They must combine imagination with mathematics, a difficult but immensely rewarding task. Our curriculum is dedicated to providing graduates with a strong foundation in the basic principles of engineering theory while also ensuring that students know how to apply that theory to real engineering problems. Design course work starts in the Freshman year in ME 441, Engineering Graphics. Graphics is the primary means of communication in the design process and engineers must know how to use the modern computer based graphical tools which are taught in this course. A series of projects are also used to teach the design process with emphasis on problem identification, criteria generation, brainstorming, decision making, detailed design, economics and project management.
Teamwork is emphasized as students are randomly assigned to groups for all of the course projects.
In the sophomore and junior years most of the required course work is dedicated to learning the engineering fundamentals of mechanics, thermal sciences, materials and systems. However, there is an integrated approach to design and the application of these fundamental concepts in most of these courses. In ME 643, Elements of Design, students learn how to apply the fundamentals of mechanics to the design of machine elements like gears, bearings, shafts and fasteners. Pages maintained by Tracey Harvey and Ryan Guilbault .