Mechanics, dynamics, and controls seek to understand how media respond to external stimuli acting upon it, and how to control that response. Often mechanics is associated with the study of solid mechanics, which specifically focuses on how materials deform and fail under external loads. The field of mechanics, however, is much broader than this. Research within this area includes computational, analytical, and experimental methods. Specific specializations of Rice’s faculty include computational mechanics (and finite element theory), fracture, fatigue, and failure mechanics, biomechanics, structural mechanics, fluid mechanics, and materials characterization.