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Research at UC
Mechanical Engineering
Summary
Mechanical Engineers work with things that move or have moving parts but their interest is not restricted to motor vehicles. It extends to the design, operation, maintenance of machines and the processes and systems used to make them.
Mechanical Engineers are involved with all forms of transport, power generation, medical technology, building services, manufacturing, aerospace and communications. They are also likely to be involved in the extraction and production of materials used to make machine parts and the development of new materials.
Because energy utilisation is crucial to the operation of most machines, Mechanical Engineers are also interested in alternative energy resources and are concerned about environmental protection and conservation of natural resources.
The Department is home to a variety of specialist laboratories that enable the study of acoustics, applied mechanics, automotive, hydraulic power, industrial aerodynamic, material and metallurgy, computer numerical control, metrology, control and robotics, thermodynamics and heat transfer.
Researchers
Bushra Anam Khalil
Catherine M Bishop
Chris Pretty
Dan Zhao
Debbie Munro
Digby Duncan Symons
Dirk John Pons
Don Murray Clucas
Geoff Chase
Geoff William Rodgers
James Hewett
Jennifer Knopp
John Rombulow Pearse
Keith Vivian Alexander
Mark Christopher Jermy
Mark Peter Staiger
Mark R Garnich
Mathieu Sellier
Milo Kral
Natalia Kabaliuk
Patrick Henry Geoghegan
Paul David Docherty
Shayne Douglas Gooch
Sid Martin Becker
Stefanie Gutschmidt
Susan P Krumdieck
Tim David
Timothy Bryan Franci Woodfield
Yilei Zhang
Research Groups
Biomathematics Research Centre
Centre for Bioengineering
Applied Mechanics Group
Design Group
Gateway Antarctica
Industrial Aerodynamics and Wind Engineering Group
Manufacturing Group
Natural Materials & Biocomposites Research Group
Robotics, Control and Instrumentation Group
Stirling Cycle Research Group
Wood Technology Research Centre
Engineering Leadership and Management (ELeMent)
Energy and Transport
Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management
Geothermal Energy
Lean Research Group
High Value Manufacturing
Agricultural innovation
Advanced joining and lithography
Health and Safety Research Group
The New Zealand Health and Ageing Research Group
Acoustics and Vibrations Research Group
Projects
Zones of physical or temporal risk
Magnetic Resonance Elastography
Digital Image Elasto-Tomography (DIET)
Sustainable Communities
High quality thin film coatings by pulsed pressure CVD
Travel Demand and Behaviour Change with Increasing Fuel Price as a function of income for a particular geographic and activity cohort
(ORGANISATIONS) Engineering Decision-Making and Customer choice
(INDUSTRY PROBLEM SOLVING) Design of Novel ICE Power Plant: Engine Characteristics
(COGNITION) Knowledge Management in New Product Development
Model-Based Therapeutics
(ORGANISATIONS) High Reliability Organisations
(PROFESSION) Engineering management as practised by professional engineers
(LEAN) JIT and Lean production systems
(ORGANISATIONS) Governance in the engineering context
(PROFESSION) Engineering ethics
(LEAN) Lean production systems: NZ Lean practices
(MANUFACTURING) Service Quality in Manufacturing
SME Project Management teams
Strategic risk management: manufacturing
Health and Safety Cultures in Manufacturing Engineering
Representing Safe Processes and Risk to Workshop Operators
Vision-based automated pruning
UAV for Electricity Distribution Network Condition Assessment
Innovative Harvest Solutions
Navigation Systems for Semi-autonomous Operation of Wheelchairs
Non-Contact Adhesion Pads for Robotics Applications
Bernoulli Gripper
Investigation of possible market applications for non-contact suction cups
Energy Harvesting for Wireless Instrumentation
Wireless Sensor Network for Wheelchair Control
Navigation and Control for Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Systems
Intelligent Assistive & Rehabilitation Knee Orthotic Device
Neuro-Fuzzy Based Navigation of Fish Robot
Force Interaction and Sensing in Bio-Micromanipulation
Automated System for 3D Printing and Micro-Assembly of Bio-Tissue
