The Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering is pioneering scientific breakthroughs, launching innovative technologies, and educating creative engineers that will solve today’s societal challenges by improving human health, enabling security, and promoting sustainability.
The Mechanical Engineering Excellence fund ensures that the department can make progress towards these goals by providing support for graduate student recruiting, hands-on learning equipment and facilities, outreach activities, and community building events.
More than 1,300 students and over 80 faculty and staff in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering form an innovative and nurturing community. Students work together to learn the fundamentals of the field and engage in rigorous, team-based experiences addressing real-world problems. Active learning prepares students for the practice of engineering in the classroom and in the field. Classroom activities and project-based learning encourage students to think, collaborate, and connect their education with real-world problems and their future careers. That learning is integrated across the student experience, from first-year undergraduates to doctoral candidates.
The department’s award-winning faculty tackle societal challenges through technological innovation impacting the environment, security, and human health. Our faculty are internationally known for research and innovation in biomedical, air quality, energy systems, functional materials, robotics, imaging complex media, and quantum technologies. We publish in high-impact journals, graduate future research leaders, and serve on national advisory boards. Our department embraces entrepreneurship and celebrates the companies founded by our faculty, students, and alumni.
We believe that a commitment to diversity and inclusivity is fundamental to both education and scientific innovation. We value a spirit of collaboration which we have integrated throughout our community, from international and interdisciplinary research efforts to student design teams. Those values also inform our recruitment of students and faculty, classroom teaching efforts and the way we engage daily with one another.
Donor Impact
Gifts to the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering not only support our ongoing efforts to pioneer scientific breakthroughs, launch innovative technologies, and educate creative engineers, but they also allow us to expand our reach by engaging the next generation of scientists and engineers. This includes department outreach efforts such as the Triple E Fair and Project Based Learning in Rural Schools, both of which greatly benefit from gifts to our department.
