Catalog main page Calendar Degrees Chancellor's Welcome About UC Riverside Undergraduate Admissions Finances & Registration Academic Regulations Student Services Undergraduate Studies Graduate Studies Faculty Regents & Officers Appendices Obtain a Print Catalog About this Catalog Previous UCR Catalogs E-mail site manager About Courses & Curricula Subject Abbreviations --Choose a Subject-- Anthropology Art Art History Asian Studies Biochemistry Biological Sciences Biology Biomed. Sci. Biomed. Sci. Grad. Prog. Botany & Plant Sci. Business Admin. Cell Biol. & Neurosci. Cell, Mol., & Devel. Biol. Chemical Engineering Chem. & Environ. Engin. Chemistry Chic. Biling.-Bicult. Stud. Compar. Lit. & For. Lang. Computer Engineering Computer Science Conservation Biology Creative Writing Dance Earth Sciences Economics Education Education Abroad Prog. Electrical Engineer. Engineering English Entomology Environmental Engin. Environ. Sciences Environ. Sci. Grad. Prog. Environ. Toxicology Ethnic Studies Film & Visual Culture Genetics Hispanic Studies History Honors Program Human Development Human., Arts, & Soc. Sci. International Relations Journalism Latin American Studies Law & Society Lesbian, Gay, etc. Stud. Liberal Studies Management Marxist Studies Mathematics Mechanical Engineer. Microbiology Music Nematology Neurosci. Undergrad. Neurosci. Grad. Prog. Pest Management Philosophy Physical Education Physical Science Physics Plant Pathology Political Science Population Biology Psychobiology (Neur.) Psychology Religious Studies Social Relations Sociology Soil & Water Sciences Statistics Theatre Washington Ctr. Prog. Univ. Honors Program Urban Studies Western Amer. Studies Women's Studies Search the catalog (enter keyword and hit Return):

Professors
Qing Jiang, Ph.D.
Shankar Mahalingam, Ph.D.
Lung-Wen Tsai, Ph.D.
Kambiz Vafai, Ph.D.
Akula Venkatram, Ph.D.
Assistant Professors
Curtis Collins, Ph.D.
Frank Jacobitz, Ph.D.
Guanshui Xu, Ph.D.
••
Cooperating Faculty
Jie Chen, Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering)
Marek Chrobak, Ph.D. (Computer Science and Engineering)
Jay A. Farrell, Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering)
William A. Jury, Ph.D. (Environmental Sciences)
Ping Liang, Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering)
Umar Mohideen, Ph.D. (Physics)
Joseph M. Norbeck, Ph.D. (Chemical and Environmental Engineering)

MAJOR

The Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) does not meet transfer requirements for Engineering.

All undergraduates in the College of Engineering must see an advisor at least annually. Please see http://www.engr.ucr.edu/studentaffairs/registration.htm for details.

Degree Requirements

University Requirements

College Requirements

The Mechanical Engineering major uses the following major requirements to satisfy the college's Natural Sciences and Mathematics breadth requirement.

1. One course in the biological sciences chosen from an approved list
2. CHEM 001A-CHEM 001B-CHEM 001C
3. MATH 009A

Major Requirements

1. Lower-division requirements (76 units)

a) Biological Science elective
b) CHEM 001A-CHEM 001B-CHEM 001C
c) CS 010
d) EE 001A, EE 01LA
e) MATH 009A-MATH 009B-MATH 009C, MATH 010A, MATH 010B, MATH 046
f) ME 007, ME 009, ME 010, ME 014
g) PHYS 040A, PHYS 040B, PHYS 040C

2. Upper-division requirements (81 units)

a) EE 132
b) ENGR 118
c) ME 100A, ME 100B, ME 103, ME 110, ME 115A, ME 115B, ME 116, ME 120, ME 130, ME 170A, ME 170B, ME 175A, ME 175B
d) STAT 040 or STAT 155
e) Technical electives (16 units); four courses, selected from the following list, in consultation with an advisor: CHE 136, EE 144, ME 117, ME 122, ME 131, ME 133, ME 153

Sample Program

GRADUATE PROGRAM

Laboratory, three hours. Prerequisite(s): ME 009. Topics include principles of design for manufacture; precision measurements and tolerances; properties of metals such as hardness, machinability, and responses to heat treatment; theory and practice of precision metal-cutting operations; turning, boring, drilling, reaming, and milling; safety practices and procedures; and computer-controlled machining. Graded Satisfactory (S) or No Credit (NC).

ME 009. Engineering Graphics and Design. (4)

Lecture, three hours; laboratory, three hours. Prerequisite(s): none. Graphical concepts and projective geometry relating to spatial visualization and communication in design, including technical sketching, instrument drawing, and computer-aided drafting and design.

ME 010. Statics. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): PHYS 040B, MATH 009C. Equilibrium of coplanar force systems; analysis of frames and trusses; noncoplanar force systems; friction; distributed loads.

ME 014. Properties of Engineering Materials. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): CHEM 001A; PHYS 040B (may be taken concurrently). Applications of basic principles of physics and chemistry to the selection and use of engineering materials. Relationship between structure and mechanical and electrical properties of technological materials.

