The graduate program of the Department of Mechanical Engineeringoffers many opportunities for graduate assistantships, tuition waivers and job employment in the Chicago and Rockford area. All assistantships include a full tuition waiver and monthly stipend that is enough for living on campus.
The Chicago/Rockford area is one of the largest manufacturing areas in the United States. It is home to hundreds of manufacturing companies including Caterpillar, Motorola, Hamilton-Sunstrand, Ingersoll, John-Deere, International Trucks and Lucent. It is also home to two national research laboratories: Argonne National Lab and Fermi Accelerator Lab. Many students take advantage of local industry and work in the summer, leading to a full-time job after graduation.
Research projects cover many advanced topics including micro-machining, micro-forming, nano-technology, vibration and acoustics, fuel cell, advanced computing and simulation, finite-element analysis, multi-body dynamics, nonlinear control, robotics, walking machines, two-phase flow, computer data acquisition, HVAC, materials research and engineering education research.