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DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERINGProfessors Emeriti: Mark Ardema, Eugene J. Fisher, R. Ian Murray, Richard K. Pefley, Michel A. Saad Mechanical engineering includes all aspects of design, development, control, and manufacture of mechanical systems and energy conversion systems. Mechanical engineering is essential to the proper design and manufacture of nearly every physical product in our modern world. As such, mechanical engineers are a fundamental resource for most industries, and they work in interdisciplinary environments. Mechanical engineers must have the ability to see broad perspectives across disciplines and industries and yet solve very local and specialized problems. The undergraduate curriculum addresses the education and training of mechanical engineering students and concentrates on two technical areas: (1) design and analysis of thermofluid systems for effective use of energy; and (2) design, analysis, and control of mechanical systems including the study of materials used in engineering. The Mechanical Engineering educational program develops future engineers with a solid understanding of fundamentals and competence in analyzing engineering systems. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJORIn addition to fulfilling the University Core Curriculum requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree, students majoring in mechanical engineering must complete a minimum of 192 units and the following department requirements: English
Mathematics and Natural Science
Engineering
Technical Electives Eight units of technical electives from approved upper-division or graduate engineering classes, with a maximum of four units from cooperative education. COMBINED BACHELOR OF SCIENCE AND MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAMThe Department of Mechanical Engineering offers a combined degree program leading to the Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science open to mechanical engineering majors. Under the combined degree program, an undergraduate student begins taking courses required for a master’s degree before completing the requirements for the bachelor’s degree and typically completes the requirements for a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the end of the fifth year. Undergraduate students admitted to the combined degree program begin taking graduate classes during their senior year. They are required to enroll in the program between February of their junior year and December of their senior year. Students in this program will receive their bachelor’s degree after satisfying the standard undergraduate degree requirements. To earn the master’s degree, students must fulfill all the requirements for the degree, including the completion of 45 units of coursework beyond that applied to their bachelor’s degree and completion of the master’s thesis. No course can be used to satisfy requirements for both the bachelor’s degree and the master’s degree. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MINORStudents must fulfill the following requirements for a Minor in Mechanical Engineering: Lower Division Requirements
Lower Division Electives (Choose two)
Upper Division Requirement
Technical Sequence (Choose one two-course sequence)
Please be aware of the pre-requisites for the technical sequence courses; this may influence your choice of lower division courses. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORIESResearch Laboratories The Nanomechanics Laboratory houses a nanoindenter, a mechanical test instrument with nanometer displacement resolution and micro-Newton load resolution. In addition to measuring mechanical properties such as hardness and elastic modulus with high spatial resolution, the tip of the nanoindenter may be used to perform mechanical testing on MEMS devices. The Robotic Systems Laboratory is an interdisciplinary laboratory specializing in the design, control, and teleoperation of highly capable robotic systems for scientific discovery, technology validation, and engineering education. Laboratory students develop and operate systems that include spacecraft, underwater robots, aircraft, and land rovers. These projects serve as ideal testbeds for learning and conducting research in mechatronic system design, guidance and navigation, command and control systems, and human-machine interfaces. The 2007 Solar Decathlon House is a highly instrumented testbed for studies of photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, as well as general home control systems. Projects include development of a carbon meter, investigation of the impact of micro-invertors on performance, and control of a solar thermal driven vapor absorption chiller. The Micro Scale Heat Transfer Laboratory (MSHTL) develops state of the art experimentation in processes such as micro-boiling, spray cooling, and Laser Induced Fluorescence Thermometry. Today, trends indicate that these processes are finding interesting applications on drop-on-demand delivery systems, ink-jet technology and fast transient systems (such as combustion or microseconds scale boiling). Undergraduate Laboratories The CAM and Prototyping Laboratory consists of two machine shops and a prototyping area. One machine shop is dedicated to student use for design and research projects. The second is a teaching lab used for undergraduate and graduate instruction. Both are equipped with modern machine tools, such as lathes and milling machines. The teaching lab also houses both 2-axis and 3-axis Computer Numerically Controlled vertical milling machines and a CNC lathe. Commercial CAM software is available for ease of programming. The prototyping area is equipped with a Stratasys FDM 3000 rapid prototyping system that utilizes fused deposition modeling to create plastic prototypes from CAD generated models. Also available are a Cyberware laser scanner and a Microscribe touch scanner for capturing 3D data points to facilitate reverse engineering or data acquisition from existing components. The Engine Laboratory contains a variety of internal combustion engines installed on dynamometer stands that can be used for studies of diesel and spark-ignition engines. The facilities include a chassis dynamometer and instrumentation for evaluating engine performance, measuring exhaust gas emissions, and measuring noise. Studies can be conducted using a variety of fuels. The Fluid Dynamics/Thermal Science Laboratory contains equipment to illustrate the principles of fluid flow and heat transfer and to familiarize students with hydraulic machines, refrigeration cycles, and their instrumentation. The lab also contains a subsonic wind tunnel equipped with an axial flow fan with adjustable pitch blades to study aerodynamics. Research tools include modern nonintrusive flow measurement systems. The Instrumentation Laboratory contains six computer stations equipped with state-of-the-art, PC-based data acquisition hardware and software systems. A variety of transducers and test experiments for making mechanical, thermal, and fluid measurements are part of this lab. The Materials Laboratory contains equipment for metallography and optical examination of the microstructure of materials as well as instruments for mechanical properties characterization including tension, compression, hardness, and impact testing. The Materials Laboratory also has a tube furnace for heat treating and a specialized bell-jar furnace for pour casting and suction casting of metallic glasses and novel alloy compositions. The Vibrations and Control Systems Laboratory is equipped with two flexible test systems. One is capable of single or multi DOF modes, free or forced motion, and adjustable damping. The other is an inverted pendulum. Both systems can be controlled by a wide variety of control algorithms and are fully computer connected for data acquisition and control. LOWER-DIVISION COURSES10. Graphical Communication in Design 11. Materials and Manufacturing Processes 15. Introduction to Materials Science UPPER-DIVISION COURSES102. Introduction to Mathematical Methods in Mechanical Engineering 114. Machine Design I 114L. Machining Lab 115. Machine Design II 121. Thermodynamics I 122. Fluid Mechanics I 123. Heat Transfer 125. Thermal Systems Design 132. Fluid Mechanics II 140. Dynamics 141. Mechanical Vibrations 142. Control Systems, Analysis, and Design 143. Mechatronics 144. Smart Product Design 145. Introduction to Aerospace Engineering 146. Mechanism Design 151. Finite Element Theory and Applications 152. Composite Materials 156. Introduction to Nanotechnology 160. Modern Instrumentation for Engineers 188. Co-op Education 189. Co-op Technical Report 192. Technical Writing 194. Advanced Design I: Tools 195. Advanced Design II: Implementation 196. Advanced Design III: Completion and Evaluation 199. Directed Research/Reading |
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