Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering | Courses | Faculty

220 Engineering Lab

Degrees: Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering

Contact: James R. Rinderle, Associate Head,
Undergraduate Program Director
Office: 207C Engineering Lab Building
Phone: (413) 545-2505

Head of Department: Professor Donald Fisher. Distinguished Professor Goldstein. Professors Chait, Danai, Grosse, B. Kim, Manwell, McGowan, Smith; Associate Professors Baker, de Bruyn Kops, Hyers, Krishnamurty, Muriel, Perot, Rinderle, Rothstein, Schmidt; Assistant Professors Balisubramanian, Lackner, Marquard, Modarres-Sadeghi, Ramasubramaniam; Adjunct Professors Ali, Enghagen, Rotea.

The Fields

Mechanical engineers design, analyze, develop, and test engineering systems ranging from power plants to jet aircraft to prosthetic limbs to windmills, and their myriad components. Industrial engineers are concerned with the design, installation, analysis, and improvement of integrated systems of people, material, and equipment. Mechanical and industrial engineers often collaborate in manufacturing engineering to ensure that a system of people and manufacturing equipment produces products from a supply of materials and other resources.

Logistics coordination, quality control, simulation, human factors, and economics are all part of industrial engineering. Often industrial engineers focus on enhancing the effectiveness of technological and logistics systems by gathering, structuring, and managing information. Industrial engineers apply their knowledge not only in industry, but also in government, health care, transportation, and many service industries.

Mechanical engineers are engaged in many facets of product and system realization ranging from concept design to production. Along with industrial engineers, they usually determine what gets made and how. Their task is to integrate aspects of mechanical engineering including design, energy, materials, and controls to deliver cost-effective, high-quality products. Like industrial engineers, mechanical engineers work in a wide variety of industries and in many types of organizations. Both are employed not only as engineering professionals but also as technical and corporate managers.

The Majors

The department offers undergraduate degree programs that lead to the B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and the B.S. in Industrial Engineering. The educational objectives of the curricula are to develop engineers who think critically, creatively, and rigorously; who employ engineering methods to identify and solve important problems in industry, business, government, and academe; who communicate effectively and function cooperatively in professional contexts; who approach professional practice responsibly and ethically and with an awareness of business, environmental, safety, cultural, societal, and global concerns; who demonstrate professional leadership; and who employ their engineering education as a foundation for advanced study, life-long learning, and career develoment in engineering, management, and other professional fields.

The freshman year curricula in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering are identical. The sophomore year curricula are nearly identical. During the junior and senior years, students select required and elective courses relevant to their chosen majors.

Admission to the Majors

To be admitted to either major, a student must complete, with a grade of C or better, all of the seven technical courses in the freshman year: MATH 131 and 132; ENGIN 103 or 110 or 111 or 112 or 113; CHEM-ENG 120 or CE-ENGIN 121 or E&C-ENG 122 or M&I-ENG 124; CHEM 111; and PHYSICS 151 and 153. A cumulative grade point average of 2.3 is also required. Students not admitted to a specific engineering discipline can register for junior level M&I-ENG courses only with permission from the department.

Requirements

In addition to the requirements listed in the previous paragraph, students must also satisfy the following requirements and the general university graduation requirements.

Mechanical and Industrial Engineeering Majors
124 Computational Approaches to Engineering Problems (or CHEM-ENG 120 or CE-ENGIN 121 or E&C-ENG 122)
201 Introduction to Materials Science
210 Statics
211 Strength of Materials
273 Basic Probability and Statistics for En-gineers
375 Manufacturing Processes
395 Professional Seminar
ENGIN 113 (or 103 or 110 or 111 or 112) Introduction to Engineering I
ENGIN 351 Writing in Engineering
MATH 131 (or 135) Calculus I
MATH 132 (or 136) Calculus II
MATH 233 Multivariate Calculus
MATH 331 Differential Equations
PHYSICS 151 and 153
PHYSICS 152 and 154
CHEM 111 or 121H

Mechanical Engineering Majors
230 Thermodynamics I
302 Mechanical Engineering Laboratory I
310 Dynamics
313 Design of Mechanical Components
340 Fluid Mechanics I
354 Heat Transfer
E&C-ENG 361 Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering
397B Dynamic Systems Modeling, Analysis and Simulation
402 Mechanical Engineering Laboratory II
413 Design of Mechanical Assemblies
415 Design of Mechanical Systems
Four ME Technical electives:
Choose from M&I-ENG 373, 379, 380, 415, 418, 422, 440, 444, 477, 485, 497A, 497E, 532, 562, 570, 573, 574, 581, 586, 597B, 597E, 597F, 597G, 597I, 597K, 597M, 597Q. Other courses, theses, or independent study with consent of the M&I-ENG Undergraduate Committee.
MIE elective: One 3-credit M&I-ENG course at the 300 level or above or approved alternative

Industrial Engineering Majors
353 Engineering Economic Decision Making
373 Introduction to Simulation Methods
379 Deterministic Operations Research
380 Stochastic Operations Research
E&C-ENG 361 Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering or E&C-ENG 242 Data Structures and Algorithms
422 Statistical Quality Control
460 Human Factors Engineering I
477 Production Planning and Control
478 IE Capstone Design
492 Senior Seminar
MATH 235 Introduction to Linear Algebra
Four IE Technical electives: Choose from regular 3-credit MIE courses at or above the 300 level except MIE 520, 585, 586, 587. Other engineering or engineering-related courses may be chosen with the consent of the department’s Undergraduate Committee.
MIE elective: one MIE course at or above the 300 level or an approved substitute.
ECON 104 Introduction to Macroeconomics
Free Elective: Any 3-credit course other than one which is a prerequisite for a required course.

Additional Requirement

The curricula are structured to achieve eleven educational outcomes including, for example, engineering problem solving, professional responsibility, experimentation, communication, and design. Many courses address more than one required outcome, e.g., M&I-ENG 415 addresses both technical elements of design and communication skills. Students must demonstrate competency in all required outcomes of all required courses. Students who pass a course but not all required outcomes of the course are notifed in writing of their failure. In such cases, the course instructor and the undergraduate program director will specify a remediation program.

Students in both degree programs are required to complete a senior exit survey.

Course Prerequisites

All students must meet the stated prerequisites for a course or obtain permission of the instructor. Students are responsible for their failure to meet prerequisites. Students may be dropped from any course for which they have not met the prerequisites and, in the instructor’s opinion, do not have adequate preparation.

Curriculum Modification

Students who wish to modify either the ME or IE curriculum to satisfy their needs must have written prior approval from the MIE undergraduate committee for all changes.

Honors Program

Both the ME and the IE programs support a departmental honors program. Information on the Honors Program can be found in the Commonwealth College section in this catalog. Students interested in the departmental honors program should contact the undergraduate program director.

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering | Courses | Faculty