GNSS Based Attitude Determination for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Modelling, Simulation and Control of Gas Turbines By Using Artificial Neural Networks
Real-time Structural Health Monitoring of Nonlinear Hysteretic Structures
Nonlinear Adaptive Control for UAV
(LEAN) Value stream mapping including environmental waste
(COGNITION) Socio-technical interactions, Human Error and Psychology in Engineering
(MECHANICS) Stirling engines for geothermal power generation
Lean processes in the printing industry
Bobbin friction stir welding
(DESIGN) Product design ontologies
(INDUSTRY PROBLEM SOLVING) Wire Fencing
(COGNITION) Design cognition
(ENVIRONMENTAL) Sustainability and Life Cycle Analysis
(LEAN) High value manufacture: Industry projects
Organic Rankine Cycle Turbomachinery Technology Development (AGGAT-IS2-3)
Operator intervention and judgement
Solar Desalination
(PHYSICS) Foundational Mechanics at the level of fundamental physics: Design of non-local hidden-variable (NLHV) solutions
Single-polymer composites based on cellulose: The search for a fibre-matrix interface
Advanced manufacturing methods for single-polymer composites based on cellulose
Hygrothermal effects on the mechanical behaviour of all-cellulose composites
Deviation from elastic deformation in plant fibre composite materials
Characterizing interfacial degradation mechanisms in fibre-reinforced polymer composites subjected to aqueous environments and sustained loading
Biomechanics of human motion
Finding deeper insights in safety incident reports
Industrial Health and safety
Why did the Pike River mine explode?
(PROFESSION) Engineering communication: what is it really?
Zero bee stings
Developmental risks in for medical devices
(LEAN) Open research projects
DISASTER MITIGATION
Engineers perceptions of confidential information
CONSULTING SERVICE QUALITY
Void formation in bobbin friction stir welding (BFSW)
Risk and uncertainty in engineering projects
Autonomous Forest Pruning and Data Collection of Tree Metrics
Self-propelling droplets for microfluidic applications
Environmental themes in systems engineering
Industry 4.0: advanced manufacturing
Tactile Internet
Brain Model
Mitigation of collision forces in rugby through the use of soft-shelled headgear
Potential health benefits of trampolining
ROBUST Project
Equipment
JEOL JSM6100 Scanning Electron Microscope
JEOL JSM7000F Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope
Philips CM200 Analytical High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope
Hitachi H600 Transmission Electron Microscope
UC Drop test rig
Subject Area: Disciplines
Chemistry:
Molecular Modelling
Education:
Inclusive Education
Engineering and Technology:
Acoustics
; Applied Mechanics
; Aerodynamics & Wind
; Bioprocess Engineering
; Bioengineering
; Chemical & Process
; Civil
; Computer & Software Engineering
; Concrete
; Design
; Earthquake Engineering
; Energy and Fuels
; Engineering Management
; Fluids Engineering
; Food Process Engineering
; Instrumentation & Control
; Signal and Image Processing
; Manufacturing
; Materials
; Mechanical
; Mechatronics
; Nanotechnology & Solid State Devices
; Natural Fibre & Bicomposites
; Optical & Laser Engineering
; Particle and Spray Technology
; Resource/Environment Engineering
; Separation Processes
; Simulation, Control and Computer Modelling
; Structural
; Thermodynamics & Heat Transfer
; Thermophysical Properties
; Timber
; Transportation
; Computational Mechanics
; Modelling
Environmental Studies:
Environmental Studies
Health and Health Sciences:
Biomedical
; Clinical Medicine
Management, Human Resources, Industrial Relations, International Business and Other Business:
Organisational Behaviour and Theory
; Small Business Management
; Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Biology: Molecular, Cellular and Whole Organism Biology:
Cell Biology
Physics:
Nanotechnology
; Theoretical Physics
Psychology:
Industrial Psychology
Mathematics:
Applied Mathematics
; Pure Mathematics
Science & Technology:
Science & Technology
Theatre and Dance, Film and Television and Multimedia:
Theatre and Dance
Resilience: Commercial:
Organisational Resilience and Recovery
Resilience: Technological:
Geospatial Analysis and Remote Sensing
Resources
Department website
Contact details
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