The Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM) will remain unique at Virginia Tech and within its College of Engineering by integrating established and emerging scientific theories into transformative approaches for engineering principles, analyses, simulations, design and practices. Its role is to expand the curriculum beyond classical continuum mechanics by assimilating advances in the sciences into new approaches and tools. Thus, ESM strives to be an internationally recognized focal program for the learning and discovery of multiscale interdisciplinary systems.
The Vision 2025 effort was initiated due to the 2010 Graduate Program Review Committee’s challenge for the ESM Faculty to “reach a strong consensus on the identity and mission” for the department. This was discussed at an annual ESM Advisory Board Meeting and a suggestion was made to recruit a small but distinguished team of ESM alumni to assist with this task. This vision was prepared by that Blue Ribbon Panel with input from the ESM Faculty.