Mechanical Engineering

Website: mech.utah.edu/academics/undergraduate

Rio Tinto Kennecott Mechanical Engineering Building (MEK), Rm 1550

Undergraduate Advising: https://www.mech.utah.edu/academics/undergraduate/undergraduate-advising/

Mechanical engineers play a significant role in designing and manufacturing all of the products and systems essential to everyday modern life: recreational equipment, automobiles, aerospace systems, airplanes, medical devices, robots, industrial equipment, power generation, and sustainable energy systems. The field of mechanical engineering (ME) is concerned with the mechanical, thermal, and fluid-flow aspects of all of these systems, including computer and feedback control of complex systems. As a mechanical engineering student at the University of Utah, you will learn the professional, technical, critical thinking, and communication skills you need to be successful and make meaningful contributions to this exciting field.

The ME curriculum consists of courses throughout the broad disipline including: thermal-fluids, solid mechanics, robotics/mechatronics, and design and manufacturing. The major is built upon primarily math and physics prerequisites and culminates in a year long senior capstone design course. As the ME degree is a broad foundational engineering program, students also have the option to complete an emphasis, allowing them to tailor their program to best fit their strengths and interests.

Combined BS and MS Mechanical Engineering

Students must fill out a BS/MS pre-screening form and meet with a grad advisor to be screened for the combined B.S./M.S. program one year prior to the completion of all course work for the B.S. in Mechanical Engineering degree.

After meeting the screening requirements for the program, some graduate course work and research (if completing the thesis option) is undertaken during the last year in the B.S. program. Two of the four required technical electives for the undergraduate program are taken at the graduate level (6000-level and above) and an additional two graduate-level courses may be taken during the undergraduate program (that are not counting towards the four required technical electives) and applied towards the graduate degree. Both the B.S. and M.S. degrees are awarded upon completion of all M.S. degree requirements, which is expected to be approximately 12 months after the completion of all B.S. degree requirements.

Major Status

Students who indicate Mechanical Engineering as their University of Utah admissions application are granted Major Status in Mechanical Engineering upon admission to the University.

Students with a different major declared who want to change their major to Mechanical Engineering must have a cumulative University of Utah GPA of 2.500 or higher and schedule a meeting with an ME Academic Advisor to initiate the change. Students who have previously been dismissed from the major can only regain ME Major Status if they are readmitted to the major via the process outlined on the department website: https://www.mech.utah.edu/academics/undergraduate/.

For all students with ME Major Status, catalog year will be updated according to the first semester that an ME EN course (excluding ME EN 1020) was completed for a letter grade.

Enrollment Requirements

In order to enroll in ME EN courses, a student must satisfy all of the following requirements:

1. ME Major Status

2. All course requisites met

3. NOT in "ME Advising Hold" Student Group

4. NOT in “ME Dismissed” Student Group

Additionally, in order to enroll in ME EN courses numbered higher than ME EN 2010 Statics, a student must be in the "ME EN 2-5XXX Eligible" Student Group.

ME EN 2-5XXX Eligible Student Group

Students with ME Major Status will be added to the “ME EN 2-5XXX Eligible” Student Group when they:

(1) enroll in ME EN 1000 or ME EN 1010 - OR - 

(2) matriculate at the University of Utah as a transfer student with ME EN 1000 and ME EN 1010 already completed 

if they satisfy one of the following:

• Less than 30 college credits completed after high school

• Weighted cumulative and major GPA of 3.0 or higher AND no failed major courses

• Approved by ME Academic Standards Committee after providing additional information via an online form

Students who submit the online form but are not approved by the ME Academic Standards Committee will NOT be added to the “ME EN 2-5XXX Eligible” Student Group. These students may ask to be re-evaluated for a future semester.

Students who are dismissed from the ME Undergraduate Program (for example, through the department’s Academic Standards process or for academic misconduct) will be removed from the “ME EN 2-5XXX Eligible” Student Group and added to the “ME Dismissed” Student Group. They will also lose ME Major Status.

ME Advising Hold Student Group

Students with ME Major Status will be added to the “ME Advising Hold” Student Group if they:

• Do not satisfy departmental advising requirements (for example, Academic Standards advising or mandatory transfer advising).

• Do not enroll in any ME EN courses during a Fall or Spring semester (and are not on a Leave of Absence from the University).

Students will be removed from this group when advising requirements have been satisfied.

ME Dismissed Student Group

Students who are dismissed from the ME Undergraduate Program (for example, through the department’s Academic Standards process or for academic misconduct) will be added to the “ME Dismissed” Student Group. A student will only be removed from this group if they are readmitted to the major via the process outlined on the department website: https://www.mech.utah.edu/academics/undergraduate/.

https://advising.utah.edu/majors/quick-look/mechanical-engineering.php