Mechanical engineers design and develop everything you think of as a machine – from supersonic fighter jets to automobiles and bicycles. And mechanical engineering often influences products that aren’t necessarily machines – running shoes, computers, and tennis rackets. Mechanical engineers work in traditional areas such as manufacturing, heating and ventilation system design, and robotics and cross over into other engineering disciplines working on everything from artificial organs to use of new materials for advanced engineering applications.

This minor track coupled
with the core engineering education requirements of the BS in Engineering will give you a unique education that will enable you to participate in this field. The minor track consists of:


Introduction to Materials Science
Atomic theory and molecular bonding of solids, polymer structure, and mechanics of materials for textiles are taught at an introductory level. Specific processing issues including additives, viscosity, transitions and morphology, are studied as well.


Machine Design
Using kinematics and force design, students will explore the kinematics and dynamics of machine elements and systems. Using mechanics of materials students will analyze various machine components. Introduction to finite element analysis.


Automatic Control Theory
Modeling of physical systems including electromechanical systems. Reduction of block diagrams. Signal flow graphs and Mason’s gain formula. Response of second order systems: natural frequency and damping ratio and how they relate to run-time, peak-time, settling-time, and overshoot. Stability and the Routh-Hurwitz criterion. Steady-state error and sensitivity. Root locus. Design of cascade compensators using root locus and frequency response.


Thermodynamics II
Energy analysis; vapor and gas power cycles; vapor and gas refrigeration cycles; thermodynamic properties of mixtures and solutions; psychrometry and air conditioning; reacting mixtures and combustion.