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): MATH 010A, PHYS 040B; or consent of instructor. Introduces basic concepts and applications of thermodynamics relevant to mechanical engineering. Topics include work and energy, the first law of thermodynamics, properties of pure substances, system and control volume analysis, the Carnot cycle, heat and refrigeration cycles, the second law of thermodynamics, entropy, and reversible and irreversible processes. Credit is awarded for only one of CHE 100, ENGR 100, or ME 100A.

ME 100B. Thermodynamics. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): ME 100A or consent of instructor. Covers additional thermodynamic concepts and applications relevant to mechanical engineering. Topics include the second law of thermodynamics, entropy function, entropy production, exergy analysis of cycles, equations of state, thermodynamic property relations, multiphase and multicomponent systems, combustion stoichiometry, thermochemistry, and chemical availability of fuels.

ME 103. Dynamics. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): CS 010, MATH 010A, ME 010. Topics include vector representation of kinematics and kinetics of particles; Newton's laws of motion; force-mass-acceleration, work-energy, and impulse-momentum methods; kinetics of systems of particles; and kinematics and kinetics of rigid bodies.

ME 110. Mechanics of Materials. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): MATH 046, ME 010. Topics include mechanics of deformable bodies subjected to axial, torsional, shearing, and bending loads; combined stresses; columns; energy design; and their applications to the design of structures.

ME 115A. Fluid Mechanics. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): ENGR 118, MATH 010A, PHYS 040B; or consent of instructor. Introduces principles of fluid mechanics relevant to mechanical engineering. Topics include shear stresses and viscosity, fluid statics, pressure, forces on submerged surfaces, control volume approach, mass conservation, momentum and energy equations, differential approach, turbulent flow in pipes, and turbomachinery. Credit is awarded for only one of CHE 114, ENGR 115, or ME 115A.

ME 115B. Fluid Mechanics. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): ME 115A or consent of instructor. Introduces additional concepts and application of fluid mechanics relevant to mechanical engineering. Topics include potential flow theory, boundary layer flow, lift and drag forces on airfoils, and compressible flows.

ME 116. Heat Transfer. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): ME 100A, ME 115A; or consent of instructor. Introduces the analysis of steady and transient heat conduction, forced and natural convection, radiation heat transfer, and design of heat exchangers. Credit is awarded for only one of CHE 116, ENGR 116, or ME 116.

ME 117. Combustion and Energy Systems. (4)

Lecture, three; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): ENGR 118, ME 100A, ME 115A; or consent of instructor. Discusses premixed and diffusion flames, fuel-air thermochemistry, combustion-driven engine design and operation, engine cycle analysis, fluid mechanics in engine components, pollutant formation, and gas turbines.

ME 120. Dynamic Systems. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): EE 001A, EE 01LA, MATH 010B, ME 103, ME 115A; or consent of instructor. Topics include the modeling of dynamic engineering systems in various engineering domains, analysis of the response of linear systems models, and digital computer simulation.

ME 122. Vibrations. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): ME 120 or consent of instructor. Free and forced vibrations of lumped parameter systems with and without damping; resonance. Matrix methods for multidimensional systems. Normal modes, coupling, and normal coordinates. Use of conservation principles. Lagrange's equation. Electromechanical analogs.

ME 130. Kinematic Analysis and Design of Mechanisms. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): CS 010, ME 009, ME 103, ME 110. Topics include the kinematics, dynamics, and mechanical advantages of machinery; displacement velocity and acceleration analyses of linkages, the fundamental law of gearing and various gear trains; and computer-aided mechanism design and analysis. A design project is required.

ME 131. Kinematic Synthesis of Mechanisms. (4)

Lecture, three hours; laboratory, three hours. Prerequisite(s): ME 130 or consent of instructor. Design of planar, spherical, and spatial mechanisms using both exact and approximate graphical and analytical techniques. A computer-aided design project is required.

ME 133. Introduction to Mechatronics. (4)

Lecture, three hours; laboratory, three hours. Prerequisite(s): EE 132, ME 120. Topics include fundamental hardware and software components for the design and control of mechatronic systems, intermediate analog and digital electronics, sensors, transducers and actuators, basic analog and digital control of electric and fluid actuator systems, and hardware implementation of real-time control systems.

ME 153. Applied Finite Element Methods. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): ME 110. Introduction to the finite element method (FEM) and its matrix formulation and computer implementation. Also covers mesh generation and data visualization techniques. A term project using FEM computer codes is required.

ME 170A. Experimental Techniques. (4)

Lecture, three hours; laboratory, three hours. Prerequisite(s): CS 010, EE 001A, EE 01LA, ME 103; or consent of instructor. Covers the principles and practice of measurement and control, and the design implementation of experiments. Topics include dimensional analysis, error analysis, signal-to-noise problems, filtering, data acquisition and data reduction, and statistical analysis. Includes experiments on the use of electronic devices and sensors, and practice in technical report writing.

