A Message from the School Chair

Welcome to the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. We are pleased that you decided to visit with us. As you navigate through this site you will see the breadth and variety of our programs. We have excellent faculty as well as outstanding graduate and undergraduate students and support staff.

When Georgia Tech opened its doors in 1888 it was as a school of mechanical engineering, the only degree granting program for the first eight years. Mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech has expanded and changed over the years: from the original shop or trade culture to the advancement of a more professional curriculum with experimental laboratories, to today's multifaceted, interdisciplinary programs. Today we are the largest undergraduate program on campus and the second largest School in the College of Engineering.

Mechanical engineering is an excellent general education for today's technological world; as such, mechanical engineers are the generalists of the engineering profession. Mechanical engineering also provides a good undergraduate base for students who want to go into other professions, such as business administration, law, or medicine. Because they conceive, construct, test, and operate all kinds of mechanical and thermal devices, mechanical engineers are the backbone of the profession and work in every industry — from transportation, telecommunications, and electronics to bioengineering, commerce, and manufacturing — in business, government, and universities. Mechanical engineers work with motion, energy, and force; they are also involved with manufacturing the products they design. Today's mechanical engineers might search the ocean with an underwater observation manipulator; work on developing systems to program robots for manufacturing; or build a prototype of an electric car or develop computer systems for automobiles. Georgia Tech's undergraduate mechanical engineering program, ranked in the top five nationally, encompasses cutting-edge, interdisciplinary areas, such as acoustics, bioengineering, materials, robotics, and MEMS.

The research activities of our faculty are varied, and the size of our research program allows us to provide challenging research experiences for our students in areas beyond the typical core of mechanical engineering programs. Research in mechanical engineering encompasses acoustics and dynamics; automation and mechatronics; bioengineering; computer-aided engineering and design; fluid mechanics; heat transfer, combustion, and energy systems; manufacturing; mechanics of materials; MEMS; and tribology.

The Woodruff School also includes programs in nuclear and radiological engineering and medical physics. Interdisciplinary programs are strong encouraged, and our faculty is involved in research programs with the faculty of other schools at Georgia Tech. We also make every effort to integrate our research programs into our educational programs, for both undergraduate and graduate students. The research experience of our faculty is brought to the classroom, giving students a sense of the excitement of mechanical engineering and the cutting edge nature of the discipline at Georgia Tech.

Please enjoy your visit to the Woodruff School.

William J. Wepfer
Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. School Chair