Mechanical Engineering Research

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at UAB has a long history of pursuing interdisciplinary programs of research, development, education, technology transfer, and outreach in high fidelity computational field simulations and associated enabling technologies. Our faculty, staff, and students are involved in interdisciplinary research with support from industry and government agencies and collaboration with other departments at UAB, other universities, and national laboratories.


The applications that we address are important to industry, and they involve complex geometries and multi-scale science issues. Our research includes developing solution algorithms for field equations governing fluid and structural dynamics, developing mesh generation and adaptation technologies for complex geometries, using parallel and distributed computing to facilitate the solution of large-scale practical problems, and visualizing large scale simulation results. Our philosophy is to fully utilize information technology in creating, analyzing, managing, and interpreting large-scale data associated with the simulation of mathematical models that describe interacting multi-scale science and engineering phenomena. Our team has developed computational simulation algorithms applicable to science and engineering problems in the following areas:

  • Aeroacoustics and Noise Predictions
  • Aerodynamics and Moving Bodies with Relative Motions
  • Biomechanics
  • Biomedical and Life Sciences
  • Computer-aided Design and Numerical Geometry
  • Crashworthiness and Impact Engineering
  • Continuum and Non-continuum Flows
  • Design Optimization
  • Fluid-Structure Interactions
  • Image Processing
  • Manufacturing
  • Numerical Mesh Generation
  • Pollutant Transport
  • Propulsion, Combustion and Multi-phase Flows
  • Radiation and Surface Ablation for Re-entry Aerothermodynamics
  • Scientific Visualization and Virtual Reality
  • Turbulent and Transitional Flows

Laboratories, Facilities and Research Areas:

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM) & Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO)

Enabling Technology (ET)

High Performance Computing (HPC)

Computational Simulations

CO2-Enhanced Oil Production

Advanced Visualization Display Systems