Student Clubs

American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME)

Society of Women Engineers
(SWE)

Contact Us

Mechanical Engineering
Seattle University
901 12th Ave. ENGR 525
Seattle, WA 98122-1090

TEL: 206.296.5520
FAX: 206.296.2209

Research

Mechanical engineering faculty are active scholars who are currently researching in the following areas.

• Combustion Research: Including nanoparticle characterization for the purpose of studying its effect on global climate change.
• BioFuel Research: Optimizating algae growth for use in biodiesel production, renewable energy and environment.
• Composite Research: Advanced aerospace composite materials charaterization, including NDE using ultrasonic methods for health monitoring purposes.

Combustion Research

The research focus includes the production and characterization of combustion generated nanoparticles, development of laser diagnostics for combustion, and hydrogen combustion. The most recent effort is on the optical properties of combustion generated aerosols. Recent work:

• C. B. Stipe, et. al., “Soot Particle Disintegration and Detection by Two-Laser Fragmentation Fluorescence Spectroscopy,” Applied Optics, 44, 6537-6544, 2005
• C. B. Stipe, et. al., “Nanoparticle Production by UV Irradiation of Combustion Generated Soot Particles,” Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 6, 467-477, 2004

BioFuel Research

Three prototype bioreactors were designed during 2006-2007. They demonstrated that Botryococcus braunii, a hydrocarbon-rich algae, could double its cell density in 48 hours in these bioreactors when a gas mixture of 10% CO2 and 90% N2 (simulating power plant exhaust) was injected into a nutrient rich algal suspension. A group of summer research students continued that work in 2007, measuring lipid content increase and cell number growth under controlled conditions for several weeks, and chemically extracting lipids, yielding about 20% of algal mass. The research effort is lead by Dr. Shuman of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Hudson of Biology.

Composite Research

The general research effort is in analytical and experimental solid mechanics and materials science; particularly in mechanics of composite materials for aircraft structures. Issues such as failure analysis, development of new experimental methods, nondestructive evaluation, and the use of wave propagation and vibration data for structural health monitoring are investigated. Recent work:

• (Book Chapter) "Health Monitoring of Composite Structures Using Ultrasonic Guided Waves," in Ultrasonic Methods for Material and Structure Inspection, T. Kundu ed., ISTE Publishing, 2007
• F. J. Shih, et. al., "Test Method Improvement for Out-of-Plane Tensile Strength in Composites," IMECE2007-42658, 2007 ASME IMECE

Department News

ASME HPVC West
Won 2nd place design and 3rd place overall Utility in ASME HPVC West - 5/09

P Woolsey
Won 2nd place in a WW ASME student paper contest - 3/09

MIT!
G Bratzel '09 was accepted for graduate study at MIT - 2/09

Global Village
Mechanical Engineering department welcomes 6 exchange students from Kogakuin University, Japan - 2/09

NSF REU
G Bratzel '09, F Mased '09, and B Hensley '09 participated in NSF REU in WSU, Virginia Tech & TUD - 6/08

Study Abroad
K Goebel '09 and A Beach '10 participated in a 7-week internship at Kogakuin University in Tokyo, Japan - 6/08

Graduate School Bound
C Mortell '08 (OHSU), T White '07 (Washington), A Eastman '07 (Pitt), E Lim '06 (Oklahoma State), R. Graudins '04 (Cal Poly MBA), and T Stapleton '04 (SeattleU MBA) - 6/08

Articles

In-demad and well paid
BSME is the 2nd most in-demand and 2nd highest paid college degree in 2009

Major in demand
Mechanical Engineering is the top in-demand major.  Read more »

Mech Engr on the rise
The classic discipline is cutting-edge again.  Read more »

Job market sizzles
Colleges are failing to produce enough ME graduates.  Read more »

Slow moving tide
A few professors are pushing for curriculum change in Japan.  Read more »