We are seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the world around us, and also to apply that understanding to improving and advancing our world. Current research activities in the Department of Mechanical Engineering include topics related to fluid mechanics, heat transfer, solid mechanics, dynamics and vibrations, control systems, robotics, and thermodynamics.
Rice undergraduate students interested in research can indicate their interest here.
Additive Manufacturing, Performance & Tribology Center
Directors: Matthew Brake, C. Fred Higgs III
The Additive Manufacturing, Performance & Tribology (AMPT) Center at Rice University is an industry-focused, multidisciplinary research unit that leverages the deep expertise of Rice engineering faculty to solve the fundamental problems facing Industry 4.0. This designation refers to the companies driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in which technologies spanning the physical, digital, and biological worlds are changing how people work and live, and how products are produced and consumed.
Control and Reliable Autonomy Lab
Director: Sasha Davydov
The lab's research is on modern data-driven engineering problems at the intersection of control, machine learning, and optimization. We are broadly interested in making new advances in nonlinear control theory and using modern machine learning and optimization methods to enable the reliable control of complex engineering systems. Our work spans theoretical developments, computational experiments, and hardware implementations of advanced control strategies.
Control and Reliable Autonomy Lab (CARA Lab) focuses on Mechanics, Dynamics, & Controls and Mechanical Design & Robotics.
Cognitive Human-Robot Partnership Lab
PI: Keya Ghonasgi
The Cognitive Human-Robot Partnership (CHRP) Lab, led by Dr. Keya Ghonasgi, develops wearable sensing and robotic actuation to quantify and rehabilitate human motion. The lab focuses on motor impairments caused by neurological injuries, such as Stroke, Cerebral
Palsy, and Parkinson’s. We also explore the parallels and differences between upper- and lower-limb applications in rehabilitation and assistance. Our lab resources include a gait lab with 3D motion capture and force sensing capabilities, the Harmony upper-limb exoskeleton, an IMU-based sensing platform, and virtual reality platforms for studying serious games. The lab's overarching goal is the intelligent engineering of personalized, adaptive wearable systems that transition well from research settings to the real world, learning from and evolving with each user’s unique motion needs.
Cognitive Human-Robot Partnership Lab focuses on Mechanical Design & Robotics; Mechanics, Dynamics, & Controls; Biomedical Systems.
Energy Systems Lab
Director: Laura Schaefer
The focus of the Energy Systems Lab is the analysis, design and optimization of multi-scale energy systems. This research relies on a solid basis of thermofluids modeling, augmented by a small experimental verification program.
Lillehoj Research Group
Director: Peter B. Lillehoj
The Lillehoj Research Group aims to develop innovative microtechnologies for broad applications in medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring and global health. Our research is highly interdisciplinary and combines multiple specialties, including micro-electrical-mechanical systems (MEMS), microfluidics, biosensors, nanotechnology, analytical chemistry, and microelectronics.
Mechatronics and Haptic Interfaces Lab
Director: Marcia O'Malley
In addition to traditional dynamic systems, controls, and mechatronics research, the Mechatronics and Haptic Interfaces Lab focuses on mechanisms to enhance human performance through physical human-robot interactions, such as for robotic rehabilitation and prosthetics.
Nanoscale Heat Transfer Lab
Director: Geoff Wehmeyer
The goal of Nanoscale Heat Transfer Lab's research is to understand the mechanisms of heat transfer, particularly at the nanoscale, and to use this information to design improved thermal systems and energy conversion devices. This experimental and theoretical thermal research is motivated by society’s demand for renewable and sustainable energy sources, energy-efficient information and lighting technologies, and improved thermal management of electronics and batteries.
Particle Flow & Tribology Lab
Director: C.Fred Higgs III
The Particle Flow & Tribology Lab (PFTL) researches new methodologies to predict the behavior of granular, powder, and slurry flows in sliding contacts. Our research is conducted through the synergistic use of experiments, physics-based modeling, and computational simulations.
Preston Innovation Laboratory
Director: Daniel J. Preston
The Preston Innovation Laboratory conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of energy, materials, and fluids. Please check our website to browse current research directions, recent publications, and open positions.
Rice Computational Neuromechanics Lab
Director: B.J. Fregly
The vision of the Rice Computational Neuromechanics Lab is to make model-based personalized treatment design for neurologic and orthopedic movement impairments a clinical reality.
Robotics and Intelligent Systems Lab
Director: Fathi H. Ghorbel
The Robotics and Intelligent Systems Lab focuses on dynamic systems and control, robotics, and biomedical engineering systems.
Team for Advanced Flow Simulation and Modeling
Director: Tayfun E. Tezduyar
The Team for Advanced Flow Simulation and Modeling focuses on computational analysis in fluid mechanics, fluid-structure interaction (FSI), biomechanics, aerospace engineering, and thermo-fluids. Applications include cardiovascular FSI, ventricle-valve-aorta flow analysis, car and tire aerodynamics, spacecraft parachute FSI, bioinspired flapping-wing aerodynamics, aerodynamics of wind turbines, thermo-fluid analysis of ground vehicles, tires and disk brakes, flow analysis of turbochargers and other turbomachinery, and aerodynamics and structural mechanics of ram-air parachutes.
Texlab
Director: Vanessa Sanchez
We work at the intersection of materials, manufacturing, and robotics, engineering robotic materials where functionality emerges from structure, composition, and processing. Our approach integrates automated design and fabrication to realize rapidly customizable systems for wearable and healthcare technologies, with broader applications in aerospace and energy.
Texlab focuses on Biomedical Systems; Energy & the Environment; Mechanics, Dynamics, & Controls; Mechanical Design & Robotics
Thermal Science and Engineering Teaching and Research
Director: Yildiz Bayazitoglu
Thermal Science and Engineering Teaching and Research is concentrated on computational and experimental techniques for heat transfer at nano/micro/macro scales and the understanding of combined-mode heat transfer physics.
Tribomechadynamics Lab
Director: Matthew Brake
The central question of the Tribomechadynamics Lab’s research is how can we design and predict the response of an assembled structure that contains strong nonlinearities. This research is strongly motivated by the aerospace, defense, and automotive industries.