Who to Contact
Graduate Student Affairs
The Henry Samueli School of Engineering
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California 92697

949-824-3562

E-mail: soegradinfo@soemail.eng.uci.edu

Graduate Programs

Department of Biomedical Engineering. Professor Steven C. George, Chair. The Department of Biomedical Engineering offers a stimulating array of research and training opportunities with world-renowned researchers. The focus areas for the biomedical engineering programs provide expertise in such areas as biophotonics, biomedical nanoscale and microscale systems (microfabrication), biomedical computational technologies, and tissue engineering. Biophotonics faculty members are interested in photomedicine, laser microscopy, optical coherence tomography, medical imaging, and phototherapy. Biomedical nanoscale and microscale systems faculty members are interested in molecular engineering, polymer chemistry, molecular motors, design and fabrication of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), integrated microsystems to study intercellular signaling, and single-molecule studies of protein dynamics. Biomedical computation faculty members are interested in computational biology, biomedical signal and image processing, bioinformatics, computational methods in protein engineering, and data mining. Faculty members involved in tissue engineering are exploring implantable prevascularized tissues and neural tissue.

Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. Professor Stanley B. Grant, Chair. Chemical and biochemical engineering focuses on bioremediation, cellular growth kinetics and regulation, materials science and engineering, optimization and control of reactors, environmental engineering, recombinant DNA technology, biomedical engineering, and separations. Structural and nanostructured metallic materials, biomaterials, ceramic and glass materials, energy materials, polymers and nanocomposite materials, micro/nanodevice materials, device/system packaging materials, multifunctional materials.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Distinguished Professor Masanobu Shinozuka, Chair. The Structures Program emphasizes the application of analytical and experimental approaches to the investigation of the effects of earthquakes and other extreme hazards on constructed facilities. Areas of specific interest include advanced sensors; health monitoring and damage detection; reliability of engineering systems; random vibration; passive, active, and hybrid control of structural vibration; elastomeric and sliding base isolation systems; dynamic behavior of liquid storage tanks; seismic response of equipment and other secondary systems; liquefaction; fragility of lifelines; the retrofitting of buildings and bridges; and stochastic fatigue, fracture, and maintenance of structures. The Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Graduate Program focuses on hydraulics and modeling, contaminant fate and transport, pollution control technologies, and microbial diagnostics and chemical processes in natural waters. Particular research emphasis is placed on contaminant fate in saturated and unsaturated subsurface formations and coastal, river, and estuarine surface waters. Innovative treatment technologies are being developed for drinking water, hazardous and toxic waste, and for water reclamation and reuse. Among leading centers for transportation research, the department offers a graduate program that is distinguished by its interdisciplinary approach to the study of contemporary urban transportation issues and by its unique relationship with the UC Irvine Institute of Transportation Studies. The program focuses on the planning, design, operation, and management of modern urban transportation systems. Emphasis is on the development of fundamental skills and knowledge in engineering, systems analysis, modeling, and planning, combined with advanced computational techniques to address transportation problems affecting urban travelers and the movement of goods.

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Professor Jean-Luc Gaudiot, Chair. Areas of emphasis offered at the graduate level include electrical engineering, computer networks and distributed computing, computer systems and software, and computer graphics and visualization. The electrical engineering concentration includes communication systems, control systems, digital systems, optoelectronic devices, semiconductor devices, analog/mixed signal IC design, electrooptics, machine vision, and signal processing. The computer engineering concentrations cover VLSI design, computer architecture, parallel and distributed computer systems, fault-tolerant computing, real-time systems, computer networks, and system software.

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Professor Dimitri Papamoschou, Chair. The areas of emphasis at the graduate level include continuum mechanics; power, propulsion, and environment; micro/nanomechanics; and systems and design. Continuum mechanics faculty members study the physics of fluids, physics and chemistry of solids, and structural mechanics. Areas of emphasis in fluid mechanics include incompressible and compressible turbulent flows, multiphase flows, chemically reacting and other nonequilibrium flows, aeroacoustics, aerooptics, and fluid-solid interaction. In the field of solid mechanics, research and course work emphasize theoretical and computational approaches that contribute to a basic understanding of a new insight into the properties and behavior of condensed matter. General areas of interest are large-strain and large-rotation inelastic solids, constitutive modeling, and fracture mechanics. Computational algorithms center on boundary element methods and the new class of meshless methods. Studies in structural mechanics involve the analysis and synthesis of low-mass structures, smart structures, and engineered materials, with emphasis on stiffness, stability toughness, damage tolerance, longevity, optimal life-cycle costs, and self-adaptivity. Research in power, propulsion, and environment encompasses aerospace propulsion, combustion and thermophysics, fuel-cell technologies, and atmospheric physics and impacts. In aerospace propulsion, particular emphasis is placed in the areas of turbomachinery, spray combustion, combustion instability, innovative engine cycles, low-power and miniature-power devices, and compressible turbulent mixing. The topic of combustion and thermophysics addresses the fundamental fluid-dynamical, heat-transfer, and chemical mechanisms governing combustion in diverse settings as well as fire safety issues. Fuel-cell research encompasses the development of fuel-cell technology, hybrid engines, and thermionic devices. Activities cover the thermodynamics of energy systems, the controls associated with advanced energy systems, and systems analyses. The area of atmospheric physics and impacts deals with the modeling and controlling of chemical pollution, particle dispersion, and noise emission caused by energy-generation and propulsion devices. Research on atmospheric turbulence addresses the energy exchanges between the earth's land and ocean surfaces and the overlying atmosphere. Micro/nanomechanics encompasses the thrusts of miniaturization engineering, mechatronics, and biotechnology. Miniaturization engineering is relevant to the development of small-scale mechanical, chemical, and biological systems for applications in biotechnology, automotive, robotic, and alternative energy applications. It involves the establishment of scaling laws, manufacturing methods, materials options, and modeling from the atom to the macro system. Mechatronic design is the integrated and optimal design of a mechanical system and its embedded control system. Main focus research is the design, modeling, and characterization of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Particular emphasis is placed on analysis and design of algorithmic methods and physical systems that realize sensor-based motion planning. The thematic area of biotechnology involves the understanding, modeling, and application of fundamental phenomena in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and chemistry toward the development of biosensors and actuators. Systems and design research is conducted in the areas of dynamic systems optimization and control, biomechanical engineering, robotics and machine learning, and design engineering. Advanced concepts in optimization and control are applied to the areas of biorobotics, fight guidance, learning systems, microsensors and actuators, flexible structures, combustion, fuel cells, and fluid-optical interactions. Biomechanical engineering integrates physiology with engineering in order to develop innovative devices and algorithms for medical diagnosis and treatment. The focus of robotics and machine learning is the creation of machines with humanlike intelligence capabilities for learning. Faculty members in design engineering develop methodologies to address issues ranging from defining the size and shape of components needed for force and motion specifications to characterizing performance in terms of design parameters, cost, and complexity.