To provide students with the skills needed to apply the fundamentals to the design, analysis, experimentation, and simulation of mechanical engineering components and systems, including the ability to communicate their work effectively. To provide students with the background and outlook needed to function in interdisciplinary teams in the global environment of the future, to account for societal, economic, and environmental factors, and to be guided by principles of ethics and professionalism. Mechanical engineering is the broadest of the engineering disciplines with a curriculum providing a strong foundation in mathematics and the physical sciences of chemistry and physics followed by in-depth education in five of the principal engineering sciencesthermal science, fluids engineering, mechanics and materials, dynamics and controls, and mechanical design. The program in mechanical engineering provides students the ability to apply their engineering, mathematics, and science knowledge to design mechanical systems and to solve engineering problems. Students learn to design and conduct experiments, to communicate effectively, to function in teams, and to utilize modern engineering tools.
Students gain an understanding of their professional and ethical responsibilities as engineers.
Perhaps most important, students are prepared for the lifelong learning necessary to function effectively as the practice of engineering evolves. Graduates with a degree in mechanical engineering will find employment opportunities covering a wide spectrum, including the aerospace, automotive, petroleum production and refining industries, petrochemicals, electrical power, electronics, semiconductors and computers, manufacturing, and production, as well as research positions in industry and government laboratories. Problem-solving techniques learned in the mechanical engineering curriculum are also applied to continued educational pursuits or graduate study in engineering, as well as in areas such as law, medicine, business administration, and other professions. The department requires students to have computational devices for use in the classroom and at home. Each student is required to have a scientific calculator for use in the classroom.