Mechanical engineering is for those who love to invent, design, build, and take things apart. Mechanical engineers understand materials, fluids, heat transfer, and vibrations so that they can create new inventions - be they airplanes or computer housings.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering combines a strong base in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and the humanities and social sciences with hands-on laboratory experience. Students can enter careers ranging from advanced engineering education, research, and practice to non-engineering disciplines such as medicine, law, business, education, or government.

From analyzing the strength of mollusk shells to developing ways to extract electricity from vibrations, graduate students in the Department of Mechanical Engineering study unexplored areas of mechanical engineering to solve industry problems.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering offers students opportunities to master the principles and methods required to solve current mechanical engineering problems and to communicate these solutions to the technical and nontechnical community. In addition to strengths in applied mechanics, materials processing, system design, and thermal-fluid sciences, the department specializes in the emerging area of thermal manufacturing, which bridges the gap between thermal-fluid sciences and materials engineering and processing. The department maintains state-of-the-art laboratories including the Thermal Analysis of Materials Processing Laboratory (TAMPL) and the Tufts University Fluid Turbulence Lab (TUFTL).