The Rio Tinto Kennecott Mechanical Engineering Building is a LEED Gold sustainable building designed to enhance student learning and collaboration through its unique and open design. The building hosts study rooms, a tutoring center, a computer lab, conference and seminar rooms, and a large lecture hall. Many of the labs and rooms in the building include large glass windows, allowing you to see the activity of students and researchers and to promote interaction. Located throughout the building are labs specializing in robotics and computer simulations. For example, you will see bionic devices in action, ground and aerial robots such as drones, surgical robots, racecars, rockets, and many more exciting devices that mechanical engineers design and build. Less obvious is all the computational work developing models to represent and analyze fluids, solids, energy systems, materials, acoustics and vibrations, and more.
Lower Level
Tutoring Center – Students have access to free drop-in mechanical engineering tutoring. This covers all required courses each semester. It is part of the student success resources that the department provides. More details are available on the website.
John Lalonde Student Computer Center – This lab serves as a classroom for ME EN1010 – Computer-Based Problem Solving for Engineering Systems and ME EN2450 Numerical Methods for Engineering Systems. Additionally, computers are available for student use, allow access to an extensive suite of software, and allow shared access to a student’s files across other computer labs in the College.
Marilyn K. Davies Atrium – The atrium serves as a larger gathering space for students as well as department events. You can often find students eating lunch, working on group projects or individual homework, or just relaxing between classes.
The Bionic Engineering Lab – The Bionic Engineering Lab is directed by Prof. Tommaso Lenzi and is affiliated with the Utah Robotics Center and the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah. This lab focuses on the intersection of robotics, design, control, biomechanics, and neural engineering. Their goal is to create new science and develop new technologes empowering the next generation of wearable bionic devices and systems to help people move and live independently, ultimately ending physical disability.
Main Level
Main Office – This is the central hub for administration of the department. This includes the front desk, undergraduate and graduate advising, the chair’s office, and other department resources.
Design, Automation, Robotics & Control Lab – The DARC Lab’s research focuses on design, automation, robotics and control for intelligent autonomous systems. Applications encompass micro- and nano-scale positioning systems, scanning probe microscopes, and robotics. The lab spans 1200 sq. ft. of space and houses state-of-the-art equipment. Recent projects include unmanned autonomous systems for use in aerial robots.
Utah Manufacturing Extension Partnership – The Utah Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Utah-MEP) is a public/private partnership working to improve manufacturing in Utah. This is part of a national network of manufacturing extension partnerships working to help manufacturers across the country increase output, decrease waste, grow revenue, and more. This group is led by a team based out of the Department of Mechanical Engineering working together with experts from across Utah.
Level 2
Student Study Rooms – Groups of two or more students can reserve these student study rooms for up to three hours at a time. These are an excellent space for group study and project work. Study rooms can be reserved on the website.
Level 3
Sid & Marian Green Classroom – This seminar room can host over 180 students, with whiteboards, projects, and a sound system and other technological support to help with presentations. This room hosts both classes and speakers throughout the semester.
Christopher Flint Gather Space – This serves as another space for students to gather. It provides tables and chairs for small groups, as well as being another space for socials and other student activities throughout the semester.