Department of Mechanical Engineering

About the Department
Program Offerings, Course Descriptions & Curricular Tables

Edward E. Anderson, Ph.D., Chairperson

DonRay Butler Distinguished Chair: Anderson
Don Kay and Clay Cash Chair: Castillo
President’s Distinguished Chair: Hussain
J.W. Wright Regent’s Chair: Pantoya
Whitacre Distinguished Engineering Chair: Atluri
Professors: Anderson, Barhorst, J. Berg, Blawzdziewicz, Chyu, Ekwaro-Osire, Ertas, Idesman, James, Jankowski, Ma, Parameswaran, Rasty
Professor of Practice: Westergaard
Associate Professors: Bhattacharya, He, Qiu, Yang, Yeo
Assistant Professors: Aksak, Christopher, Kim, Kumar, Lillian, Moussa, Ren, Snoeyink
Research Assistant Professors: Khan, Pol
Lecturers: Azese, C. Berg, Branson, Fanning, Gray, Han, Haputhanthri, Hanson, Marathe, Mosedale, Zhang

CONTACT INFORMATION: 101 Mechanical Engineering Building, Box 41021, Lubbock, TX 79409-1021, T 806.742.3563, F 806.742.3540, www.me.ttu.edu

About the Department

This department supervises the following degree programs:

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering

Vision. The vision of the department is to be recognized for exceptional undergraduate and graduate education in the art, science, and practice of mechanical engineering.

Mission. The mission of the department is to offer students nationally recognized educational opportunities grounded in the fundamentals of mechanical engineering and state-of-the-art technology. The department programs support technological development and innovation to meet many goals, including the needs of the society. Faculty and student participation in design projects, research, or other similar activities is considered essential to their professional development. The education opportunities are to take place in a collegial environment of effective instruction and counsel.

Program Educational Objectives. Within a few years of earning the baccalaureate degree in mechanical engineering, graduates are expected to achieve one or more of the following program educational objectives:

Develop successful careers as mechanical engineers, demonstrate professional engineering competence via positions of increasing responsibility and/or assignments.
Successfully complete or pursue graduate education in engineering or related fields, participate in professional development and/or industrial training courses and/or obtain engineering certification.
Participate in research and development and other creative and innovative efforts in science, engineering and technology; and/or pursue entrepreneurial endeavors.
If not in a mechanical engineering career, successful transition into an education, business, legal, medical or government career.
Demonstrate a commitment to the community and profession through involvement with community and/or professional organizations.

Student Outcomes. Student outcomes are statements of the expectations for the knowledge and skills that students should possess when they graduate with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University.

Graduates of the program must demonstrate the following:

An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering.
An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data.
An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability considerations.
An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams.
An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems.
An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.
An ability to communicate effectively.
A broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context.
A recognition of the need for an ability to engage in life-long learning.
A knowledge of contemporary issues.
An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.

The Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.

Program Overview. 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 an in-depth education in five of the principal engineering sciences—thermal 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 life-long 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, petrochemicals, electrical power, electronics, semiconductors and computers, manufacturing, and healthcare, 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. Students are also expected to have a personal laptop computer. At a minimum, this computer should support high-level programming languages such as C and application packages such as word processing, spreadsheets, and mathematical analysis software.

Undergraduate Program

General Standards and Requirements. Admission requirements and academic standards for the Department of Mechanical Engineering are consistent with the dynamic enrollment plan for the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering. Refer to the introduction to the Whitacre College of Engineering section of this catalog for a description of the criteria for initial admission to the Whitacre College of Engineering and the lower-division foundational curriculum. The recommended foundational curriculum for mechanical engineering consists of ENGL 1301 , ENGL 1302 ; MATH 1451 , MATH 1452 ; CHEM 1307 /CHEM 1107 ; PHYS 1408 ; ENGR 1315 .

A student may apply for admission to the upper division of a degree program upon completion of the foundational curriculum and a minimum of 12 credit hours of Texas Tech coursework. The acceptance criterion is based exclusively on a cumulative GPA for coursework completed at Texas Tech. The specific GPA standard varies among the degree programs and may change from one academic year to the next as necessary to align enrollments with the educational resources. For students who entered Texas Tech prior to June 1, 2012, a minimum 2.5 GPA is required for admission to the mechanical engineering upper-division degree program. Students entering Texas Tech after June 1, 2016, must have a minimum 3.0 GPA.

The academic standards required by the Whitacre College of Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering are given in the introduction to the Whitacre College section of the catalog and summarized below. Exceptions to these standards are at the discretion of the dean of the Whitacre College of Engineering.

A grade of C or better is required for all courses in an engineering degree plan.
A grade of C or better must be achieved in all prerequisites before the subsequent course may be attempted.
A minimum 2.5 GPA is required to maintain academic good standing and continued membership in the Whitacre College of Engineering.
A full-time student must achieve a C or better in 18 credit hours of coursework in the degree plan in each 12-month period.
An engineering course may be repeated only one time after a course drop, withdrawal, or failure to achieve a C or higher. A maximum of three engineering courses may be repeated.

Assessment. The department uses outcome assessments to monitor quality. All mechanical engineering students are required to pass a comprehensive assessment examination during the senior year. The results of this examination and other assessment measures are used to evaluate the extent to which the program goals and student outcomes are met, for which actions are taken in an effort to continually improve the program. This examination is patterned after the national NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination.

Combined Bachelor’s–Master’s Degree Program. An accelerated program is available for outstanding students to pursue a combined B.S.M.E.–M.S.M.E. degree in five years. Students interested in this program while pursuing a B.S.M.E. degree should inform their academic advisor during the first (fall) semester of the junior year, follow the suggested curriculum in the next (spring) semester, and apply before the beginning of the fourth year. Students opting to pursue the M.S.M.E. report and coursework (36 credit hour) options may apply up to 6 graduate credit hours to the B.S.M.E. degree requirements.

Co-Op Program. Mechanical engineering students are encouraged to consider the Whitacre College of Engineering Co-op program. This normally involves three work assignments in industry for a cumulative duration of one year. These work assignments are normally completed prior to the start of the senior year. The co-op experience of the Whitacre College of Engineering may be used to satisfy a 3-credit hour department elective requirement through ENGR 3000 course credit. Co-op students gain valuable real-world engineering experience that enhances the academic experience on campus and provides excellent preparation for a career in industry.

General Academic Requirements. Students are expected to follow the course sequence presented in the mechanical engineering curriculum table. Students whose high school courses do not include chemistry, physics, mathematics through analytical geometry, and at least two years of a foreign language will be required to take additional coursework during an adjusted first year of study. All students must earn a grade of C or better in all courses applied toward the mechanical engineering degree. The department rigorously enforces prerequisite requirements for all courses.

Minors. B.S.M.E. students who are interested in obtaining a minor can do so through the application of the electives and dual credit towards the 18-hour minors requirement. The department encourages minors in the following areas: bioengineering , nuclear engineering , petroleum engineering , civil engineering , environmental engineering , computer science , geology , mathematics , and physics . For more detailed information on how to incorporate a minor into the mechanical engineering degree, contact the department advisor.

Graduate Program

For information on graduate programs offered by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, visit the Graduate School section of the catalog.

Program Offerings & Course Descriptions

Programs

Bachelor’s

Mechanical Engineering, B.S.

Undergraduate Minor

Mechanical Engineering, Undergraduate Minor

Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s Degree

Mechanical Engineering, B.S. / M.S.

Courses

Mechanical Engineering (Undergraduate Courses)