Guidelines for Satisfying the ME Elective Requirement
A MEGR program requirement is that all students must take 9 credits of approved elective courses. One exception applies to MEGR students who transfer into mechanical engineering without credit for MEGR 181 Innovative Design must take an additional 2 credits of approved ME electives for a total of 11 credits.
For all MEGR students, at least two of the courses taken to satisfy the ME elective requirement must be courses offered by the Mechanical Engineering department. The ME department changes their elective offerings, each worth 3 credits, every year and strives to provide a range of both contempory and relevant topics to supplement the major program requirements. If a student opts to take both MEGR 322 Thermodyanmics II and MEGR 372 Machine Elements II, then one of these 4 credit courses will count as an elective. You should work closely with your faculty advisor to discuss upcoming offerings and to learn when different electives will be offered throughout your junior and senior year.
The following courses may be taken to help satisfy the ME elective requirement:
- PHYS 310 Classical Mechanics (5 credit hours): Newtonian mechanics for students of physics. Topics include point-particle
mechanics in 3-dimensions; oscillations; Newton’s theory of gravitation; central
force motion; Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics;. Prerequisites: PHYS 250,
ECEGR 101 or permission of instructor.
- PHYS 340 Nonlinear Dynamical Systems and Chaos (4 credit hours): An introduction to nonlinear dynamical systems. Topics include coupled linear
and nonlinear difference equations; coupled linear and nonlinear ordinary
differential equations; fixed points; equilibrium points; stability;
bifurcations; limit cycles; logistic equation; Feigenbaum scaling; fractals;
Hausdorff dimension; dissipative and Hamiltonian systems; Liapunov’s method;
strange attractors; nonlinear oscillations; perturbation theory; Lorenz
equations; chaos; predictability; computer programming and graphics.
Prerequisites: PHYS 123, MATH 234, ECEGR 101 or permission of instructor.
- MATH 351 Probability (5 credit hours): Basic concepts and theorems in probability theory; the binomial, Poisson,
normal, and other fundamental probability distributions; moments; limit theorems. Prerequisite: MATH 232.
- MATH 361 Nonlinear Systems and Modeling (5 credit hours): Systems of linear and nonlinear ordinary differential equations, phase-plane and
bifurcation analyses, numerical methods for ODE’s, and chaos. Introduction to
mathematical modeling. Physical systems may include predator-prey interactions,
mechanics, circuit theory and/or infectious diseases. Computer laboratory
component. Prerequisite: MATH 234.
- MATH 371 Introduction to Numerical Methods (5 credit hours): Approximation and errors; solution of equations and systems of linear equations;
numerical integration. Prerequisites: MATH 233 and proficiency in a
programming language.
- CEEGR 337 Fluids Lab (1 credit hour): Experimental calibration of various flow meters, loss coefficients, and pipe
friction factors. Experimental verification of various principles of fluid
mechanics.