ME 438 Mechanical Engineering Experimentation (U).

This is a senior level hands-on engineering core course. The course has two components, lectures and projects. Students are introduced to topics such as characteristics of measurement systems, measurement of basic quantities, statistical data analysis, dynamic response of instruments, design of experiments, and data acquisition systems. students are also given the taste of real engineering by being challenged with small open-ended industrial problems that are solicited from local, regional, and national industries or our own research laboratories. Students are asked to systematically solve these projects by working through the design, fabrication, testing, analysis, and presentation phases.

ME 490 Introduction to Aerosol and Nanoparticles (U/G). (New Course)

Aerosols are suspensions of small particles in gases. Aerosol science plays a key role in many different fields including atmospheric sciences and air pollution, industrial production of pigments, fillers, and powders, contamination control in microelectronics and pharmaceuticals industries, and more recently nanotechnology. This course intends to introduce students to the fundamentals of aerosol science and engineering with an emphasis on nanoparticles. Topics covered in this course include elementary concepts, kinetic theory of gases, elementary particle mechanics, inertial separation, particle statistics, Brownian motion and diffusion, coagulation, evaporation and condensation, electrical properties, aerosol sampling and transport, and filtration. Various instrumentation techniques for aerosols and nanoparticles will be covered within appropriate topics.

ME/EE 490 Hybrid Nanomaterials and Nanodevices (U/G). (New Course funded by NSF)

This is an Undergraduate/Graduate course. Course description: Hybrid nanomaterials represent a new class of materials that could potentially display not only the properties of the constituent components but also additional properties due to the interaction between constituent components.  This course aims to introduce the recent advancement of nanotechnology in hybrid nanomaterials and devices/systems to undergraduate students through well-designed laboratory modules.  The hybrid nanomaterials to be addressed include nanoparticle-carbon nanotube (CNT) structures, nanoparticle-nanowire structures, organic-inorganic hybrids (organic dye-CNT), and inorganic-inorganic hybrids (inorganic dye-nanoparticle).  The lab modules include hybrid nanomaterial synthesis, scanning electron microscopy imaging of these structures, hybrid nanomaterial-based gas sensors, biosensors, solar cells, light sensors, and electroluminescent devices. 

ME 890 Nanomanufacturing and Nanofabrication (G). (New Course)

Nanotechnology is the creation and utilization of materials, devices, and systems through the manipulation of matter at the atomic, molecular or macromolecular levels to take advantage of novel material properties and device functions that dominate at that length scale. Precise, efficient, and economic manufacturing/fabrication of structures, devices, and systems at the nanometer scale is critical to harvest the revolutionary power of nanotechnology. This course intends to introduce students to the recent advancements in nanomanufacturing, micro- and nano- fabrication, and nanotechnology instrumentation. The course consists of a series of lectures including guest lectures, lab demonstration and exercises, advanced reading, and a term project. The students will be exposed to frontiers of nanomanufacturing and nanofabrication and receive selected hands-on experience on the nanoparticle manufacturing and microfabrication.