Materials and Mechanical Engineering
Materials and Mechanical Engineering includes four separate fields of study: Automotive and Work Machinery Engineering, Machine Design, Materials Engineering and Production Engineering. The research is also focused on four different focus areas, but with the common factor being the new high-strength steels and their manufacture, use and utilization in machines, vehicles and various structural solutions.
Materials Engineering educates experts for the needs of metal industry as well as the metal products- and electronics industries. Graduate engineers in Production Engineering play a key role in the design, control and operation of production lines in various industries. The study field of Machine Design delves into e.g. machine design, product development and machine construction technology. In Automotive and Work Machinery Engineering, the emphasis is on the design, product development and construction technology of heavy transport equipment and various modern work machines. Extensive training in all of these fields of study enables a wide variety of work assignments.
The research focuses on two main areas — Materials Engineering (ME) and Machine and Vehicle Design (MVD) — with the common theme being the new high-strength steels and their manufacturing, use, and utilization in machines, vehicles, and various structural applications.
Facilities and machine shop.
Materials Engineering
Materials Engineering plays a key role in the activities of the Centre for Advanced Steels Research (CASR), coordinated by the University of Oulu, and its research topics are strongly aligned with the university’s strategic focus area of “Sustainable Materials and Systems.”
Materials Engineering comprises four research groups whose work ranges from the development of steel microstructures to the application, properties, and durability of steels, while also incorporating modeling and simulation methods into research activities.
Machine and Vehicle Design
The research focuses on developing methods for the design of smart, electrified, and sustainable machinery and vehicles. Key research areas include system-level design, model-based systems engineering (MBSE), multiphysics modeling, simulation, and digital twins. The research develops new solutions for electric powertrains, electric motors, vehicles, working machines, and energy storage systems, including the optimization of traction battery performance and safety. Additionally, the research investigates real-time simulation, the determination of operational loads, fatigue design, and the utilization of artificial intelligence in design and maintenance. Design solutions supporting machine reuse, repair, and the circular economy are also examined. A specific goal is to integrate physics-based design, data, artificial intelligence, and digital twins into an efficient product development framework. The research is applied to sectors such as heavy transport, working machines, industrial machinery, and the energy and marine industries. Overall, the aim is to enable the faster and more reliable design of competitive, energy-efficient, and low-emission machinery.
Projects
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