College: College of Engineering
Designation: Department
Majors and degrees offered: M.S., Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics; M.S., Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics
Other: Ph.D. Minors in Engineering Mechanics, and in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics
Faculty: Professors Corradini (chair), Blanchard, Bisognano, Bonazza, Drugan, Fonck, Hegna, Henderson, Hershkowitz, Kammer, Kulcinski, Lakes, Moses, Pfotenhauer, Plesha, Smith, Waleffe; Associate Professors Crone, Sovinec, Witt; Assistant Professors M. Allen, T. Allen, Wilson; Affiliate Professors Bier, Deluca, Mackie, Thomadsen, Vanderby
The Department of Engineering Physics offers graduate programs leading to the master of science and doctor of philosophy degrees in engineering mechanics, and in nuclear engineering and engineering physics.
The master of science and doctor of philosophy degrees in engineering mechanics are offered within a graduate program covering contemporary areas in both theoretical and applied mechanics. With the guidance of a major professor, a program can be designed to meet an individual student's needs and interests.
The program is broadly structured into several main areas of instruction and research interests in mechanics of materials and astronautics: continuum mechanics, computational mechanics, dynamics and vibration, experimental fluid mechanics, nanomechanics, solid mechanics, and biomechanics. Related fields in which minor work may be done include civil and environmental engineering, chemical and biological engineering, electrical and computer engineering, materials science, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering and engineering physics, physics, geological engineering and geology, mathematics, statistics, and computer science.
Current faculty research interests include adhesive-bonded joints; composites; failure criteria; analytical and computational solid mechanics; analytical and computational dynamics; multibody dynamics; analytical and computational active and passive space-structure control systems; dynamic stability; nonlinear fracture mechanics of traditional and advanced materials; continuum mechanics; modal analysis; nanomechanics and nanotribology; fluid-structure interaction; non-Newtonian fluid flow; structural mechanics; viscoelasticity; viscoplasticity; and biomechanics.
Laboratories are well equipped for experimental testing and research; these include holography, Moire, and other optical methods for experimental mechanics research. In addition, a scanning probe microscopy laboratory for nanomechanics research is being developed. The department has access to college-wide facilities. The Wisconsin Laboratory for Structures and Materials Testing has facilities for testing large structures, fatigue and vibration labs, and complements the department's laboratories. The Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics is a valuable resource for development of space-related structures and designs. The Materials Science Center provides state-of-the-art instrumentation, support facilities, and expert technical assistance for research and education in materials. Its facilities include scanning and transmission electron microscopes, image processing and analysis systems, surface and thin film characterization facilities, and x-ray diffraction facilities.
A broad program of instruction and research is offered in the principles of the interaction of radiation with matter and their applications, and in several areas of engineering physics. The program has strong engineering and applied science components. It emphasizes several areas of activity, including the research, design, development, and deployment of fission reactors; fusion engineering; plasma physics; plasma-aided manufacturing; ion implantation; radiation damage to materials; applied superconductivity and cryogenics; large-scale computing in engineering science; and particle accelerator technology.
The master's degree may be pursued as a terminal degree in the fission area and in various engineering physics areas, but it is not generally recommended as a final degree in fusion research; students interested in fusion should plan to pursue the Ph.D. degree. About 40 percent of the current graduate students hold undergraduate degrees in nuclear engineering, about 40 percent in physics, and about 20 percent in other disciplines such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, and materials science.
The department is considered to have one of the top five nuclear engineering programs in the nation over the last 40 years. It incorporates several research organizations including the Wisconsin Institute of Nuclear Systems, the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment Program, the Fusion Technology Institute, and portions of the Applied Superconductivity Center, the Center for Plasma Theory and Computation, and the Center for Plasma-Aided Manufacturing.
Research may be performed in areas including next generation fission reactor engineering; fluid and heat transfer modeling for transient analysis; reactor monitoring and diagnostics; fuel cycle analysis; magnetic and inertial confinement fusion reactor engineering, including the physics of burning plasmas, plasma-wall interactions, neutron transport, tritium breeding, radiation damage, and liquid-metal heat transfer; experimental and theoretical studies of plasmas including radio frequency heating, magnetic confinement, plasma instabilities, and plasma diagnostics; industrial plasma physics, such as plasma processing and plasma source ion implantation; superconducting magnets and cryogenics; and theoretical and experimental studies of the damage to materials in fission and fusion reactors.
