The solid mechanics, one of the main branches of mechanical engineering, aims at studying the responses of solid structures on which the mechanical loadings (forces and moments) and thermal loadings (temperature changes, radiation, and heat convections) are applied. The responses include deformations, stresses, displacements, vibrations, motions, fractures, failures, wave motions, etc. In the traditional fields of mechanical engineering, the solid mechanics can be applicable for the mechanical design, structure mechanics, structure reliability, stress waves, and structure-fluid interactions. The methodology of the solid mechanics researches can be categorized into two approaches: experimental measurements and theoretical (or numerical) computations. Based on the advances on experimental technologies and computing powers in recent years, the applications of solid mechanics have been extended to robots, electronic products, smart structures, semiconductor industries, smart machines, mechatronics, opto-electronic engineering, machining, aerospace, vehicles, marines, and architectures.
In these novel technology industries, the engineers need to design and manufacture products with more compact sizes, higher reliability, faster responses, and more accurate positioning. The solid mechanics plays an important role in these industries and the expertise of which is closely related to the recent advancement of variety aspects of engineering.
 
Curriculum
The solid mechanics covers wide range of topics in engineering. In order to allow students who major in solid mechanics to study new knowledges step by step, the Solid Mechanics Division plans a systematic course map which is given as following.
 
Required courses for undergraduate program:
Applied Mechanics (1, 2), Mechanics of Materials (1), Engineering Mathematics (1, 2), Experiments in Mechanical Engineering
 
Elective courses for undergraduate program:
Mechanics of Materials (2), Mechanical Vibration, Advanced Mechanics of Materials, Basic Finite Element Method, Stress Analysis, Introduction to Mechanics of Composite Materials, System Dynamics Analysis and Modeling, Advanced Engineering Mathematics, Numerical Analysis, Semiconductor Processing
 
Elective courses for graduate program:
Fundamental Solid Mechanics (1, 2), Viscoelasticity, Wave Propagation in Elastic Solids, Optical Engineering, Optical Methods, Experimental Stress Analysis, Finite Element Method, Engineering Analysis, Digital Signal Processing and Filters, Engineering Electromagnetics, Experimental Design, Piezoelectric Materials and Acoustical Electronic Devices, Wave Optics, Advanced Electronic Packaging, Theory of Piezoelectricity and Applications of Smart Materials, Mechanics of Vibrations, Fracture Mechanics, Nonlinear Vibrations, Micromechanics, Optical Metrology for Engineers, Introduction on Simulation Methods of Micro-systems, Analytical Dynamics, Processing Technology and Equipment for Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, Research Methodology and Technical Writing