Research areas in mechanical engineering

Graduate School
1

<p>In mechanical engineering grad app, it seems that one needs to circle
* general area of research (right now interested in mechanical design or control systems)
Then the next item requires the applicant to choose one of the following:
* type of topic (analytical, computational or experimental).
This is where I am very confused. What do each type of topics do?
Then the application requires people to write (as opposed to circling) topics of interest. I am confused on that too. Do they want specific sub-topics under the general area?</p>

<p>The part I need the most help with is the distinction of analytical, computational or experimental topics. Thanks in advance for your help.</p>

2

<p>Analytical: very math oreinted, as you tend to develop equations to model a system</p>

<p>Computational: you generally use a software package to simulate a system (FEM, CFD, etc.)</p>

<p>Experimental: you perform experiments on the system to get useful data</p>

<p>Most research uses a combination of analytical, computational and experimental work. It’s best to pick a project that plays to your strengths.</p>

<p>As an example:</p>

<p>General Area: Applied Mechanics
Topic of Interest: Composite Materials
Type of Topic: Experimental and Computational</p>