ME 170B. Experimental Techniques. (4)

Laboratory, six hours; discussion, two hours. Prerequisite(s): ME 115B, ME 116, ME 120, ME 170A; or consent of instructor. Analysis and verification of engineering theory using laboratory measurements in advanced, project-oriented experiments involving fluid flow, heat transfer, structural dynamics, thermodynamic systems, and electromechanical systems.

ME 175A. Mechanical Engineering Design. (4)

Lecture, two hours; discussion, one hour; laboratory, three hours. Prerequisite(s): ME 007 (may be taken concurrently); senior standing in Mechanical Engineering. Students, working in small teams, develop a mechanical engineering device or system from concept to initial detailed design using the engineering design process. Lecture topics include engineering design methodologies, machine components in design, and written and oral communication. Graded In Progress (IP) until both ME 175A and ME 175B are completed, at which time a final, letter grade is assigned.

ME 175B. Mechanical Engineering Design. (4)

Lecture, one hour; discussion, one hour; laboratory, six hours. Prerequisite(s): senior standing in Mechanical Engineering; ME 175A. Students fabricate and test the systems designed in ME 175A. A final oral presentation and written report of the design and prototype are required. Lecture topics include failure theories, life cycle design, human factors, engineering economics, engineering ethics, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property rights.

Lecture, four hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing in engineering or consent of instructor. Topics include linear algebra theory, vector spaces, eigenvalue problems, complex analytic functions, contour integration, integral transforms, and basic methods for solving ordinary and partial differential equations in mechanical engineering applications.

ME 220. Theoretical Kinematics. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): ME 200 or consent of instructor. Introduces spatial rigid body kinematics using homogeneous transformations, product of exponentials, and dual quaternion formulations. Covers screw theory, Lie theory, and Clifford algebras to provide students with the mathematical foundation for advanced studies in robot kinematics, computer graphics, and mechanics.

ME 221. Advanced Mechanics. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Prerequisite(s): ME 103 or consent of instructor. Introduces spatial kinematics and dynamics of a rigid body, multi-rigid-body systems, and robot manipulators. Topics include Newton's and Euler's laws, Lagrange's equations, Hamilton's equations, and variational principles.

ME 222A. Introduction to Robotics. (4)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Prerequisite(s): EE 132 or equivalent, ME 120, ME 130; or consent of instructor. Introduces the mechanics of robotics systems. Topics include kinematics, dynamics, task planning, open- and closed-loop control strategies, and robot programming languages. Explores the concept of parallel kinematic machines.

ME 222C. Robot Dynamics and Control. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Prerequisite(s): EE 235, ME 221, ME 222A; or consent of instructor. Introduces recursive formulations for serial and parallel manipulator dynamics using Newton-Euler and Lagrangian approaches. Explores the structure of dynamics equations, trajectory generation and motion control, linear controllers, feedback linearization, and force controllers.

ME 230. Computer-Aided Engineering Design. (4)

Lecture, three hours; laboratory, three hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing or consent of instructor. Introduces fundamentals of interactive computer graphics, three-dimensional representations of curves and surfaces, Bezier parameterizations, and optimization methods. Demonstrates applications of computer graphics and computational geometry to mechanical system simulations, computer-aided design, and engineering design.

ME 236. Geometric Nonlinear Control. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Prerequisite(s): EE 235 or consent of instructor. Introduces methods of differential geometry and manifold theory applied to nonlinear control systems. Topics include stability of nonlinear systems, center-manifold theory, controllability, and feedback linearization.

ME 240. Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing or consent of instructor. Introduction to fluid mechanics. Explores equations of motion, stress tensor, the Navier-Stokes equations, boundary conditions, exact solutions, vorticity, and boundary layers.

ME 241. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Prerequisite(s): ME 240 or consent of instructor. Introduces in-depth derivations of equations and principles governing heat and mass transfer with an emphasis on formulation of problems. Topics include equations involved in conduction, convection, radiation, energy, and species conservation and the analytical and numerical solution of transport problems.

ME 246. Computational Fluid Dynamics with Applications. (4)

Lecture, three hours; laboratory, three hours. Prerequisite(s): ME 240 or consent of instructor. Introduces finite difference, finite volume, and finite element; spectral methods, governing equations for nonreacting and reacting flows; and stability and convergence for steady and unsteady problems. Students use commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software for the course project.

ME 261. Theory of Elasticity. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Prerequisite(s): ME 110 or consent of instructor. Introduction to tensors, strain, equations of motion, and constitutive equations. Topics include typical boundary value problems of classical elasticity, problems of plane strain and plane stress, and variational principles.

ME 266. Mechanics and Physics of Materials. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing or consent of instructor. Introduces the structure and properties of materials; the characterization and modeling of mechanical, thermal, electric, and magnetic properties of materials; and coupling properties. Topics include phase transformations and brittle-to-ductile transitions.

ME 267. Finite Element Methods in Solid Mechanics. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Prerequisite(s): ME 261 or consent of instructor. Covers the formulation and implementation of finite element methods, including the Galerkin and energy methods. Topics include the static and dynamic analysis of mechanical and multiphysical systems and techniques of automatic mesh generation.