Design is central to the practice of engineering. The department requires each student to develop design skills and knowledge. The curriculum has been carefully formulated to emphasize:
- design as a process in the freshman year solving open-ended problems during the sophomore year component & system design in the junior year
- the capstone design project in the senior year
Seven design-related courses, shown below, are required in the Mechanical Engineering curriculum to provide significant design content and expertise.
| Freshman Year | ENGR 120 Introduction to Engineering |
| Sophomore Year | ME 280 Mechanical Engineering Design |
| Junior Year | ME 380 Kinematics & Machine Dynamics |
| Senior Year | ME 424 Thermal & Fluid Systems Design ME 481 Senior Design I ME 483 Senior Design II ME 462 Machine Design |