Undergraduate Program

Undergraduate Courses

Courses currently being offered:

Check the course schedules/descriptions available via the Registrar's Office for the official schedules for any semester.

Below you will find a list of all undergraduate courses that have been recently offered.

NOTE: Not all of these courses are offered in any given year.

Some courses listed below have associated web pages with course-related information like syllabi and homework assignments. View the list of course web pages >

ME 091 SOLAR SPLASH

No description

Last Offered: Spring 2018

ME 103 LOUDSPEAKER DESIGN

No description

Last Offered: Fall 2010

ME 104 THE ENGINEERING OF BRIDGES

An introduction to the art of bridge building based on the study of the engineering and technological problems involved in the design, construction, and collapse of bridges from antiquity to the present time. The course includes several case studies of major historical bridges selected for their structural significance. Students learn how to calculate the forces acting on structural elements, how these forces depend on the bridge structural form, how the form itself is conditioned by the structural materials, and how forces are measured with electromechanical instrumentation. The study includes fundamental notions of mechanics, strength of materials, structural behavior, instrumentation failure analysis, and design optimization. Working on teams, students use constructive experimental models as well as computer-aided programs to design, build, instrument, and test realistic bridge projects. This is a self-contained course open to all Rochester undergraduates.

Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 104Q THE ENGINEERING OF BRIDGES

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites.
Last Offered: Fall 2012

ME 106 ENGINEERING IN ANTIQUITY

Application of engineering principles and technology to the design and performance of engineering structures from antiquity to the pre-industrial world. Engineering principles (transfer of forces, momentum, and power), study of primary texts (in translation), and examination of existing structures/monuments. Primary texts include selections from Aristotle’s Mechanical Problems, Vitruvius' Ten Books on Architecture, Leonardo’s Notebooks, Galileo’s Dialogues on Two New Sciences. Emphasis on engineering design of engineered structures from the Bronze Age to the 18th century. Topics: Evolution of engineered materials (metals, wood, stone, marble, concrete, composites) and limitations; Bronze Age fortifications; Structural design of Greek temples; Roman aqueducts, siphons, and vaults; Force, power sources and transmission; Failure of materials; Lifting devices; Construction engineering; Columns, beams, vaults, trusses, frames; Instruments of warfare. Open to all undergraduates. No prerequisites.

Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 107 MECHANICS & OPTICS IN ANTIQUITIES

The basic principles of mechanics and optics as they developed in ancient Greece, Rome, China and Europe and the emergence of mechanics and optics prior to the industrial revolution. Examples: Law of the lever (Aristotle and Archimedes); Center of gravity (Archimedes and Galileo); Gears, metalworking, and the Antikythera mechanism; Hellenistic science; Medieval mechanics and optics; Mechanical designs of Leonardo da Vinci; Development of glass-making, eyeglasses, the telescope (Galileo, Kepler, Newton); Lens grinding and polishing; Dynamics and strength of materials (Galileo); The emergence of mechanics (Newton) and optics (Kepler). The course includes basic mechanics and optics; study of texts (in English translation); and study of artifacts and archaeological and historical discoveries. Open to all undergraduates. No prerequisites.

Last Offered: Fall 2015

ME 107W MECH & OPTICS IN ANTIQUITIES

Last Offered: Fall 2015

ME 108 Engineering and Architectural Heritage

The aim of the course is to present the basics of structural engineering and its application for the preservation of architectural heritage. The course begins with an introduction to basic concepts of structural engineering. Then, the course examines the engineering developments of the main cultures, and states the general guidelines for the intervention and conservation of heritage buildings. Next, the main techniques for inspection, diagnosis and intervention are presented, including data processing tools and possibilities for structural analysis. The concepts presented in the course are finally used for carrying out a field project, which consists in the geometric, material survey, and finally the structural evaluation of a historical building in Rochester. Open to all undergraduates.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites.
Last Offered: Fall 2014

ME 110 INTRODUCTION TO CAD AND DRAWING

This course covers engineering drawing, and modeling using the Computer Aided Design software Pro/ENGINEER. Topics include orthographic projections, solid modeling, assemblies, and dimensioning. Students will complete the course with a fundamental ability to create and understand solid modeling, and engineering drawings using state of the art PC CAD software. Lectures will make use of a computer projection screen as well as individual computers for each student.

Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 120 ENGINEERING MECHANICS I

Basic concepts of mechanics; units; forces; moments; force systems; equilibrium; vector algebra. Plane trusses; method of joints; method of sections; space trusses; frames and machines. Centroids of lines, areas, and volumes; center of mass. Distributed loads on beams; internal forces in beams; distributed loads on cables. Basic concepts of dry friction; friction in machines. Virtual work and potential energy methods.

Prerequisites: MTH 161
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 121 ENGINEERING MECHANICS II

This course uses an engineering approach to the solution of dynamics problems with an emphasis on conceptual understanding. Topics include kinematics and kinetics of particles and rigid bodies.

Prerequisites: MTH 161 and MTH 162 or their equivalents, ME 120
Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 123 THERMODYNAMICS

Course Content: thermodynamic systems, properties, equilibrium, and processes; energy and the first law; properties of simple compressible substances; control volume analysis; steady and transient states; entropy and the second law, general thermodynamic relations.

Prerequisites: MTH 162, Physics 121
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 145 CNC GRIND FOR PRECISION MFG

Course will provide a basic understanding of CNC machining and deterministic micro grinding processes for spherical and aspheric shapes in optical substrates.

Prerequisites: EAS 141, or permission of instructor
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 146 CNC FINISH & PRECISION MFG

students will gain an understanding in CNC sub-aperture fine grinding, and polishing of spherical and aspheric surfaces.

Prerequisites: EAS 141, or permission of the instructor
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 147 LAB-MAGNET FINISHING

Course will provide a basic understanding of CNC sub-aperture form correction of pre-polished optical substrates using MRF technology (magnetorheological finishing).

Prerequisites: EAS 141, available to OPT and ME students only
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 160 ENGINEERING COMPUTATION I

General engineering computations using Matlab. Programming basics, including: Functions, logic, looping, File manipulation and basic data structures. Applied topics will include: Number representation and error, root finding, interpolation, curve fitting, systems of linear equations, and data reduction and plotting (2D). Examples will be drawn from typical problems in the mechanical engineering curriculum.

Prerequisites: ME 120
Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 194 AUDIO FOR VISUAL MEDIA

No description

ME 201 APPLIED BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEMS

This course covers the classical partial differential equations of mathematical physics: the heat equation, the Laplace equation, and the wave equation. The primary technique covered in the course is separation of variables, which leads to solutions in the form of eigenfunction expansions. The topics include Fourier series, separation of variables, Sturm-Liouville theory, unbounded domains and the Fourier transform, spherical coordinates and Legendre’s equation, cylindrical coordinates and Bessel’s equation. The software package Mathematica will be used extensively. Prior knowledge of Mathematica is helpful but not essential. In the last two weeks of the course, there will be a project on an assigned topic. The course will include applications in heat conduction, electrostatics, fluid flow, and acoustics.

Prerequisites: MTH 164 and MTH 165
Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 202 INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED COMPLEX VARIABLES

Complex numbers and the complex plane; analytic functions; elementary functions; complex integration; series expansions; residue theory; multi-valued functions; conformal mapping. Applications: use of complex functions in oscillation theory; solution of Laplaces equation; evaluation of definite integrals by contour integration; series solutions of ordinary differential equations.

Prerequisites: MTH 161-2 or MTH 141-3 and ME 163-4 or MTH 163-4
Last Offered: Spring 2013

ME 203 ASPECTS OF MODERN DESIGN

Aspects of modern design, with emphasis on mechanical design. Professional ethics and economic planning of projects. Preliminary design, team formation, communication. Precision engineering; Design of experiments and dealing with uncertainty; Practical finite elements and applications to structures and optomechanics. Failure theories. Structural dynamics. Material selection.

Last Offered: Fall 2012

ME 204 MECHANICAL DESIGN

Description: The theory and application of structural mechanics to mechanical design. Topics include: matrix structural analysis and finite element techniques. Students will use the NASTRAN finite element program to solve a variety of design and analysis problems. The term project consists of a team competition to design, analyze build, and test a lightweight structure.

