Bachelor of Science in
Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering is a well-established engineering discipline that involves state-of-the-art engineering analysis, design, and research. Mechanical engineers have been in demand for literally hundreds of years and remain one of the more sought-after degree holders.

The common freshman engineering year one is the first year of the Mechanical Engineering program. The second year is the same as Aerospace Engineering, which gives the student great flexibility when deciding on a major field of study.

The Mechanical Engineering program offers four areas of emphasis, or tracks: Biomedical Systems, Energy Systems, High Performance Vehicles, and Robotic Systems (with an emphasis in Unmanned and Autonomous Vehicle Systems), which add to the breadth of topics in Mechanical Engineering, such as machine design, heat transfer, and vibrations. The Robotic Systems track prepares students for the rapidly expanding robotics field, including applications to the aerospace industry. Attention is paid to the systems nature of robotics to include the integration of mechanics and electronics. The High Performance Vehicles track prepares students for employment in vehicle design and manufacturing, from competition vehicles to fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles. Subjects include aerodynamics, structures, and safety. The Energy Systems track prepares students to design, develop and evaluate energy-related projects to reduce cost and improve energy efficiency.  The Biomedical Systems track prepares students to become knowledgeable and skilled mechanical engineers with an understanding of the fundamental principles that lead to scientific discovery and technology innovation in the bioengineering and biomedical fields.

The Program Educational Objectives of the Mechanical Engineering program as offered at the Daytona Beach campus are that, in a few years of graduation, our graduates:

1. Are established as engineers in the aerospace, aviation, automotive, biomedical, energy, robotics, or related fields or engaged in advanced studies

2. Have demonstrated their ability to work effectively and responsibly as practical problem solvers, innovators and as members of diverse professional teams

The Mechanical Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org.

The curriculum is designed to accomplish these objectives with a base of engineering, math, and sciences that includes probability and statistics or numerical methods; engineering economics; advanced mathematics; electrical engineering; and engineering design. The culmination of the program is a two-semester design project that prepares the students for working in a team environment on projects involving mechanical engineering.

Degree Requirements

The Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering requires the successful completion of a minimum of 129 credit hours. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 is needed for all required ME, EE, EGR, and ES courses, including technical electives.

Mechanical Engineering became a degree offering in Fall 2007. When designing this degree program our faculty wanted to ensure that we created a Mechanical Engineering degree that embraced Embry-Riddle’s mission and recognized expertise in aerospace. Aerospace platforms, whether atmosphere or space based, require skills from a team of engineers that include Aerospace, Electrical, Computer, and, of course, Mechanical Engineering. Given this, our ME degree stays within that focus of the aerospace platform with the three primary options of robotics, propulsion, and energy.

The freshman year in Mechanical Engineering is common to the Aerospace Engineering degree program. The second year in Mechanical Engineering builds fundamental skills in math and physics while introducing students to Engineering Mechanics and the Thermal Sciences. During the second semester of their sophomore year, Mechanical Engineering students in Embry-Riddle’s program in Prescott will start taking courses aligned within the focus areas of robotics, propulsion, or energy. The robotics option emphasizes the design and analysis of autonomous vehicles that include uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs), autonomous space vehicles, and planetary rovers. The propulsion option emphasizes the thermal sciences and design and analysis of turbomachinery. Jet aircraft engines are the primary area of depth but piston and rocket propulsion are also studied. The energy option emphasizes the design of renewable energy systems. During the senior year, students will gain additional depth in their options and take capstone courses in designing an aerospace platform.

Aerospace platforms are designed in teams and with that we provide interdisciplinary opportunities centered around our ME students. Senior ME students have the opportunity to choose between five capstone sequences as a culminating event focused on teams, integration, and synthesis of four years of education. Mechanical engineers can choose capstone sequences that include:

• Propulsion sequence centered on jet aircraft and rocket engines.
• Robotics sequence centered on robotic arms and autonomous vehicles
• Energy sequence centered on alternative energy systems
• Astronautics sequence centered on spacecraft
• Aeronautics sequence centered on aircraft

The overall objective of the Mechanical Engineering program at Prescott is to produce graduates who will be successful practitioners of mechanical engineering. The program objectives to measure our accomplishment of this goal are engineers who:

• Demonstrate achievements in their chosen profession
• Contribute to the profession and the university
• Demonstrate professional preparation
• Exhibit professional ethics and integrity

The Mechanical Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org.

Degree Requirements

The Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering program requires successful completion of a minimum of 129 credit hours. The program may be completed in eight semesters assuming appropriate background and full-time enrollment. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.00 is needed for all required AE, EGR, ES, and ME courses, excluding technical electives. The courses necessary to earn this degree are listed below.

Students should be aware that many courses have prerequisites and/or co-requisites. Students must have a C or better in all pre-requisites for all required AE, EGR, EP, ES, ME, and SYS courses.

Suggested Program of Study

Propulsion Option

Robotics Option

Energy Option

Capstone Design Sequence, Preliminary and Detail Design

ME students have five possible sequences for their capstone sequence:

Aeronautics

Students taking the Aircraft capstone sequence are required to take:

Astronautics

Students taking the Spacecraft capstone sequence are required to take:

Energy

Students taking the Energy capstone sequence are required to take:

Propulsion

Students taking the Propulsion capstone sequence are required to take:

Robotics

Students taking the Robotics capstone sequence are required to take:

Technical Electives

Three credit hours of technical elective credit must be taken from available upper-level College of Engineering courses not specifically listed in the student’s degree requirements. The remaining three credit hours must be selected from the list below or an upper-level ROTC course may be substituted.

Footnotes

General Education Electives

Embry-Riddle courses in the general education categories of Humanities, Mathematics, and Social Sciences may be chosen as specified below, assuming prerequisite and corequisite requirements are met.  Courses from other institutions are acceptable if they fall into these broad categories and are at the level specified above in the Aerospace Engineering vertical outline.

Prior approval by the Mechanical Engineering Department chair is required for any substitutions for general education electives.