Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

  • ENG ME 411: Operations Research
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGME366 OR CASMA381) & (ENGEK102 OR CASMA142)) - No longer offered
  • ENG ME 415: Product Design
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGME345 & ENGME407 & ENGEK409) - No longer offered
  • ENG ME 416: Introduction to Robotics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASMA225 & ENGEK125 & ENGEK301) - The term robot was first used by a Czech playwriter in 1920, but the fascination of humans with machines that can sense, process and act in their physical environment was there since ancient civilization. Today the convergence of relatively cheap but powerful hardware with many years of research makes possible to (almost) build robots in different shapes and for a variety of applications: industrial robots, vacuum cleaners, delivery drones, self-driving cars, etc. While this is an active field of research, the basic building blocks for a robot (modeling, control, perception, mapping and planning) are well understood. Through both theory and practice, in this class you will learn these basics, and build a simple but complete system that will compete with the creations of your peers.
  • ENG ME 419: Heat Transfer
    Prerequisites:(ENGME303 & ENGME304) - This course covers the fundamentals of heat transfer from a macroscopic and engineering perspective, and aims to develop a physical and analytical understanding of the three modes of heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation), with an emphasis on simplifying approximations and empirical correlations to solve real-world engineering problems. The main topics that this course covers are: Steady-state conduction in one and two dimensions; Non-steady (transient) conduction in one-dimensional systems; Forced and natural convection (external and internal); Introduction to boiling, evaporation, and condensation; Application to heat exchangers; Radiation heat exchange; Mass Transfer Analogies (diffusion and convection).
  • ENG ME 420: Supply Chain Engineering
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGEK381) - Emphasizes the integration of product design with the process of delivering products to customers. Review of manufacturing processes for process automation. Supply chain configuration and flow balancing. Seamless introduction of new products. Process reengineering and lean manufacturing techniques in established supply chains. Design of decision support systems.
  • ENG ME 421: Aerodynamics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGME303) - Flow kinematics. Aerodynamic forces. Potential flow theory. Streamfunction and velocity potential in two-dimensional flows. 2D and 3D wing theory: thin airfoil theory and lifting line theory. Computational methods for potential flow. Linearized compressible flow. Laminar and turbulent boundary layers. Includes labs and computer projects.
  • ENG ME 425: Compressible Flow and Propulsion
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGME303 & ENGME304) - Fluid mechanics and thermodynamics of compressible fluid flow with application to external and internal flows as found in propulsion systems. Fluid/thermal related topics include: normal and oblique shocks, Prandtl-Meyer expansion waves, variable area duct flow, and wave drag. Propulsion applications include rocket nozzles, supersonic inlets, and exhaust nozzles for airbreathing propulsion systems. Parametric cycle analysis for ramjet, turbojet, and turbofan engines.
  • ENG ME 441: Mechanical Vibration
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGME302) - One- and multi-degree-of-freedom systems. Natural frequencies and modes of vibrations, resonance, beat phenomenon. Stability analysis. Energy methods. Applications to rotating machinery. Methods for vibration reduction.
  • ENG ME 452: Directed Study in Mechanical Engineering
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (By petition only.) - Under faculty supervision, students may study a subject that is relevant to mechanical engineering and is not covered in a regularly offered course. Term paper and/or written examination required at end of semester.
  • ENG ME 457: Engineering Projects in Mechanical Engineering
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (By petition only.) - Project for seniors in mechanical engineering. Students select, develop, and complete a project and prepare a report.
  • ENG ME 460: Senior Design I
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGME302 & ENGME305 & ENGME360) CAS WR 150/1/2/3 required. - The course develops skills that are crucial to the successful completion of the Senior Capstone Design project. The core technical framework is electro- mechanical systems. Through lectures, workshops, and online materials, students gain practical experience in component and system design, project planning, and engineering communications. The course guides students through execution and documentation of the conceptual design stage of their Capstone projects. Cannot be taken for credit in addition to ENG ME 560. When taken with ENG ME 461, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Part of a Hub sequence
  • ENG ME 461: Senior Design 2
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGME460) Senior standing; First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - The main activity in this course is the planning, and execution of a capstone project that represents a culmination of the Mechanical Engineering program. Students work in teams on either a research or design problem in some area of Mechanical Engineering that builds upon previous coursework. Class time will be focused on weekly project meetings with faculty. The course includes lectures on ethics, entrepreneurship, project management and other professional topics. Oral and written communications will be emphasized. When taken with ENG ME 460, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • ENG ME 500: Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering
    Seminar course on a topic of current interest in aerospace and mechanical engineering.
