Grad Student in the START lab
 

Graduate Programs in Mechanical Engineering

Our graduate degrees have limited formal course requirements. You and your adviser can tailor a program to your needs and educational goals. With our many tenured faculty and the breadth of mechanical engineering focus areas, you can pursue an area in the mechanical engineering field that is important to you.

Our research programs are especially strong in areas such as energy conversion and storage, combustion, controls, biomedical devices, design and manufacturing, bioinspired engineering solutions, and future transportation systems.

Students usually select courses and write a thesis or paper in one or more of the following general fields:

Thermal Sciences

  • Heat Transfer
  • Combustion
  • Fluid Mechanics

Mechanical Sciences

  • Systems and Controls
  • Dynamics, Vibrations and Noise Control
  • Solid Mechanics and Mechanical Design

Suggested Core Courses

The following listing of suggested core courses is provided for guidance. Your adviser and/or committee may suggest alternative or additional courses. Most of the courses listed below are offered on a regular basis. New courses may be offered occasionally and numbered as ME597x. Check the schedule of courses on LionPath for a list of courses offered each semester.

Heat Transfer

  • ME 512 Heat Transfer--Conduction
  • ME 513 Heat Transfer--Convection
  • ME 514 Heat Transfer--Radiation
  • ME 521 Foundations of Fluid Mechanics I
  • ME 523 Numerical Solutions Applied to Heat Transfer and Fluid Mechanics Problems

Combustion

  • ME 521 Foundations of Fluid Mechanics I
  • ME 530 Fundamentals of Combustion
  • ME 532 Turbulent and Two-Phase Combustion
  • ME 535 Physics of Gases
  • ME 537 Laser Diagnostics for Combusion

Fluids

  • ME 512 Heat Transfer--Conduction
  • ME 513 Heat Transfer--Convection
  • ME 520 Compressible Flow II
  • ME 521 Foundations of Fluid Mechanics I
  • ME 522 Foundations of Fluid Mechanics II
  • ME 523 Numerical Solutions Applied to Heat Transfer and Fluid Mechanics Problems
  • AERSP 423 Introduction to Numerical Methods in Fluid Dynamics

Systems and Controls

  • ME 550 Foundations of Engineering Systems Analysis
  • ME 554 Digital Process Control
  • ME 555 Automatic Control Systems

Dynamics, Vibrations, and Noise Control

  • ME 571 Foundations of Structural Dynamics and Vibrations
  • ME 572 Experimental Modal Analysis
  • ME 573 Designing Quiet Structures
  • ME 580 Advanced Dynamics of Machines
  • ME 581 Simulation of Mechanical Systems

Solid Mechanics and Mechanical Design

  • ME 560 Solid Mechanics
  • ME 563 Nonlinear Finite Elements
  • ME 564 Elastic and Dynamic Stability of Structures
  • ME 565 Optimal Design of Mechanical and Structural Systems
  • E MCH 507 Theory of Elasticity and Applications
  • E MCH 560 Finite Element Analysis
 
Research Areas
Labs and Centers
Student Organizations
mentoring
 

About

With more than 60 faculty members, 330 graduate students, and 800 undergraduate students, the Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering embraces a culture that welcomes individuals with a diversity of backgrounds and expertise. Our faculty and students are innovating today what will impact tomorrow’s solutions to meeting our energy needs, homeland security, biomedical devices, and transportation systems. We offer B.S. degrees in mechanical engineering as well as resident (M.S., Ph.D.) and online (M.S.) graduate degrees in mechanical engineering. See how we’re inspiring change and impacting tomorrow at me.psu.edu.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

137 Reber Building

The Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA 16802-4400

Phone: 814-865-2519