Mechanical Engineering Major, BS in Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical engineering involves the design, analysis, testing, and manufacture of mechanical and thermal systems. Mechanical engineers are employed in nearly every industry, from basic research through mass production of energy systems, computer software/hardware, robotics, and automobiles.

Mechanical engineering is a versatile and broadly based engineering discipline that also provides pathways into many exciting fields of specialization. Its foundation is in the basic sciences, but mechanical engineers must further understand such subject areas as mechanical design, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, vibrations, manufacturing processes, instrumentation and automatic control. Design projects throughout the curriculum develop student skills in handling practical real-world problems. Because of the broad engineering foundation and design training in this program, graduates are found in nearly every industry and at different levels of research, design, and management.

PROGRESSION POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS

Progression

The first two years of the curriculum are considered to be lower-division and the two remaining years upper-division. Students must apply for progression to departmental upper-division courses, which depends on academic performance. Factors considered include overall grade point average, performance in selected lower-division courses and evidence of orderly progression through the prescribed curriculum.

Full Status

A lower-division student may apply for progression to upper-division after completing EF 152 * or EF 158 *, CHEM 122 * and CHEM 123 * or CHEM 128 *, MATH 231 , ME 202 , ME 231 , and ME 321 , with a grade of C or better in each, and an overall GPA of at least 2.4 in these courses. Students who have not satisfied the requirements for full status will be dropped from departmental class rolls in upper-division courses.

Provisional Status

Students who have completed EF 152 * or EF 158 *, CHEM 132 * and CHEM 133 * or CHEM 138 *, MATH 231 , ME 202 , ME 231 and ME 321 , with a grade of C or better and have a GPA between 2.0 and 2.4 in these courses may apply for provisional status. The granting of provisional status is based on the availability of space in departmental programs after full status students have been accommodated. Provisional status students are required to demonstrate their ability to perform satisfactorily in upper-division by attaining a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the first 12 hours of 300-level required engineering courses. Award of upper-division full status is dependent upon this performance. Students with a UTK GPA less than 2.0 will not be admitted to upper-division. Students who have not progressed to upper-division will be dropped from departmental class rolls in upper-division courses.

uTrack Requirements

Universal Tracking (uTrack) is an academic monitoring system designed to help students stay on track for timely graduation. In order to remain on track, students must complete the minimum requirements for each tracking semester, known as milestones. Milestones include successful completion of specified courses and/or attainment of a minimum GPA. uTrack requirements only affect full-time, degree-seeking students.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Term 1	Hours	Milestone Notes
CHEM 122 * and CHEM 123 , or CHEM 128	4	MATH 130 or MATH 131 or higher or one Arts and Humanities , Global Citizenship – US or Global Citizenship – International , or Social Sciences Elective
EF 105	1
EF 142 * or EF 151 * or EF 157 *	4
ENGL 101 * or ENGL 118 ⁴* or ENGL 131 * or ENGL 198 *	3
MATH 132 * or MATH 141 * or MATH 147 *	3-4
Term 2
¹Global Citizenship – US Elective*	3	MATH 130 or MATH 131 or higher
EF 152 * or EF 158 *	4
ENGL 102 * or ENGL 132 * or ENGL 290 * or ENGL 298 *	3
MATH 142 * or MATH 148 *	4
ME 202	2
Term 3
ECON 201 * or ECON 207 *	4	EF 141 * and EF 142 , EF 151 , or EF 157 , PHYS 135 , or PHYS 137 *
EF 230	2
MATH 241 or MATH 247	4
ME 210	2
ME 231	3
Term 4
¹Arts and Humanities Elective*	3	EF 152 * or EF 158 * or PHYS 136 * or PHYS 138 *
MATH 231 or MATH 237	3
MATH 251 or MATH 257	3
ME 321	3
MSE 201 or MSE 207	3
PHYS 231 *	3
Term 5
AE 341 or AE 347	3	CBE 201 or COSC 101 or COSC 102 or COSC 111 * or ME 202 or MSE 201
ECE 301	3
ME 331	3
ME 366	3
ME 391 or ME 397	3
Term 6
²Departmental Elective	3	No milestones
ME 344	3
ME 345 *	3
ME 363 or ME 367	3
ME 466	3
Term 7
¹Expanded Perspectives Elective*	3	No milestones
¹Global Citizenship – International Elective*	3
ME 365 or ME 463	3
ME 450	3
ME 475 or ME 477	3
³Technical Elective	3
Term 8
Oral Communication Elective* (choose from approved list)	3	No milestones
²Departmental Electives	6
ME 449 *	3
ME 460 *	3
¹Expanded Perspectives Elective*	3
TOTAL	130-131

¹	Choose any course from the Volunteer Core list.
²	Any 300-level or above courses in aerospace, biomedical, or mechanical engineering that are not already required.
³	Must be pre-approved and petitioned by the advisor and department head.
⁴	ENGL 118 * - Students receiving a passing grade below B in ENGL 118 * will complete the English Composition requirement by taking ENGL 102 . Students receiving a grade of B or above will complete their freshman English requirements by choosing ENGL 102 , a sophomore-level course in the English Department, or ENGL 355 *.
*	Meets Volunteer Core Requirements .

Mechanical Engineering – Honors Concentration

In addition to satisfying the requirements for the mechanical engineering major, candidates for the honors mechanical engineering concentration must also complete the following requirements.

Maintain an overall GPA of 3.4.
Four 100- or 200-level honors courses* (14 hours minimum, at least two courses must be from Materials Science and Engineering, Engineering Fundamentals, Physics, Math, Chemistry, Biology, Statistics, or MSE 207 ).
Complete two upper-division honors courses in mechanical engineering (ME 367 , ME 397 , ME 477 ).
Satisfy the Breadth Requirements for the Cook Grand Challenge Honors Program.

*	While most students fulfill this requirement with 100- and 200-level courses, students may substitute upper level courses on approval of the Honors faculty.

Mechanical Engineering – Five-Year BS/MS Program

The department offers a Five-Year BS-MS program for qualified students. The primary component of the program is that qualified students may take up to 9 hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Tennessee. This program is designed for students attending the University of Tennessee for their Master of Science degree because other universities may not accept these courses for graduate credit since they were used to satisfy requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree. Significant components of the program are:

Students must have an overall GPA of at least 3.4 to be admitted to the program. Conditional admission may be granted after completing 64 hours of required course work while full admission is granted after completing 96 hours of required course work with a minimum overall GPA of 3.4 in required course work.
Students must at least have conditional admission before taking graduate courses for both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. All courses taken for graduate credit must be approved by the departmental chair of the program. Students admitted to the program must request permission from the Graduate School to take approved courses for graduate credit. Students admitted to the program must also follow the normal procedure for admission to the Graduate School.
Admission of students into this program must be approved by the department and the Graduate School.
Students will not be eligible for graduate assistantships until they are enrolled as graduate-level students in the Graduate School.

Undergraduates

Graduate Students