About us

Welcome to the School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering

A message from the Head of School

Welcome to the School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering. Our School, which is one of the top 10 Engineering Schools in Australia, is committed to research and teaching excellence through its world-class undergraduate and postgraduate programs in a range of exciting technological areas.

Our teaching programs are designed to provide undergraduate and postgraduate students with up to date and high quality training in both the foundations of engineering science and the application of the latest techniques and practices used throughout industry. We pride ourselves on giving our students a comprehensive education program that is not only relevant to the needs of both industry and the engineering profession with an international focus, but also provides them with life long learning attributes for a wide range of careers.

Our recent graduates are employed in industries as diverse as

  • Advanced manufacturing,
  • Automation and control,
  • Steelmaking,
  • Conventional and renewable energy,
  • Government organisations, eg. Australian Bureau of Meteorology,
  • Research and development organisations,
  • Mining companies,
  • Automotive industries, etc.

The school is involved in the research strengths of Engineering Manufacturing, the Engineering Materials Institute (including the BlueScope Steel Metallurgy Centre); the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (and associated ARC Centre of Excellence in Electromaterials Science); Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials; the SMART Infrastructure Research Facility; the Energy Pipelines Cooperative Research Centre; Sustainable Buildings Research Centre; CRC Railway; the Defence Materials Research Centre and other multi-disciplinary research centres.

One of the strengths of our School is the high number of collaborative links we have with industries within our local region and with leading national and international universities and institutes. As a result, we have an extremely strong track record in developing collaborative research programs with industry and in attracting competitive grant funding from governmental sources. The research strengths of our school received the research ranking of “above world standard” in the recent Australian Research Council (ARC) ERA (Excellence in Research for Australia) initiative. Our research ranking of “well above world standard” in “Interdisciplinary Engineering” is also worth mentioning.

There are many aspects to our wide range of fundamental and applied research programmes which generates outcomes that increase the effectiveness of Australian industry, enhance the quality of life of our community and create new knowledge. Highlights include:

  • Advanced manufacturing and robotics;
  • Advanced materials for nano-scale actuators and sensors for cutting edge applications including biomechanical and biomedical technologies;
  • Bulk materials handling technologies;
  • Innovative fabrication technologies;
  • Intelligent nano/micro/macro mechatronic systems;
  • Renewable and sustainable energy systems;
  • Smart materials and structures;
  • Steel production;
  • Tribology;
  • Welding systems;
  • and many more.


I hope our website provides you with a snapshot of our research, teaching and learning activities which make our school an exciting and nurturing place to work and study. We are fully committed to the vision and mission of the University of Wollongong. Please contact us if you would like further information.

Senior Professor Geoff Spinks
Head of School 
School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering