• Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Macdonald Engineering Building
• 817 Sherbrooke Street West, Room MD-270
• Montreal QC H3A 0C3
• Canada
• Telephone: 514-398-8869 or 514-398-6281
• Fax: 514-398-7365
• Email: grad.mecheng [at] mcgill.ca
• Website: mcgill.ca/mecheng/grad

Mechanical engineers are traditionally concerned with the conception, design, implementation, and operation of mechanical systems. Common fields of work include aerospace, energy, manufacturing, machinery, and transportation. Due to the broad nature of the discipline, there is usually a high demand for mechanical engineers with advanced training.

The Department includes more than 30 faculty members and 200 graduate students, and is housed primarily within the recently renovated Macdonald Engineering Building. The Department contains state-of-the-art experimental facilities (including a major wind tunnel facility) and has extensive computational facilities. Professors within the Department collaborate widely with professors in other units, often through research centres including the Centre for Intelligent Machines (CIM); the McGill Institute for Advanced Materials (MIAM); and the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (MNI). The research interests within the Department are very broad and fall largely within the following seven areas:

• Aerodynamics and fluid mechanics
• Biomechanics
• Combustion and energy systems
• Design and manufacturing
• Dynamics and control
• Materials and structures
• Vibrations, acoustics, and fluid-structure

Within these areas, specific topics of research are given in the following:

Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics

Experimental fluid mechanics and aerodynamics, aeroelasticity, and aeroacoustics; theoretical fluid mechanics; turbulence; mixing in turbulent flows; fluid flow control; fluid–structure interactions; computational fluid dynamics, multidisciplinary optimization, and computer flow visualization; heat transfer; combustion, shock wave physics, energetic materials, high-speed reacting flows, hypersonic propulsion, and alternative fuels.

Biomechanics

Biomechanics, biomaterials, blood and respiratory flows, mechanics of soft tissues, cardiovascular devices, image processing for medical diagnostics, and voice production.

Combustion and Energy Systems

Combustion, shock wave physics, heat transfer, and compressible gas dynamics.

Design and Manufacturing

Design theory and methodology, design optimization; biomimetics; machine tools and systems, manufacturing processes, and management and control; micro/nano machining; and wear and comminution processes.

Dynamics and Control

Multibody systems, legged and wheeled vehicles, compliant mechanisms, and kinematic geometry; tethered systems, lighter-than-air craft, and underwater vehicles; spacecraft dynamics and space robotics; modelling and simulation; fluid–structure interactions, nonlinear and chaotic dynamics; dynamics of bladed assemblies.

Materials and Structures

Composite materials: structural design, analysis, manufacturing, and processing; micro/nano mechanics; MEMS/NEMS; adaptronic structures; thermomechanics, wave propagation, and computational mechanics.

Vibrations, Acoustics, and Fluid–Structure

Vibrations, acoustics, and fluid–structure interaction.

Programs Offered

The Department offers programs of study leading to the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Both M.Sc. (Thesis) and M.Eng. (Non-Thesis) programs are offered.

There are several options for completing master’s degrees that do not involve the completion of a thesis. The M.Eng. (Non-Thesis) program has more extensive course requirements and will appeal to students who desire to gain both a broad understanding of subjects within Mechanical Engineering as well as in-depth information in a specific area. Other non-thesis master’s degree options are described below.