Undergraduate Projects and Research

Project and design based courses

MEMS 1043: Senior Design Project
MEMS 1049: Mechatronics
MEMS 1079: Senior Materials Reserch Project
ENGRPH 1801/1802: Engineering Physics Design 1 and 2

Research Projects

Undergraduate students may obtain practical experience through participating in undergraduate research with individual faculty members in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science or other engineering disciplines.

Each participant is required to submit a project proposal for approval before beginning a research project. This proposal sample can provide guidance.

Previous research projects include:

Design, Fabrication and Testing of a Rectilinear Spring Mass Damper Simulator
2-D Cell Viability Model in a Diffusion Chamber
Modeling of an Active Valve Using ANSYS FLOTRAN
Design and Development of a Facial Mask Attachment System
Review and Study of Artificial Intervertebral Discs
A Thermo-Enviro-Economic Study of Hybrid Solid Oxide Fuel Cell-Turbine Power Generation Units

Springboard: to insight and discovery

At Pitt, undergraduates get to take part in the development of new knowledge by working closely with senior, high performance faculty who are doing some of the most interesting research in the world. SPRINGBOARD celebrates the research and creativity of undergraduates across the Pitt campus.

MSI undergraduate research in sustainable Engineering

The Mascaro Sustainability Institute (MSI) undergraduate research in sustainable engineering is a twelve week summer program aimed at providing talented undergraduate students with creative opportunities that go beyond the engineering classroom curriculum and enable them to develop their own ideas and work independently on hands-on research projects in sustainable engineering with the advice and guidance from a faculty mentor.

MSI Summer Researchers
Two MEMS undergraduates, Patricia Nichols and Todd Locker, are featured in an article about their experiences in the MSI summer research program.

Brackenridge Undergraduate Fellowship

The Brackenridge Fellowship supports University of Pittsburgh undergraduates conducting independent research projects and a roundtable discussion of progress in a weekly seminar in the summer months. Projects may be analytic or purely creative. The fellowship is open to undergraduates from any field and any class, including freshmen as well as seniors.

HERl undergraduate and summer intern program

The Internship Program at HERL provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to engage in a variety of educational, clinical, and research training activities at a state-of-the-art research facility. Engineering and clinical opportunities are available in many research areas related to the development and evaluation of new technologies and procedures to improve the mobility and quality of life for individuals with disabilities.

Excel Program's Summer Research Internship (SRI)

The EXCEL Program's Summer Research Internship selects underrepresented science and engineering undergraduates at the University of Pittsburgh in their sophomore, junior or senior year to participate in a nine-week Summer Research Internship (SRI). Students are assigned to faculty mentors who lead multi-disciplinary student teams in advanced research.

other programs and program search tools

Admissions

Undergraduate students are admitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Material Sciences through the School of Engineering Admissions office.