Undergraduate Calendar 1998-1999


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The scope of Mechanical Engineering is so wide and its services so universally needed as a basic part of all kinds of engineering work that the mechanical engineer is in demand in all industries. Mechanical engineers are required in the field of power generation, where they deal with steam, diesel or other internal combustion engines, and with hydraulic or gas turbines; in the field of heating, ventilation and refrigeration; in the design, analysis, and production of machines and equipment, for example, safety equipment, material handling equipment, automobiles, locomotives, marine vessels, furnaces, boilers, pressure vessels, heat exchangers, motors, generators and machine tools. They are employed in industries whose function is concerned with manufacturing, steel production, mining, transportation, communications, oil refining, chemical manufacture, paper, sugar, textiles, aerospace, nuclear energy, natural gas production and transmission and construction. The undergraduate program in Mechanical Engineering is designed to provide the student with a firm grasp of the fundamentals of mathematics, physics and engineering as well as to provide some opportunity for specialization in the later years. The degree of BASc in Mechanical Engineering is accredited and permits registration as a Professional Engineer in the Professional Engineering Organization in almost any Canadian province upon completion of the work experience requirement and upon passing the Association exams in law and ethics.

The Mechanical Engineering undergraduate program contains a core of basic subjects that must be taken by all students. The first year shares many courses with Civil and Electrical Engineering. The second and third years provide courses in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering with further development in mathematics and physics. Opportunities for specialization exist during the fourth year, where a choice of elective courses arranged into six different areas of specialization is available. Non-technical (complementary studies) courses are distributed throughout the program but do not appear in all years.

Each student is responsible for selecting their own program of electives, in keeping with the ultimate career objective after graduation. Each term, certain faculty members are designated to give advice to students and to approve their selection. It is anticipated, and indeed encouraged, that individual students should take a majority of their technical electives from one of the areas of specialization listed below:

Fluid Mechanics; Environmental Fluid Mechanics

The courses in this area of specialization deal with a broad range of applications of the principles of thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, with emphasis on topics of industrial significance, for example, aerodynamics, internal flows with heat and mass transfer, turbomachinery, and flows in the natural environment such as plumes in air and effluents in water. Many courses in fluid mechanics and thermal engineering are closely linked.

Machine Design and Solid Mechanics

The courses offered in this area of specialization range from those which provide the mathematical and physical basis of the subject matter through to those which are largely applied in nature. Subjects treated are: mechanics (including vibrations); theories of elasticity, plasticity and fracture; machine design and design optimization.

Materials Engineering and Processing

This area of specialization consists of a comprehensive series of courses in metallurgy, including heat treatment, casting, welding, cold and hot forming. Nonmetallic materials, including plastics and ceramics, and composites such as fiberglass and sandwich structures are also considered.

Production and Automation

The courses in this area of specialization are designed to provide the student with an understanding of the principles and control of production processes, the application of computers to the manufacturing activity and the organization of production. Topics treated are: automation, metal forming, numerical control of machine tools, applications of fluid power and industrial noise control.

Thermal Engineering

The courses in this area of specialization develop and apply the principles of thermodynamics, heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation), and fluid mechanics to such topics as combustion; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning of buildings; and energy conversion. Many courses in fluid mechanics and thermal engineering are closely linked.

Mechanical Engineering Core with an Option in Management Sciences

A student may acquire a BASc in Mechanical Engineering with an Option in Management Sciences by completing seven specific Management Sciences courses as electives. Students interested in this Designated Option must carefully plan their choice of complementary studies courses very early in order to ensure that the complementary studies requirements will be met.

  1. Core Program (excluding First Year)
  2. Elective Courses
  3. ++Course is part of the Mechanical Engineering core program
    *  Complementary Studies course

    The Mechanical Engineering curriculum structure is summarized in the following table:


    TABLE A -- THE MECHANICAL ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM


    Term Courses
    1A
    (F)
    CH E 102 GEN E 163 MATH 117 MATH 115 PHYS 115 GEN E 170
    1B
    (W,S)
    GEN E 121 M E 123 MATH 118 M E 215 PHYS 125 M SCI 261 WKRPT 100*
    2A
    (F,W)
    M E 200A M E 201 M E 202 M E 330 M E 219 M E 269 1 CSE WKRPT 100#
    2B
    (S,F)
    M E 200B M E 203 M E 212 M E 220 M E 250 M E 262 WKRPT 200*
    3A
    (W,S)
    M E 300A M E 303 M E 321 M E 340 M E 351 M E 354 WKRPT 200#
    WKRPT 300*
    3B
    (F,W)
    M E 300B M E 322 M E 353 M E 360 M E 362 1 CSE WKRPT 300#
    4A
    (S,F)
    M E 400A 4 TECH
    ELECT++
    1 CSE WKRPT 400*
    WKRPT 400#
    4B
    (W)
    M E 400B 5 TECH
    ELECT++
    1 CSE


    ++ A project course, M E 482, may be taken in the 4A and 4B terms as a technical elective for each of these terms.
    *Work Term Report, Engineering - Stream 4
    #Work Term Report, Engineering - Stream 8

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    The Undergraduate Calendar is published by the
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    Revised February 1998