ME Implements Significant Updates to Lab Facilities
New Lab Classes and Lab Facilities
Testing is a critical aspect of mechanical engineering.
New component designs must be rigorously tested to insure they meets performance specifications as well as any health and safety standards; so too with any newly designed thermal-fluid processes. As such, engineers must be able to design and conduct meaningful experiments, to interpret the resulting data, and to communicate the results of these tests accurately and succinctly.
Because of the importance of testing, the ME Department has changed the curriculum to include three required undergraduate lab classes. Each lab class has an accompanying lecture style class. These include:
- ME 312, Fluid Mechanics Lab
- ME 324, Mechanics of Materials Lab
- ME 415, Senior ME Lab
These labs accompany ME 311, Fluid Mechanics, ME 323, Mechanics of Materials, and ME 414, Mechanical Measurements, respectively. These labs expose students to a variety of common measurement tools (strain gages, load cells, pressure sensors, digital image correlation, etc.), cover how to design and conduct tests, and discuss how best to interpret test data. Detailed lab reports are due in each course.
To outfit these labs properly with the latest lab equipment, the ME Department has spent in excess of $350,000 over the last four years. This investment will insure that our students get practical experience with modern measurement equipment and techniques.