Mechanical Engineering
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Curriculum Overview

 The major components of the curriculum are:

  1. General Education,
  2. Science and Mathematics,
  3. Engineering Science, including Laboratories, and
  4. Design and Professional Practice.

One of our purposes is to ensure that students understand the close connection of the various components, rather than viewing them as separate, compartmentalized entities.  Consequently, several themes have been implemented across the curriculum which serve to tie or integrate the components together:

  1. Communication across the curriculum
  2. Computing across the curriculum
  3. Design across the curriculum

 

 

General Education

The general education requirements cover writing, history, political science, humanities, visual and performing arts, and multi-culturalism. These core requirements are sufficient to provide the breadth needed to appreciate the arts and humanities, to appreciate other cultures and societies, and to place engineering in the broader context of life in the modern world.

Science and Mathematics

The required curriculum contains twelve credits of science (including three credits of laboratory) and 15 credits of mathematics, including differential equations and statistics. The student elects one additional course in math or science. In addition, linear algebra is covered in the junior engineering classes, ME 2315 and ME 3333, and the senior engineering class, ME 4334. This sequence provides a solid grounding in the math and science fundamentals that underpin the engineering science component of the curriculum. The breadth of the mathematics instruction (calculus, differential equations, statistics and linear algebra) is especially strong.

Engineering Science

The engineering science curriculum provides a solid foundation intended to prepare the student for analysis, design work, graduate study and lifelong learning. There are three main integrated stems in engineering science: mechanics and materials, thermal and fluid systems, and dynamics and controls. These stems provide the technical basis on which our engineering students build and provide an appreciation for the importance of mathematics, science, and analysis in the description of engineering phenomena.

Mechanics and Materials:

This component is a sequence of five courses (14 credits) in solid mechanics and material behavior (ME 2311 (3 credits), ME 2301 (3 credits), ME 3403 (4 credits)), including a three credit laboratory in mechanics and materials (ME 3228 (2 credits)) and a one credit companion FEA laboratory (ME 3164 (1 credit)) utilizing 3D solid modelling and FEA software to complement the second solid mechanics course. The Mechanics and Materials sequence contains very strong coverage of basic solid mechanics and materials science, including significant laboratory and computational components.

Thermal and Fluid Science:

A sequence of five courses (15 credits) covering thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer, including a three credit laboratory that integrates these areas of study. The courses in this sequence are: Engineering Thermodynamics I (ME 2322 (3 credits)), Engineering Thermodynamics II (ME 3322 (3 credits)), Fluid Mechanics (ME 3370 (3 credits)), Heat Transfer (ME 3371 (3 credits)), and Thermal-Fluid Systems Laboratory (ME 3251 (2 credit laboratory)).

Dynamics and Controls:

The Dynamics and Controls sequence consists of four courses: Dynamics (ME 3302 (3 credits)), Systems and Vibrations (ME 3333 (3 credits)), and Control of Dynamic Systems (ME 4334 (3 credits)), and a companion laboratory, Systems & Controls Laboratory (ME 4234 (2 credit laboratory)) in which students gain hands-on experience in the modeling and control of dynamic systems. This sequence provides strong coverage in dynamics, vibrations, systems, and controls. The course in controls has significant design content and also includes some laboratory work.

Engineering Design

The goals of the design component of the curriculum are (1) to provide an early and integrated exposure to the type of thinking needed to undertake design situations and (2) to provide a senior capstone design experience that provides intensive, in-depth work in design. A two-tiered structure is employed in the Mechanical Engineering curriculum to accomplish these objectives.

In the first tier, meaningful design content is incorporated into a number of courses throughout the curriculum, starting with the first semester:

  1. Introduction to ME (ME 1315): Introduction to the design process, dealing with open ended or vaguely defined design problem. (*ENGR 1315, Introduction to Engineering will substitute for the ME 1315 starting Fall 2008)
  2. Computer Aided Analysis (ME 2315): Engineering design applications of numerical methods and via software packages such as MatLab.
  3. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) Laboratory (ME 3165): A one credit CAD laboratory utilizing 3D solid modelling and FEA software to teach students to combine fundamentals of solid mechanics with realistic simulation to solve design problems
  4. Fluid Mechanics (ME 3370): A comprehensive viscous fluid dynamics design project and a one credit companion laboratory,  Computational Fluids Laboratory (CFD) (ME 3165), in which the students learn computer-based analysis and design of fluid/thermal systems.
  5. Heat Transfer (ME 3371): An open-ended design project incorporating one or more of the three mechanisms of heat transfer. 
  6. Engineering Thermodynamics II (ME 3322): An open-ended design project typically concerning power cycle design. 

The second tier of the design curricula involves a three-course sequence (10 credits total) taken in the final three semesters. This sequence starts with the three credit course, Introduction to Design (ME 3365) which covers classical topics such as the design process, mechanical component design, fatigue, failure, economic aspects, etc. This sequence is followed by a two-semester sequence which embodies the senior capstone design experience (ME 4370, ME 4371). The first semester is devoted to the pedagogy of design and to topics related to economics, professionalism, ethics, legal aspects, teamwork, etc., as well as to selection of a design project by student teams of usually two to four students. In the second course the emphasis is on the process of conceptual design, analysis, testing, troubleshooting and redesign of the device, system, or process involved.

Other required course work that supports the engineering design sequence includes Engineering Economics (IE 3301) and Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering (EE 3301).

150-Hour BS/MS Degree

The department has recently implemented a combined B.S.–M.S. program that will allow qualified students to obtain a MSME degree through an additional 12-15 months of study beyond the bachelor’s degree. Students enrolled in the program will follow the standard undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum for course work through the first seven semesters. In the final undergraduate semester, two graduate courses will be substituted for the mechanical engineering and design electives, which will be waived. At this time the student receives the BSME degree. The two graduate courses taken in the final undergraduate semester are applied to the student’s master’s program. In addition, during the final undergraduate semester, the student will be expected to contact faculty in the department in order to identify possible research areas for the master’s thesis. The completion of the MSME program would then typically require an additional 12-15 months of study.