Course overview
Mechanical Engineering is the branch of engineering that encompasses the study of forces, motion, energy, materials, manufacturing, and design in order to apply them to the creation of mechanical devices and systems that serve society (e.g., engines, refrigerators, machines, tools, etc). This is accomplished through a process of problem description, creative idea generation, design, analysis, judgment, planning, and production that typically involves a host of professionals who may all have been educated as mechanical engineers. For example, mechanical engineers may be involved in product design, analysis, and testing, in developing manufacturing processes, in defining product requirements and trouble-shooting customer problems, in project management, and in research and education. The profession serves many diverse fields and industries such as the aerospace, pharmaceutical, automotive, biomedical engineering, and power generation industries, to name just a few. In fact, any device or system that involves energy or movement probably involved one or more mechanical engineers in its creation. Some exciting, rapidly developing fields and emerging technologies of interest to mechanical engineers include fuel cells (the use of chemical fuel and an oxidant to directly produce electricity), rapid prototyping (the use of computer-controlled machines to fabricate complete objects in one step directly from computer models), mechatronics (the integration of mechanical systems and electronic sensing and control), biomedical engineering (the application of engineering to problems in medicine and biology), nanoengineering (the creation of materials and devices at the nanometer level, i.e., at the atomic, molecular, or supramolecular levels), and MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems-the integration of mechanical, chemical, and/or electronic systems at the chip level).
The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Gonzaga University develops men and women who are both competent engineers and educated responsible human beings. The development of these two characteristics in students is affected by course work from both the liberal arts and the profession. Thus, these two aspects are interwoven, being a single, integrated fabric having many threads contributed by many curricula. Diversity of opportunity and professional breadth are hallmarks of the mechanical engineering profession. This translates into a need for a thorough grounding in a variety of mathematical, scientific, and engineering fundamentals. Thus, the Mechanical Engineering Program at Gonzaga University prepares the student in the areas of mathematics, chemistry, physics, mechanics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, materials, manufacturing, design, control theory, experimentation, and economics. These fundamentals are enhanced with exposure to important engineering tools such as mathematical techniques; computer programming; computer applications including computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), finite element analysis (FEA), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD); and the use of equipment, instruments, and software typically found in manufacturing and laboratory situations. Since teamwork is an essential aspect of the modern practice of mechanical engineering, the Mechanical Engineering Program gives considerable attention to building personal communication skills through team design projects, reports, and presentations.