The department places considerable emphasis on establishing research teams or group research, as well as traditional research activity by individual faculty members and their students. The groups frequently involve faculty, scientific staff, and graduate students from several departments, adding a strong interdisciplinary flavor to the research.
Students sometimes perform thesis work at national laboratories such as Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Master's and Ph.D. graduates are recruited by and accept employment with a wide variety of industrial, educational, and governmental organizations including aerospace and automotive companies, electric utilities, architect/engineering firms, nuclear reactor vendors, nuclear service and consulting firms, federal and state government agencies, and national laboratories. Ph.D. employment varies in relation to the career goals of the graduate. Many graduates accept employment with national laboratories or with federal agencies. Some accept faculty or postdoctoral positions with universities. Others go to high-technology research firms or to smaller research/consulting firms.
Fellowships, traineeships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships are available to qualified students, department budgets permitting. These awards are granted on the basis of undergraduate records, professional recommendations, and other factors indicating probable success in graduate study. Students who receive financial support are required to carry a full program of graduate studies. Holders of research assistantships, fellowships, scholarships, and traineeships must carry 8 credits during a regular semester and a minimum of 2 graduate credits in the summer session. While a research assistantship award is made to the candidate, it is used under the supervision of a major professor in a department research project for which support is available, typically from the federal government or private industry.
The department awards a number of teaching assistantships for instructional duties within the engineering mechanics program. Students whose native language is other than English must pass the SPEAK test to be eligible for teaching assistantships.
The Graduate School awards university fellowships to a number of outstanding first-year candidates nominated by the individual departments and selected by a university fellowships committee. Competition is keen. Additional information is available from the department. The department also awards National Academy of Nuclear Training (NANT) Fellowships funded by the nuclear utility industry. These are one-year fellowships for candidates following a program of study in the fission power field who intend to enter the nuclear power industry with the master's degree.
Outstanding candidates are also encouraged to apply for fellowships awarded from non-UW sources. Information on these fellowships can easily be found using on-line web page search engines. Fellowships of interest to both engineering mechanics, and nuclear engineering and engineering physics students include National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships, Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowships, National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships, and Department of Energy (DoE) Computational Science Graduate Fellowships.
Outstanding candidates in nuclear engineering and engineering physics are encouraged to apply for DoE Fusion Energy Sciences Fellowships (the technology track for those interested in magnetic fusion engineering, and the science track for study and research in plasma physics and other sciences related to the development of magnetic fusion); DoE Nuclear Engineering and Health Physics Fellowships for nuclear fission and advanced concept research and development; the DoE Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative University Fellowship Program for those interested in advanced fission applications; and the DoE Office of Naval Reactors Naval Nuclear Propulsion Graduate Fellowship Program.
Typically NSF and Hertz Foundation applications are due in November and October. Applications for the other fellowships are typically due at various times in January.
For admission to the graduate program, applicants must have a bachelor's degree in engineering or physical science. The department requires an undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0 (3.25 for Ph.D. candidates) on a 4.0 scale, and the academic record and interests of the student should be such that a creditable performance at the graduate level may be expected. Applicants are required to take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) for admission. In special cases, students with GPAs lower than 3.0 who meet all the minimum requirements of the Graduate School may be considered for admission on probation. The department requires a score of 600 (paper-based test) or 237 (computer-based test) or 92 (Internet-based test) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a 7 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) for those students whose native language is not English and who have not had previous study in the United States. Applicants for admission must submit to the department a personal statement of reasons for graduate study, three professional references, and official transcripts from all undergraduate institutions.
The engineering mechanics applicant should have taken, prior to admission, one or more courses in each of the following areas: advanced mathematics, linear algebra, mechanics of materials, and dynamics.
The nuclear engineering and engineering physics applicant should have taken, before admission, one or more courses in each of the following four areas: advanced mathematics beyond differential equations; nuclear physics; materials science, metallurgy, or solid state physics; heat transfer or fluid flow/fluid mechanics.
Admission is possible without meeting all of these requirements, but applicants may need to take prerequisite courses before receiving a graduate degree.
For more information: Department of Engineering Physics, 153 Engineering Research Building, 1500 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1609; 608/263-7038; fax 608/263-7451; ep@engr.wisc.edu; www.engr.wisc.edu/ep.