Prerequisites: ME 226
Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 205 ADVANCED MECHANICAL DESIGN

This is an applied course that teaches the student how to use engineering principles in the design of mechanical components and mechanical systems. Topics include: load determination, static and fatigue failure theories, design and analysis of machine components (e.g. shafts, gears, bearings, fasteners, etc.), and the mechanical design process. The student learns the mechanical design process through team based design activities. In particular, project teams will design, analyze, build, and test a working machine in a semester long project. Formal design reviews and engineering reports will be used to document results.

Prerequisites: ME 204
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 206 Building Engineering and Technology in Antiquity

Engineering and technological problems involved in the design, construction, maintenance, and collapse of major buildings and infrastructural systems from antiquity to the pre-industrial world drawing material from case studies of relevant monuments primarily from Classical Rome and Greece, and the Middle Ages.

Prerequisites: Either ME104 or ME106, or permission of the instructor.
Last Offered: Spring 2019

ME 206W BUILDING ENGRG TECHNOLOGY

No description

Last Offered: Spring 2013

ME 207 ROMAN STRUCTURES: BUILDING THE IMPERIAL CITY

This course examines the engineering and technology in Roman Imperial times as related to building design, construction, and maintenance of large-scale projects in the city of Rome. The course begins with a mandatory study-on-location component in Italy in the summer. Topics include forces, materials, and structural design. ME 106, Engineering in Antiquity, is recommended but not required. The course is appropriate for students in the humanities and the social sciences as well as in engineering. Coursework includes homework assignments, midterm exam, and term project. Additional program fee for the study-on-location in Italy is required.

ME 208 Structural Dynamic and Instrumentation on Architectural Heritage Buildings

The course aims at presenting concepts of structural dynamics in the context of architectural heritage buildings applications. The concepts of classical dynamics for single and multi degree of freedom systems are introduced. Then, the topics related to experimental dynamics, and the instrumentation for structural health monitoring of heritage buildings are presented. The concepts studied in the course are finally used for carrying out a field project, which consists on performing experimental tests, and the determination of the response under working conditions of an existing structure in Rochester.

Prerequisites: PHY 121, ME 120, ME 226
Last Offered: Fall 2014

ME 211 COMPUTATIONAL METHODS

Introduction to Matlab; solution of linear equations; interpolation; numerical differentiation and integration; root finding; data fitting; numerical solution of ordinary differential equations.

Prerequisites: MTH 163, MTH 164
Last Offered: Fall 2011

ME 212 VISCO IN BIO TISSUES

Viscoelastic materials have the capacity to both store and dissipate energy. As a result, properly describing their mechanical behavior lies outside the scope of both solid mechanics and fluid mechanics. This course will develop constitutive relations and strategies for solving boundary value problems in linear viscoelastic materials. In addition, the closely-related biphasic theory for fluid-filled porous solids will be introduced. An emphasis will be placed on applications to cartilage, tendon, ligament, muscle, blood vessels, and other biological tissues. Advanced topics including non-linear viscoelasticity, composite viscoelasticity and physical mechanisms of viscoelasticity will be surveyed.

Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 213 MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

Free and forced vibrations. Complex representation, the Euler-Lagrange equations, state space, matrix methods, Laplace transforms. Feedback control of linear systems in state space: stabilization, tracking and observers.

Prerequisites: ME 121, ME 226, MTH 165
Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 222 INTRODUCTION TO ROBUST DESIGN & QUALITY ENGINEERING

Definition and pursuit of "quality" as a design criterion. The concept of robust design. Selection of the quality characteristic, incorporation of noise, and experimental design to improve robustness. Analysis and interpretation of results.

