Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology featured a single, rigorous engineering curriculum leading to a baccalaureate degree designated as “Mechanical Engineer.” A broad-based interdisciplinary philosophy was put into practice by the founders of the institute from the first graduating class. While the original area of concentration was mechanical engineering, and despite the title of the degree, the curriculum included courses in all of the then-current engineering disciplines; mechanical, civil, chemical, and electrical engineering. Over time the program has grown to include other engineering disciplines.

Members of the Stevens family were pioneer engineers, inventors and entrepreneurs whose achievements molded the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME). Stevens’ first president, Henry Morton, was the founding president of the ASME as he presided over the society’s first meeting on the Stevens campus in 1880.

Of all the engineering professions, mechanical engineering is the broadest and most diversified. From gadgets to medical devices, from air, ground, sea and space vehicles to power plants and industrial machines, from engines to robots, mechanical engineers design systems or parts for nearly every product manufactured throughout the world. The range and scope of mechanical engineering has undergone major changes over the past decade, while retaining and expanding traditional areas of endeavor. Some of the changes have been due to the improvements in auxiliary fields, such as new materials, or the introduction of new fields, such as bioengineering, additive manufacturing, sustainable energy, micronano technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

At Stevens we offer our ME students a solid, broad-based foundation in fundamental engineering principles and liberal arts, along with in-depth disciplinary knowledge, preparing them for a successful career in engineering. Classroom instruction and hands-on laboratory work combine to give students a thorough understanding. In training students for work in business, industry, or academia, we emphasize teamwork by encouraging students to collaborate with their peers and faculty on a wide range of experiments and design projects.

The ME program at Stevens strives to educate “the complete engineer.” In addition to our emphasis on scientific and engineering proficiency, we instill in our students the values of professionalism, leadership, entrepreneurship, and ethics. Our students also receive extensive training in communication, learning how to effectively present technical information orally, visually and in written form.

Reflecting the wide diversity of subject matter to be found in the present-day practice in the field, our mechanical engineering program offers a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Major areas of interest include: biomedical devices and bio-mechanical systems, design and manufacturing, solid mechanics, dynamics, machine design, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, turbomachinery, energy conversion, combustion, HVAC, robotics and autonomous systems, automatic controls, and vibrations. If you have particular interests or highly-specific objectives, we can generally satisfy your individual goals through elective courses and appropriate project work. Furthermore, the available pool of electives allows the student to specialize in one of the following concentration areas:

Aerospace Engineering

Automotive Engineering

Biomedical Engineering

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Power Generation

Product Design and Manufacturing

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

Sustainable Energy

Program Mission, Program Educational Objectives, and Student Outcomes

The mission of the mechanical engineering program is to produce graduates with a broad-based foundation in fundamental engineering principles and liberal arts, together with the depth of disciplinary knowledge needed to succeed in a career in mechanical engineering or a related field, including a wide variety of advanced technological and management careers.

To achieve its mission, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, with input from its constituents, has established the following Program Educational Objectives:

Graduates use their fundamental engineering knowledge and broad-based education to innovate and develop solutions to meet the current and emerging needs of society [foundations, problem solving and innovation]

Graduates excel in working within and leading multi-disciplinary teams [leadership and teamwork]

Graduates continually improve their knowledge and skills to drive technological change in an ethical and socially responsible manner [technology-centric, ethics and social]

Student Outcomes - By the time of graduation, mechanical engineering students will have:

an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics

an ability to 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

an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences

an ability to 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

an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives

an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions

an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies

a fundamental knowledge and an appreciation of the technology and business processes necessary to nurture new technologies from concept to commercialization.