  • ENG ME 501: Dynamic System Theory
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: Familiarity with differential equations and matrices at the level of E NG ME 404 or CAS MA 242, or consent of instructor. - Introduction to analytical concepts and examples of dynamic systems and control. Mathematical description and state space formation of dynamic systems; modeling, controllability, and observability. Eigenvector and transform analysis of linear systems including canonical forms. Performance specifications. State feedback: pole placement and the linear quadratic regulator. Introduction to MIMO design and system identification using computer tools and laboratory experiments. Meets with ENG EC 501 and ENG SE 501; students may not receive credit for both.
  • ENG ME 502: Invention: Technology Creation, Protection, and Commercialization
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (Senior or graduate standing in an engineering or science discipline o r consent of instructor) - This course provides students with the knowledge and tools necessary to create, protect, and commercialize engineering and scientific intellectual assets. Students will first make use of creativity tools to attack posed engineering problems, then turn to means for protecting their solutions. Rapidly growing areas that are affecting nearly all businesses (e.g., software and the internet) as well as "high-tech" areas including microelectronics, communications, and bioengineering will be emphasized. Extensive patent searches and analysis will be carried out to develop skills for quickly ascertaining the protected technical content of patents, and for recognizing what intellectual property (IP) should be and can be protected. Legal aspects for protecting creative ideas will be studied at a level appropriate for engineers to interact easily and smoothly during their technical careers with IP lawyers. Various business models for the commercialization of intellectual assets will be analyzed. Extensive class exercises and projects will explore in depth all three of these important areas of IP, with emphasis on key contributions during engineering and scientific research and development activities.
  • ENG ME 503: Kinetic Processes in Materials
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: Undergraduate course in materials science and engineering. - Kinetics of mass transport, continuum and atomistic approaches, chemical diffusion; kinetics of chemical reactions, kinetics of adsorption and evaporation; nucleation and growth; solidification; spinodal decomposition; coarsening; martensitic transformations; order-disorder reactions; point defects and their relation to transport kinetics. Meets with ENGMS503; students may not receive credit for both.
  • ENG ME 504: Polymers and Soft Materials
    An introduction to soft matter for students with background in materials science, chemistry, and physics. This course covers general aspects of structures, properties, and applications of soft materials such as polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, amphiphiles, gels, and biomaterials. Emphasis on chemistry and forces related to molecular self-assembly. Topics include forces, energies, kinetics in material synthesis, growth and transformation; methods for preparing synthetic materials; formation, assembly, phase behavior, and molecular ordering of synthetic soft materials; structure, function, and phase transition of natural materials such as nucleic acids, proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids; techniques for characterizing the structure, phase, and dynamics of soft materials; application of soft materials in nanotechnology. Meets with ENG BE and MS 504; students may not receive credit for both.
  • ENG ME 505: Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: Undergraduate course in Thermodynamics. - The laws of thermodynamics; general formulation and applications to mechanical, electromagnetic and electromechanical systems; thermodynamics of solutions, phase diagrams; thermodynamics of interfaces, adsorption; defect equilibrium in crystals; statistical thermodynamics, including ensembles, gases, crystal lattices, and phase transitions. Same as ENGMS505; students may not receive credit for both.
  • ENG ME 506: Engineering Device Applications: From Physics to Design
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: Senior or graduate standing in the Engineering, Physics, or the Chemis try disciplines, or consent of instructor. - Senior or graduate standing in the engineering, physics, or the chemistry disciplines, or consent of instructor. Topics include many sensors and actuators, including accelerometers and piezoelectric devices, as well as many other electromechanical devices, plus lasers, quantum dots, atomic force microscope, ellipsometry, plasma etching, advanced semiconductor based devices, scanning electron microscopes, and open to other student suggested directions. Such devices are used considerably in engineering, science, and technology, as well as in commercial high "tech" products, and for instrumentation and measuring purposes. Many devices will be taken apart and analyzed in terms of the operation,physics, design, device optimization, plus considerations of possible deviations from the original design. The intent here is that a confident mastery of these devices will improve the use and application of these devices for engineers, as well as provide a guide where jobs might be obtained in the use and possible enhancements of these devices. About 20 physical demonstrations will be given during the course.
  • ENG ME 507: Process Modeling and Control
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (ENGEK307 OR CASMA226) or equivalent coursework and permission of the instructor. Senior or g raduate standing in engineering. - An introduction to modeling and control as applied to industrial unit processes providing the basis for process development and improvement. Major themes include an integrated treatment of modeling multi-domain physical systems (electrical, mechanical, fluid, thermal), application of classical control techniques, and system design. Topics include modeling techniques, analysis of linear dynamics, control fundamentals in the time and frequency domain, and actuator selection and control structure design. Examples drawn from a variety of manufacturing processes and case studies. Meets with ENGMS507. Students may not receive credit for both.