Current Students

General Education Requirements & Courses

• American Institutions (AI) Courses
• Writing (WR) Courses
• Fine Arts (FF) Courses
• Humanities (HF) Courses
• Social/Behavioral Science (BF) Courses

Bachelor’s Degree Requirements & Courses

• Diversity (DV) Courses
• International Requirement (IR) Courses

Graduation Requirement Worksheet

1. Maintain a cumulative University of Utah GPA of 2.5 or higher for students starting in the 2012/2013  catalog year;
2. Complete the following technical coursework (all courses must be taken for a letter grade and passed with a grade of ‘C-’ or higher):
   1. MATH 1210, 1220, 2210, 2250, 3150;
   2. PHYS 2210, 2220; CHEM 1210, 1215;
   3. ME EN 1000, 1010, 1300, 2080, 2500, 2510, 2660, 3000, 3200, 3210, 3300, 3600, 3650, 3700, 4000, 4010, 4060;
   4. ECE 2210; MSE 2160.
3. Earn a ‘C’ (2.0) average in the courses associated with the four basic areas listed below, and receive no grade below a ‘C-’ in any of these courses:
   1. Mathematics: MATH 1210, 1220, 2210, 2250, 3150;
   2. Thermal-Fluids: ME EN 2510 (or 2300), 3600, 3650, 3700;
   3. Solid Mechanics: ME EN 1300, 2080, 3300;
   4. Mechatronics: PHYS 2210 and 2220, ECE 2210, ME EN 3200 and 3210.
4. Complete the ME EN 3900 Professionalism and Ethics Seminar (graded CR/NC).
5. Complete twelve technical elective credit hours;
6. Pass the nationally administered Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam.

• Current ME Course List
• Major Flow Chart
• Suggested Program of Study
• Emphases

Students must be accepted to Intermediate Status in order to take ME EN 1000, 1010, 1300, 2080, 2500 and 2660. Placement into MATH 1210 Calculus I is required for acceptance to Intermediate Status.

U of U freshman admits will be accepted to Intermediate Status upon admission to the Mechanical Engineering program. U of U transfer admits will also be accepted to Intermediate Status upon admission to the program if they have not yet completed all of the following courses: ME EN 1000, 1010, 1300; MATH 1210, 1220; CHEM 1210, 1215; PHYS 2210.

Students must apply and be accepted to Full Major Status in order to take ME EN 2510 and upper division (ME EN 3000-5999) coursework. Acceptance to Full Major Status is based on completion of the courses listed below with a GPA of 2.7 or higher and no individual grade below a C-. All courses must be taken for a letter grade. Courses may be repeated only once, and the second grade will replace the first grade.

Courses Required for Full Major Status

Applications are due by October 1 to be considered for Full Major Status for the following spring semester. Students who submit applications after this date will be considered for Full Major Status only if space is available. Students will be notified of status decisions by November 1.

Full Major Status application coming soon

A student who is ineligible for Full Major Status because his/her technical GPA is below 2.7 may remain in Intermediate Status, repeating courses to improve GPA. A student who fails to earn a C- or better in any of the courses listed above after two attempts will lose Intermediate Status and will not be allowed to continue in the Mechanical Engineering program.

Transfer students who have completed all of the above-listed coursework will be evaluated for Full Major Status as part of the transfer admissions process. All other transfer students will apply for Full Major Status in the fall semester following the completion of these courses.

Technical electives are the final phase of undergraduate education in Mechanical Engineering.  Considerable latitude is allowed in the selection of technical electives. The objectives of the technical electives are to synthesize the knowledge and skills acquired in required ME EN courses and to broaden the student’s knowledge in other related technical areas.

Technical Elective Requirements

1. Twelve technical elective credit hours are required.
2. All technical electives must be:
   1. Upper division courses (3000-5999);
   2. Taken for a letter grade (except ME EN 5910 Co-op);
   3. Satisfactorily completed with a ‘C-’ or better.
3. Six of the twelve technical elective credits must be completed within the department.

Approved Technical Elective Courses

• All 5000-level courses in the College of Engineering;
• MATH: 4200, 4750, 5010, 5040, 5050, 5080, 5090, 5250, 5410, 5420, 5440, 5600, 5610, 5620, 5650, 5710, 5720, 5740, 5750;
• PHYSICS: 3610, 3620, 5010, 5110, 5420, 5450, 5460;
• Other upper division courses from the College of Science and the College of Mines & Earth Sciences may be petitioned to count for technical elective credit;
• Courses numbered higher than 5999 are generally not acceptable for undergraduate credit;
• Technical writing courses are not acceptable for technical elective credit.

