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The Vision of the Department is to be nationally recognized as an innovator in both research and education in mechanical engineering. The formulation of the specific objectives of the undergraduate Mechanical Engineering program has been guided by the strong belief that the program should provide an equivalent of a liberal arts education for the 21st century. The objectives are to:
- Provide students with the knowledge, adaptive and social skills required to enter and function in rapidly evolving industry.
- Prepare students for graduate studies by providing opportunities for undergraduate research.
- Provide an education with the breadth and the intellectual discipline required to enter professional careers in fields outside engineering, such as business and law.
- Produce students with a strong sense of service to the larger community they live in.
- Inculcate in students the intellectual curiosity required for a lifetime of learning.
These objectives are met through:
- Strong training in the areas of mathematics, science, and the fundamentals of mechanical engineering that constitute the foundation of the discipline.
- Extensive laboratory and hands-on experience to strengthen understanding of fundamental principles.
- Extensive use of computer simulation in the solution of problems and in design.
- Application of knowledge to design problems common to modern mechanical engineering practice.
- Introduction of machine shop and fabrication techniques into the curriculum to emphasize the relationship between design and fabrication.
- Freedom for the student to mold his or her program of professional specialty studies by allowing each student to choose from a number of technical electives and to create her or his own senior year design project under the supervision of a faculty member.
- Emphasis on both oral and written communication throughout the curriculum.
- A well-rounded and balanced education achieved through required studies in selected areas of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Curriculum Overview
The curriculum is structured so that most of the required courses in mathematics and the basic sciences are taken in the first two years. Engineering topics are covered primarily in courses offered during the third and fourth years. Students can also take elective courses in specialized topics such as Robotics and Combustion in the senior year.
Most ME courses, including laboratory courses, incorporate design. Design addresses real-world problems whose solution requires creativity and consideration of alternatives to achieve stated objectives. The design component can occupy a significant fraction of course time and is usually conducted in teams. The culmination of the students' design experience is a two-quarter capstone design course, in which students draw upon various aspects of their previous engineering science and design knowledge to address a meaningful design problem. The first quarter focuses on project (concept) analysis, preliminary evaluation (economical and technical), data and literature collection, and preliminary process design and evaluation. During this time, students take a short course in Machine Shop. The ME department also offers Machine Shop courses during the freshman and sophomore years to allow students to develop machining skills as early as possible. The second quarter of the capstone design course focuses on the final detailed technical design of the process (equipment sizing and specification, etc.). Then, using the machining skills acquired in the first quarter, students fabricate and demonstrate a prototype of their design concepts. The course concludes with a formal oral presentation and written technical report.