Biography
Building a mechanical engineering program from the ground up
Dr. Michael C. Reynolds serves as Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of West Florida, a program he played a major role in establishing. UWF launched the program in 2016 in response to demand from local businesses and community leaders in the Pensacola–Fort Walton Beach area for more mechanical engineers. Reynolds was involved from the start — designing curriculum, equipping laboratories, recruiting students, and preparing the accreditation processes.
He joined UWF in 2015 from the University of Arkansas–Fort Smith, where he served as Associate Professor and Head of the Engineering Department.
Degrees & Institutions
- Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering — Purdue University, West Lafayette
- M.S., Mechanical Engineering — Purdue University, West Lafayette
- B.S., Mechanical Engineering — Marquette University
Current Courses
- Introduction to Engineering
- Statics
- Numerical Methods
Research
Vibration, control systems & beyond
Dr. Reynolds concentrates his research in vibration and control systems, where he developed a novel approach for the time-optimal tracking control of flexible systems. His broader portfolio spans biomechanics, acoustic metamaterials, and engineering education.
NASA-Funded Research Grants
Selected Publications
Peer-reviewed work
- Reynolds, M.C., "Rethinking Engineering Education – Results of a Regional and National Survey," 2014 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, Fort Smith, AR, Sept. 24–26, 2014.
- Zhu, R., Reynolds, M., Huang, G.L., "An Elastic Metamaterial Beam for Broadband Vibration Suppression," Proc. SPIE 8695, Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems 2013.
- Zhu, R., Reynolds, M.C., Huang, G.L, "Numerical Effective Formulation for Guided Wave Propagation in a Metamaterial Plate with Anisotropic Mass Density," Proc. SPIE. 8348, Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems, 2012.
- Paulus, D.C., Reynolds, M.C., Schilling, B.K., "Ground Reaction Force Comparison of Controlled Resistance Methods to Isoinertial Loading of the Squat Exercise," Proceedings of the Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium, Laramie, WY, April 9–11, 2010.
- Reynolds, M.C., and Meckl, P.H., "The Application of Command Shaping to the Tracking Problem," ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, Vol. 130, No. 3, 2008.
Research Keywords