Duke MEMS

Welcome to The Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University. Since our founding almost 90 years ago, Duke MEMS has been teaching students to engineer solutions to make the world a better place. Today we're home to more than 400 undergraduate and graduate students, studying in exciting areas of mechanical engineering and materials science, including energy, aerospace, soft matter, biomechanics, scientific modeling and computing, and reliable autonomous technology. At Duke MEMS, students work with top faculty even as undergraduates—doing independent projects as a Pratt Research Fellow, or working on teams, such as Duke Robotics, Duke Electric Vehicles, or Duke Motorsports. Our students have access to incredible maker spaces and resources, such as the Innovation Co-Lab, The Foundry, the Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility, and the garage labs in our new Wilkinson Building. At Duke MEMS, students work with top faculty even as undergraduates—doing independent projects as a Pratt Research Fellow, or working on teams, such as Duke Robotics, Duke Electric Vehicles, or Duke Motorsports. Our students have access to incredible maker spaces and resources, such as the Innovation Co-Lab, The Foundry, the Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility, and the garage labs in our new Wilkinson Building. We’re leading the development and application of state-of-the-art computational tools like AI and machine learning to design new materials and develop new mechanical systems. I'm so proud that our department is now named in honor of Thomas Lord, a mechanical engineer whose investment in Duke Engineering decades ago has laid the foundation for faculty, staff, and students for decades to come. I invite you to explore our website to learn more, and sign up for our newsletter to stay tuned on all the latest from Duke MEMS.