation and provides a student voice on departmental issues such as faculty selection and curriculum matters. MEGSS also hosts intra-departmental social events to promote interaction between faculty, staff, and students in a relaxed atmosphere outside the lab. A recent highlight was the Halloween pumpkin carving contest in which groups of students were able to show their creativity.
	Aaron Greco won the poster competition at the NSF IGERT program report conference. In addition, he was awarded the 2009 STLE (Society of Tribologist and Lubrication Engineers) Scholarship by the Chicago section. This scholarship is awarded to one student each year studying in the field of tribology and/or lubrication engineering, in the Chicago area. Aaron's research is: "Improving the energy efficiency of bearing components through the development of micro-scale surface texture design and manufacturing."
	In October 2008, Christina Twist Barbosa won 2nd Place for her Student Poster at the STLE/ASME International Joint Tribology Conference in Miami, Florida.
	Binoy Shah was a summer intern at the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna, NY, where he was part of a team developing thin film flexible solar modules. For his work, he was awarded GE's 2008 Student Intern/Co-op Contribution Award (SICCA). According to GE, "this award recognizes the top 3% of students for their outstanding contributions across all GE businesses and functional areas" as well as for "exemplifying GE Leadership Values." Binoy was the only graduate student intern this year at the Global Research Center to win this award.
	Tom Vose won the best student paper award for "Friction-Induced Velocity Fields for Point Parts Sliding on a Rigid Oscillated Plate" at the 2008 Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) conference in Zurich, Switzerland.
Other Graduate Awards Robert Gracie was awarded the 2009 Robert J. Melosh Medal for the best student paper on Finite Element Analysis. The paper was on his work with Professor Ted Belytschko on continuum-atomistic modeling of dislocations. Allison L. Juster, mechanical engineering graduate student, was one of the 10 students chosen as the first class of the Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern’s cluster fellows program.  The mission of the program is to create, advance and communicate new science, technology and policy for sustainability and energy. The cluster’s task is to promote energy and sustainability research, development, education, outreach and communication at Northwestern

Northwestern ME grad students come from some of the most competitive institutions in the United States and around the world. Our graduate program emphasizes excellence in education and research. Our students are exceptionally well-prepared for academic and professional success and become leaders in their fields.

The Department offers a wide variety of programs of study leading to the MS and PhD degrees. We combine innovative teaching and pioneering research in a highly collaborative environment that transcends traditional academic boundaries. Our graduate programs provide a solid foundation for careers in industry, research labs, and academia. Northwestern's tradition of interdisciplinary research provides students with exciting new opportunities in traditional as well as interdisciplinary areas, as you may see by perusing the Research links at left.

• Introduction to the Department
  • 42 slides - pdf format (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader), file size: 5 MB
    
    
• E-brochure about graduate programs

• Information for applicants
  
  
• PhD - Doctoral Program
  
  
• Frequently Asked Questions in Applications
  
  
• MS - Master of Science
  
  
• Financial Support & Fellowships
  
  
• The MMM Program


• The Master of Product Development
  
  
• Information for enrolled students
  

• Graduate handbook (24 page pdf)
  
  
• The Mechanical Engineering Graduate Students’ Society (MEGSS)

DEGREE PROGRAMS

The Department of Mechanical Engineering offers graduate programs leading to the Master of Science (MS) and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees. These programs involve both research and course work.

The department is also affiliated with a professional master's program: Master of Management in Manufacturing (MMM) for people with industrial experience who are interested in management and manufacturing.

Students in the MS and PhD programs arrange their study and research in association with individual faculty members and often with the various interdepartmental and special programs associated with the Master of Manufacturing Engineering Program, the Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology, the Center for Quality Engineering and Failure Prevention, and the Program in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.

Graduate students are not required to follow a rigid curriculum; each student may arrange a curriculum that accommodates individual needs, talents, and interests while satisfying the basic degree requirements. The basic degree requirements are designed to ensure that the students develop a rigorous appreciation of mathematics, and have a broad exposure to fields of engineering and science outside of their immediate area of interest.

Please follow the links above to specific information about the MS and PhD programs, as well as MMM.