BSME in Mechanical Engineering
Degree Program Description
The mechanical engineering curriculum provides students a foundation in mathematics, the basic sciences, and engineering. Students take core courses in the mechanical sciences (dynamics, engineering materials, manufacturing, dynamic systems and control, and machine element design) and the thermal-fluid sciences (thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer). In addition, students obtain laboratory experience through three lab courses focused on instrumentation and measurements, materials and manufacturing, and thermal-fluid systems. The Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) prepares students for employment in industry or government or for further study toward other degrees such as the JD, MD, MS, and PhD.
Major Program Requirements
The MAE curriculum allows students to transfer among departments during the first two years. Students concentrate on departmental requirements at the beginning of the junior year. The senior year includes five MAE electives that allow students to develop individual programs of study. This flexibility enables students to complete a traditional program or create their own with special emphasis on areas such as materials, manufacturing, thermal-fluid systems, dynamics and control, or aerospace. Students are also required to complete one 3-hour cultural awareness course which is selected from an approved cultural awareness course list, created and maintained by the College of Engineering or which meets the Arts and Science (A&S) diversity intensive (DI) requirement.
Experience in design is distributed throughout the required courses in the curriculum and culminates in the senior capstone design course. The capstone design experience integrates earlier technical work with economic, safety, ethical, and environmental considerations. The projects are primarily obtained from industrial or private business clients. The presentations of project results are made to a review panel consisting of members of the faculty, the MAE Industrial Advisory Council, and representatives of the client firms.
Major Core Requirements
In addition to the University general education and graduation requirements, the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering requires the following courses:
| CHEM 1400 & CHEM 1401 | College Chemistry I and College Chemistry I Laboratory | 4 |
| MATH 1500 | Analytic Geometry and Calculus I | 5 |
| MATH 1700 | Calculus II | 5 |
| MATH 2300 | Calculus III | 3 |
| MATH 4100 | Differential Equations | 3 |
| PHYSCS 2750 | University Physics I | 5 |
| PHYSCS 2760 | University Physics II | 5 |
| ENGINR 1000 | Introduction to Engineering (*) | 1 |
| ENGINR 1050 | Foundations of Engineering (*) | 2 |
| ENGINR 1200 | Statics and Elementary Strength of Materials | 3 |
| ENGINR 2100 | Circuit Theory for Engineers | 3 |
| ENGINR 2200 | Intermediate Strength of Materials | 3 |
| ISE 2710 | Engineering Economic Decision-Making | 3 |
| STAT 4710 | Introduction to Mathematical Statistics | 3 |
| MAE 1100 | Introduction to Computer Aided Design | 3 |
| MAE 2100 | Programming and Software Tools | 3 |
| MAE 2200W | Engineering Materials - Writing Intensive | 3 |
| MAE 2300 | Thermodynamics | 3 |
| MAE 2510 | Manufacturing Practice | 1 |
| MAE 3500 | Introduction to Manufacturing Methods | 2 |
| MAE 2600 | Dynamics | 3 |
| MAE 3100 | Computational Methods for Engineering Design | 3 |
| MAE 3400 | Fluid Mechanics | 3 |
| MAE 3600 | Dynamic Systems and Control | 3 |
| MAE 3800 | Instrumentation and Measurements Laboratory | 3 |
| MAE 3910 | Machine Element Design | 3 |
| MAE 4300 | Heat Transfer | 3 |
| MAE 4825 | Materials and Manufacturing Laboratory | 3 |
| MAE 4834 | Thermal Fluids Laboratory | 3 |
| MAE 4980W | Senior Capstone Design - Writing Intensive | 3 |
| Electives | ||
| Technical elective in approved area of Engineering, Science, or Math, 3000-level or above | 3 | |
| MAE 4000-level electives | 12 | |
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The required First-Year Engineering (FYE) courses, ENGINR 1000 and ENGINR 1050, will be waived for a transfer student pursuing Mechanical Engineering if the student enters MU with transfer credit for an acceptable course in Thermodynamics. The MAE Director of Undergraduate Studies may also waive the FYE courses in cases where the transfer student has demonstrated adequate progress in an engineering program.
Semester Plan
Below is a sample plan of study, semester by semester. A student's actual plan may vary based on course choices where options are available.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| CHEM 1400 & CHEM 1401 | 4 | PHYSCS 2750 | 5 |
| MATH 1500 | 5 | MATH 1700 | 5 |
| ENGINR 1000 | 1 | ENGINR 1050 | 2 |
| ENGLSH 1000 | 3 | MAE 1100 | 3 |
| US Hist./US Govt. | 3 | ||
| 16 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| PHYSCS 2760 | 5 | STAT 4710 | 3 |
| MATH 2300 | 3 | MATH 4100 | 3 |
| ENGINR 1200 | 3 | ENGINR 2200 | 3 |
| ENGINR 2100 | 3 | MAE 2100 | 3 |
| MAE 2300 | 3 | MAE 2600 | 3 |
| MAE 2510 | 1 | Humanities/Fine Arts Elective | 3 |
| 18 | 18 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| MAE 2200 | 3 | MAE 3600 | 3 |
| MAE 3100 | 3 | MAE 3910 | 3 |
| MAE 3400 | 3 | MAE 4300 | 3 |
| MAE 3500 | 2 | MAE 4825 | 3 |
| MAE 3800 | 3 | Technical Elective | 3 |
| 14 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| MAE 4834 | 3 | MAE 4980 | 3 |
| MAE 4000+ Elective | 3 | MAE 4000+ Elective | 3 |
| MAE 4000+ Elective | 3 | MAE 4000+ Elective | 3 |
| ISE 2710 | 3 | Humanities and Fine Arts | 3 |
| Humanities/Fine Arts Elective | 3 | Behavioral/Social Science | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total Credits: 126 | |||
Degree Audit
The degree audit is an automated report reflecting a student’s academic progress toward the completion of a degree.
MU students can request a degree audit by logging in to myDegreePlanner. Students may also access myDegreePlanner via myZou, in the Student Center, click on the Academic Progress Tile, then select Request Degree Audit. The audit automatically pulls in the student’s MU course work, transfer courses and courses in progress. This is available to current students, admitted students, and those who last attended less than three terms ago.
Past MU students can request a degree audit by contacting the Academic Advising Unit of the division in which they were last enrolled at MU. For contact information, go to https://advising.missouri.edu/contact/.
Prospective students, can access a preliminary MU degree audit via https://www.transferology.com. Information on the college credits already earned will have to be manually entered before it can be evaluated against current degree requirements.
For additional details on degree audits, go to https://registrar.missouri.edu/degrees-audits/degree-audits/.
Major and Career Exploration
The University of Missouri has many resources to assist you in exploring majors and career possibilities. For guidance, visit the Majors and Careers website or view specific resources below.
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If you are considering a change of major or are exploring multiple majors, schedule an appointment with an advisor in the Discovery Center by calling (573)884-9700 or through MU Connect Discovery Center service in you success network.
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If you have decided on a major, visit an academic advisor in the School or College that you are interested in to discuss the process of declaring the major.
- If you would like to learn more about your career interests, abilities, values and talents, visit the MU Career Center. No Appointment is necessary to explore career options with one of our staff members.
- If you would like information about MU majors and degree programs, visit:
- the Degrees, Majors (Degree Programs), Emphasis Areas, Minors and Certificates page in the catalog,
- the MU Majors website.
For additional major and career exploration resources, visit Major & Career Exploration in the catalog.