Prerequisites: MTH 164 or Equivalent
Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 223 HEAT TRANSFER

Review of thermodynamic concepts; energy balances; heat transfer mechanisms. Steady-state heat conduction; concept of thermal resistance; conduction in walls, cylinders, and spheres; cooling fins. Transient heat conduction; lumped parameter systems; transient conduction in plane walls; transient conduction in semi-infinite solids. Numerical analysis of conduction; finite difference analysis; one-dimensional steady conduction; two-dimensional steady conduction; transient conduction. Fundamentals of convection; fluid flow and heat transfer; energy equation; convective heat transfer from flat plate; use of dimensional analysis. External forced convection; flow over flat plates; flow past cylinders and spheres; flow across tube banks. Internal forced convection; thermal analysis of flow in tubes; laminar flow in tubes; turbulent flow in tubes. Heat exchangers; overall heat transfer coefficient; log mean temperature analysis; effectiveness-NTU method.

Prerequisites: ME 123, ME 225, and MTH 165
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 224 OPTICAL FAB. AND TESTING

No description

Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 225 INTRODUCTION TO FLUID DYNAMICS

Fluid properties; fluid statics; kinematics of moving fluids; the Bernoulli equation and applications; control volume analysis; differential analysis of fluid flow; inviscid flow, plane potential flow; viscous flow, the Navier-Stokes equation; dimensional analysis,similitude; empirical analysis of pipe flows; flow over immersed bodies, boundary layers, lift and drag.

Prerequisites: MTH 165, MTH 164; PHY 121, ME 120 , ME 123
Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 226 INTRODUCTION TO SOLID MECHANICS

Description: Loads and displacements, stress and strain in solids. Laws of elasticity. Mechanical properties of materials. Thermal stresses. Axial loading. Pressure vessels. Plane stress and plane strain. Stress and strain tensor rotations; principal stresses, principal strains. Torsion and bending of beams. Energy methods. Buckling.

Prerequisites: ME 120
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 232 OPTO-MECHANICAL

The mechanical design and analysis of optical components and systems will be studied. Topics will include kinematic mounting of optical elements, the analysis of adhesive bonds, and the influence of environmental effects such as gravity, temperature, and vibration on the performance of optical systems. Additional topics include analysis of adaptive optics, the design of lightweight mirrors, thermo-optic and stress-optic (stress birefringence) effects. Emphasis will be placed on integrated analysis which includes the data transfer between optical design codes and mechanical FEA codes. A term project is required for ME 432.

Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 241 FLUIDS LAB

Description: Laboratory course. Introductory Lecture(s) on lab practice and data analysis. The lab itself consists of two parts: The first part uses simple experiments to familiarize the student with computer data acquisitions and some basic instrumentation. In the second part, students (working in groups of three) perform independent experimental projects. The course has significant writing content and makes formal use of the Writing Center. In addition to written and oral laboratory reports, each group is expected to make a final poster presentation of its work.

Prerequisites: ME 225
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 242 SOLIDS & MATERIALS LAB

In this course, you will apply previously learned theoretical concepts to practical problems and applications. In addition, you will learn experimental techniques and enhance your technical writing skills. This course has two parts, a series of small laboratory exercises and a project. During the semester, students will work in groups of three to complete the assigned work, labs, and reports. The lab section of the course is designed to present basic applied concepts that will be useful to a broad base of engineering problems. The project portion is where you will work on a more specific idea, tailored around your desired future goals.

Prerequisites: ME280, ME226, MTH161,162 and CHM 131
Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 245 PRECISION INSTRUMENT DESIGN

This course focuses teaching the multidisciplinary aspects of designing complex, precise systems. In these systems, aspects from mechanics, optics, electronics, design for manufacturing/assembly, and metrology/qualification must all be considered to design, build, and demonstrate a successful precision system. The goal of this class is to develop a fundamental understanding of multidisciplinary design for designing the next generation of advanced instrumentation. This course is open to graduate students in engineering and physics backgrounds although it has a strong emphasis on mechanical engineering and systems engineering topics. This course is open to undergraduates who are in their senior year.

Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 251 HEAT POWER APPLICATION

Review of thermodynamics, vapor power systems, gas power systems, refrigeration and heat pumps, internal combustion engines, nozzles and diffusers, compressors and turbines, aircraft propulsion, cost analysis of power production

Prerequisites: ME 123& ME 225(may be taken concurrently)
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 253 INTRODUCTION TO NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

A first course in nuclear engineering with emphasis on the fundamental physics and technology of modern water-cooled power reactors, the nuclear fuel cycle, and the regulatory environment surrounding nuclear power in the United States

Prerequisites: MTH 163, Ordinary Differential Equations, or equivalent ME 122, Computational Methods in Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent PHY 123, Modern Physics (recommended)
Last Offered: Spring 2014

ME 254 FINITE ELEMENTS METHODS

This course provides a thorough grounding on the theory and application of linear steady-state finite element method (FEM) applied to solid mechanics. Topics include: review of matrix algebra and solid mechanics, Principle of Minimum Potential Energy, Rayleigh Ritz Method, FEM computational procedures, isoparametric shape functions and numerical integration for 1D, 2D, and 3D elements, error estimation and convergence, and the demonstration of FEM best practices using a commercial FEM code. A semester project that involves coding FEM software in Matlab is required for graduate students.

Prerequisites: MTH 164 & MTH 165,ME 226 and ability to program in MATLAB.
Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 260 ENGINEERING COMPUTATION II

Advanced engineering computations using Matlab. This course will include the following programming topics: accelerated review of ME160, 3D plotting and animation, Debugging and Efficiency as well as some GUI programming. The rest of the course will be focused on numerical topics important for the mechanical engineering student including the following topics as time permits: numerical integration and differentiation, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, non-linear systems, solution of ODEs and PDEs.

Prerequisites: ME160, MTH161, MTH162, MTH165 (May be taken concurrently with ME260)
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 280 INTRODUCTION TO MATERIALS SCIENCE

Properties of engineering materials including metals, alloys, ceramics, polymers and composites. Relationship of properties to the materials microstructure including atomic bonding, atomic arrangement, crystal structure, co-existing phases, interfaces, defects and impurities. Processing techniques for altering the microstructure and properties.

Prerequisites: ME226, PHY 122
Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 281 MECHANICL BEHAVIOR OF SOLIDS

Description: The mechanical response of crystalline (metals, ceramics, semiconductors)and amorphous solids (glasses, polymers) and their composites in terms of the relationships between stress, strain, damage, fracture, strain-rate, temperature, and microstructure. Topics include: (1) Material structure and property overview. (2) Isotropic and anisotropic elasticity and viscoelasticity. (3) Properties of composites. (4) Plasticity. (5) Point and line defects. (6) Interfacial and volumetric defects. (7) Yield surfaces and flow rules in plasticity of polycrystals and single crystals. (8) Macro and micro aspects of fractures in metals, ceramics and polymers.(9) Creep and superplasticity. (10) Deformation and fracture mechanism maps. (11) Fatigue damage and failure; fracture and failure in composites (If time permits).

Prerequisites: ME 280, MTH 165 or equivalent
Last Offered: Spring 2020

ME 291 VEHICLE DESIGN AND DYNAMICS

Engineering design aspects of car dynamics, with hands-on workshop for vehicle measurements and data. Tire behavior, center of gravity, vehicle axis systems and SAE tire axis system, stability and control, break system, suspension, steering. Applications to SAE Mini Baja design. Course offered August 30th through October 30th.

Prerequisites: ME120, ME121, ME226 (all can be taken concurrently).
Last Offered: Fall 2013

ME 299G ENGG&ARCHAEOLOGY WEST AFRICA

No description

Last Offered: Summer 2019

ME 311 ENGINEERING COMPUTATION

Engineering computation and algorithms using MatLab. Solution of systems of linear equations, numerical integration, integration of differential equations, boundary value problems. Examples drawn from the mechanical engineering curriculum (statics, dynamics, fluid mechanics, mechanics of materials, heat transfer, mechanical systems.)

Last Offered: Spring 2015

ME 386V VISITING STUDENT IN MECH ENG

No description

Last Offered: Summer 2014

ME 390 SUPERVISED TEACHING

No description

Last Offered: Spring 2019

ME 390A SUPERVISED TEACHING ME 201

No description

Last Offered: Fall 2019

ME 391 INDEPENDENT READING

No description