Mechanical Engineering

Undergraduate Programs

BS in Mechanical Engineering

Program Descriptions

Mechanical engineers design and manufacture components and systems, therefore they are required to take courses that emphasize the engineering design process. The mechanical engineering graduate should be well equipped to undertake a professional engineering career in any technology that he or she chooses.

The mechanical engineering program at New Mexico Tech offers students hands‐on laboratory experiences in fluid and thermal sciences, mechanics of materials, vibrations, mechatronics, dynamic systems and controls, instrumentation, and measurement. Mechanical engineers in industry must be able to interact with many engineering disciplines, so they are also required to take courses in other engineering disciplines.

Program Outcomes

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at New Mexico Tech will produce Bachelor of Science graduates who are independent thinkers, taking ownership in identifying problems and determining effective solution strategies in a timely manner. Following working experience after graduation, they will:

Be employed successfully in government laboratories, graduate schools, industry, or other areas of the profession.
Have an understanding of the importance of lifelong learning such that they seek personal and professional growth. 
Have achieved a noteworthy level of workplace responsibility.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
communicate effectively with a range of audiences
recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

Program Requirements

All of the requirements for the mechanical engineering degree are contained in the current NMT catalog, located here: https://www.nmt.edu/registrar/catalogs.php

All students are required to follow the details as outlined in the official catalog for the year they were admitted or newer.

The Mechanical Engineering Degree currently includes a total of 135 credit hours of classes which is outlined in our Fall 2020-Spring 2021 flow chart.

Our Mechanical Engineering degree places a high value on student hands-on learning, which we reinforce through several upper division laboratories and our Design Clinic. Our Design Clinic is a four-semester sequence during a student's junior and senior year working on industry-sponsored projects in a collaborative team environment. For a listing of current Design Clinic projects visit our Design Clinic page.

Design Projects

The Mechanical Engineering Department has among the most rigorous design clinics in the nation. Students are required to complete a full year of junior design and a full year of senior design.

Working in teams, students tackle a variety of projects that are sponsored by industry partners, faculty members, national laboratories, and other government agencies.

Minors

New Mexico Tech awards minors for your secondary field of study. While the number of credits required for a minor vary from department to department, a minimum of 18 credit hours is required. Students cannot earn a minor with either the Associate of General Studies or Bachelor of General Studies. You must declare a minor and be assigned a minor advisor prior to completing the coursework for the minor. Formal details for these minors are available in the Mechanical Engineering section of the current NMT Catalog. The summaries below are for reference, and all students should reference the current catalog for specifics.

Minor in Mechanical Engineering

Minimum credit hours required – 18

The following courses are required:

At least eighteen (18) credit hours of Engineering Science or Mechanical Engineering courses and/or labs beyond those required for major. These courses and labs are subject to the approval of the Mechanical Engineering Minor Advisor.

Formal details for the minor are available in the Mechanical Engineering section of the current NMT Catalog.

Minor in Aerospace Engineering

Minimum credit hours required – 18

The following courses are required:

AE 311, Aerodynamics I

AE 412, Aerospace Systems,

AE Elective

Additional 12 credits of AE courses.

Formal details for the minor are available in the Mechanical Engineering section of the current NMT Catalog.

Minor in Biomedical Engineering

Minimum credit hours required – 19

The following courses are required:

BIOL 111, 111L, General Biology,

BIOL 331, Cell Biology

BIOL 351, Physiology I

BIOL 352, Physiology II

Two courses from:

MATE 351, Introduction to Polymeric Materials

MENG 460, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering

MENG 465, Biorheology

MATE 516, Biomimetic Materials

CHE 473, Polymer Materials Engineering

MENG 576, Biomedical Mechatronics

MENG 486, Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering

Senior Design Project

Students, who are interested in a minor in Biomedical Engineering, will do their Junior/Senior Design Project in the Biomedical Engineering field. This is an opportunity for them to implement their learning in the mechanical engineering and life sciences fields to tackle a particular problem in the biomedical engineering field.

Formal details for the minor are available in the Mechanical Engineering section of the current NMT Catalog.

Minor in Explosives Engineering

Minimum credit hours required – 18

The following courses are required:

(EXPL = Explosives Engineering)

EXPL 311/MENG 545, Introduction to Explosives Engineering

EXPL 412/MENG 549, Wave Propagation

EXPL Elective (subject to the approval of the Explosives Engineering Minor Advisor)

One course from:

EXPL 314, Theory and Application of Pyrotechnic

EXPL 413/MENG 513, Impact Dynamics

Two courses from:

EXPL 314, Theory and Application of Pyrotechnic

EXPL 316, Energetic Material Chemistry

EXPL 317, Energetic Material Safety

EXPL 320, Explosives Technology and Applications

EXPL 413/MENG 513, Impact Dynamics

EXPL 414/ChE 475, Explosives Surety

EXPL 415/MENG553, Computer Modeling of Detonations

EXPL 418, Shock Physics and Structural Response to Blast

EXPL 419, Experimental and Diagnostic Techniques

Formal details for the minor are available in the Mechanical Engineering section of the current NMT Catalog.

Clubs

Being a part of the Mechanical Engineering Department allows students to also participate in various clubs that can promote further networking capabilities and experience in their respective fields through a community of other professional and student engineers in their chapter.

NSPE

In 1934, a group of professional engineers met in New York City to establish an organization dedicated to the non-technical concerns of licensed professional engineers. The National Society of Professional Engineers stands today as the only national organization committed to addressing the professional concerns of licensed PEs across all disciplines. For more information and how to join click here.

ASME

ASME is a not-for-profit membership organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing, career enrichment, and skills development across all engineering disciplines, toward a goal of helping the global engineering community develop solutions to benefit lives and livelihoods. Founded in 1880 by a small group of leading industrialists, ASME has grown through the decades to include more than 100,000 members in 140+ countries. Thirty-two thousand of these members are students. For more information and how to join click here.

Design Clinic

In Junior and Senior year, every mechanical Engineering Student is required to take a Design Clinic course that is centered around team develpoment and utilizing their knowledge for hands on experience. Each Design Team ranges from different disciplines of Engineering while incorporating all the concepts that students have learned in class for project development. For information on these projects please visit the link here.