Recommended Technical Elective Courses by Area of Interest

1. Aerospace Engineering: ME EN 5710, 5830, 5300, 5500, 5510, 5520, 5400, 5410
2. Biomechanics: ME EN 5300, 5100, 7120*; BIOEN 5101, 5201, 5301
3. Design and Manufacturing: ME EN 5030, 5040, 5050, 5055, 5060, 5110, 5510
4. Dynamics and Control: ME EN 5200, 5205, 5210, 5400, 5410
5. Ergonomics and Safety: ME EN 5100, 5110, 5120, 5030, 5040
6. Fluid Mechanics: ME EN 5700, 5710, 5800, 5810, 5830, 6720*
7. Mechatronics: ME EN 5200,5205, 5240, 5250; ECE 5570, 5780; PHYS 3610, 3620
8. Micro/Nanoscale Engineering: ME EN 5050, 5055, 5620; ECE 5201
9. Modeling: ME EN 5205, 5510, 5810, 6720*; MATH 5XXX
10. Robotics and Control: ME EN 5200, 5220, 5225, 5230
11. Solid Mechanics: ME EN 5300, 5500, 5510, 5520, 5530, 5400, 5410
12. Thermal Science and Energy Engineering: ME EN 5600, 5800, 5810, 5820, 5830

*with permission

Co-op, Design, & Research Options

Technical elective credit may be earned for co-op, design and research experiences through the following courses:

• ME EN 4999 – Honors Thesis/Project
• ME EN 5910 – Cooperative Education
• ME EN 5920 – Design Project
• ME EN 5930 – Undergraduate Thesis
• ME EN 5950 – Independent Study

These courses allow the student to have experiences not normally available in regularly scheduled classes.

Students mus pass the nationally administered Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam in order to graduate.

1. The FE Exam is offered twice yearly (once in April and once in October);
2. Registration deadlines (typically in February and August) and exam dates are available on the NCEES website;
3. Students typically take the FE Exam in the spring of their junior year or fall of their senior year.

All undergraduates must apply in advance for graduation to receive their bachelor’s degree. You must apply through the Office of the Registrar. Application dates are:

Apply for Graduation

Graduation & Commencement Information

Students graduating in or after Spring 2013 (pending University approval) may elect to complete one of twelve optional emphases within Mechanical Engineering: Aerospace Engineering, Biomechanics, Design and Manufacturing, Dynamics and Control, Ergonomics and Safety, Fluid Mechanics, Mechatronics, Micro/Nanoscale Engineering, Modeling, Robotics and Control, Solid Mechanics, Thermal Science and Energy Engineering. A BSME emphasis, indicated on the student’s transcript, will indicate high academic achievement in the area of specialization.

Any student in the College of Engineering (or related sciences) can earn a certificate in Mechatronics by passing the required classes and 14 semester hours of courses from the list of approved electives, and by completing an approved Mechatronics project. The certificate will be awarded with the bachelor’s degree or at the graduate level.

For undergraduate students interested in vigorous pursuit of research, the Department of Mechanical Engineering offers a combined degree program intended to foster undergraduate research and to accelerate progress toward the M.S. degree.

Mechanical Engineering majors can strengthen their Bachelor’s degrees if they choose to complete a minor. There are several minors that complement the mechanical engineering curriculum nicely:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Business
• Computer Science
• Foreign Language
• Math
• Nuclear Engineering
• Physics
• U of U Academic Minors

The Honors in Engineering Program in the College of Engineering is designed to provide a challenging, individualized educational experience to high achieving students and to promote life-long learning throughout their careers. The objective is to challenge top students by offering them access to more advanced levels of study, to facilitate the fullest possible use of their creative abilities, to encourage a sustained interest in advanced education and basic research, as well as to foster leadership and fellowship within the engineering community. Honors in Engineering is an undergraduate student honors program that is an option and not mandatory.

The Undergraduate Research Scholar Designation, run out of the office of the Vice President for Research, is a special designation given to students who complete certain research requirements. The designation appears in the awards section of the student’s transcript.

The Innovation Scholar program, run by the Technology Venture Development Office, allows students to explore big questions and problems that each student is interested in. Students may chart a personal direction of finding innovative solutions to these questions. Match your passion with purpose, and invent your future.