One of the founding departments of Newark College of Engineering -- along with Chemical and Electrical Engineering -- the Department of Mechanical Engineering has been educating undergraduates since 1919. Master's degrees were added after World War II, as returning veterans swelled the college's enrollment as well as the engineering workforce. The doctoral degree program was added in the late 50s, and the first PhD was awarded in 1964.

At the beginning of 2009, the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering merged with the Department of Mechanical Engineering to become the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

Today the department has an enrollment of approximately 500 undergraduates majoring in mechanical engineering, and pursuing graduate studies. Last year, NJIT awarded 90 bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering, 39 master's degrees, and seven PhDs. 

The department also has an active research program with more than $3 million annually in grant funding from government and private sources. Both the research and the education programs focus on such cutting-edge technologies as electro-hydrodynamics, energetic materials, engineered particulates and micro-fluid dynamics technologies.