Department of Mechanical Engineering

Dept. data last updated on :07/12/2024

Vision

To create a department where we can imbibe curiosity to students who wish to become researchers and innovativeness to students who wish to become technologists.

To inculcate integrity to supplement technical education

Mission
To prepare students for utilizing more creativity, innovativeness and 'out-of-the-box' thinking.
To develop 'educational pathways' so that students can maximize on their optional career choices.
To inculcate integrity and honesty through curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.

About the Department

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is one of the oldest Engineering Department of Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. It is one of the biggest departments in the University with a student strength of about 700. It offers degrees related to Ph.D., M.Tech. (Thermal Engineering, Industrial & Production Engg., Machine Design, Robotics and Automation), B.Tech. & B.E. (Evening) programs.

The Department is organized in terms of four groups namely Fluid Mechanics, Industrial & Production Engineering, Thermal Engineering and Machine Design group. These groups are involved in teaching and research in the broad areas of Fluid Mechanics, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Molecular Fluid Dynamics, Solid Mechanics, Impact Mechanics, Structural Dynamics & Control, Smart composite & Sandwich structures, Structural Reliability, Industrial Tribology, Manufacturing systems, Nano-Materials, Composites & Polymers, Ergonomics, Combustion Engineering, Refrigerating systems, IC Engines, Experimental & Numerical Heat Transfer and Solar Thermal energy systems.

The research group of Fluid Mechanics is actively involved in areas such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Experimental Aerodynamics, Turbulence, and Heat Transfer. The efforts of this group have resulted in the development of several flow solvers like generalized DNS solver for incompressible flow with or without heat transfer, flow with large temperature gradients, immersed boundary solver for solving flows generated due to moving or deforming bodies. Recently the group has developed a new numerical scheme for solving compressible flows and a new type of boundary condition for solving external flows.

Major research initiatives of the Industrial & Production Engineering Group include the Development of wear-resistant material and casting of composites. Notable contributions of the Ergonomics research division of the department are artificial arms and a hand device for people suffering from Parkinson's disease. The Group has also designed and fabricated a new hand feed system for the drilling machine. Modeling and simulation-based studies in the area of manufacturing systems have yielded interesting results and have helped in the improvement of flexibility-based manufacturing systems. The Production Engineering group has fabricated high strength and wear-resistant Nano Metal Matrix Composites (NMMCs) through foundry route and Nano Polymer Matrix Composites (NPMCs) through low-temperature chemistry route for automobiles and engineering components.

Thermal Engineering Group has developed testing facilities like Micro Turbojet Engine, Constant Volume Diesel Combustion operated Rapid Compression Machine, High-Pressure Spray Combustion and CRDI Combustion Engine. Facilities for measuring global & diffused solar radiation and setups to carry out heat transfer studies on natural convection on different types of solar water heaters are available. Research work is also carried out on natural convection during single-phase and boiling heat transfer related to Nuclear Power Plants & Safety.

Major facilities developed by Machine Design Group include Active Vibration Control Setup for Thermo-Mechanical Loading of Beams, plates and shells, Pneumatic Gun for normal & oblique loading on plates & beams in sub-ordinance velocity range, Machinery fault simulator for defective bearings, 50KN Servo Mechanical UTM, Setup for Wear testing, Wear & Friction Monitor for Hydrodynamic Journal & Mitchell Tilting Pad thrust slider and Air Lubricated Journal Bearing Test Rig.

Recently the department has started a Master’s program in Robotics and Automation. Robotics and Automation is a branch of engineering that involves the conception, design, manufacturing, and operation of robots. Automation and Robotics play an essential part in several modern manufacturing companies, and several industries offer positions for an Engineer specialized in the field of Robotics and Automation. The lab facility of the department includes an Intelligent 4-DOF Robotic arm (Voice and Computer Vision-based control), an autonomous Underwater Vehicle. There are few faculties working in the area of Marine Robotics, FMS, EMG-based prosthetics, and Autonomous vehicles.

Research Laboratories at a glance

These include Thermal Engineering, Industrial & Production Engineering, Fluids Engineering, Machine Design and Robotics & Automation: