Entering the College of Engineering

Students are admitted to Penn State as ENGR students. In the second semester of sophomore year, students declare major. This allows students to learn more about the different engineering majors and their own interests before selecting a major. To help students learn about engineering, there are two engineering courses in the first year: EDSGN 100 and First Year Seminar. EDSGN 100 is an Engineering Design and graphics course that introduces students to engineering drawings, computer-aided design, and industry-supported team project.

EDSGN 100 is a design-driven course with emphasis placed on skills such as: teamwork, communication skills (graphical, oral, and written), and computer-aided analysis tools. The course introduces students to the engineering approach to problem solving with strong references to basic science and math skills, as well as testing and evaluating design ideas by building working prototypes. The design projects are the total of at least 30 hours of in-class work (one third of the course). Two design projects are assigned during the semester. The second design project is an industry-sponsored project, with significant interaction with industry partners. The design projects require students to work in two different teams. The course grade reflects the student's ability to function effectively as a team player.

In Engineering, students can select any one-credit First-Year Seminar (FYS) course offered by the College. The seminar offerings acquaint students with various skills and practices that will be crucial to their success as engineering students. The First-Year Seminar can be taken in any department of the college. In Mechanical Engineering, five different hands-on courses are available: Toy FUNdamentals, Toys for Technology Exploration, Product Dissection of Bicycles, Product Dissection of Household Appliances, and Product Dissection of the Enigmatic Engine. In Nuclear Engineering, courses are aimed at giving students an introduction into some aspects of nuclear engineering such as: NucE 001S "Atomic Adventures" - explores the interesting and exciting world of nuclear science and its applications; NucE 002S "PSU Lion Loop" - a hands-on working and learning experience studying thermal-hydraulic flow in our Lion Loop facility; NucE 003S "Power Plants and Their Simulation" - utilizes modern computer tools applied to power plant simulation. For students who have not decided on a major, the college offers a FYS that explores the different engineering disciplines and typical career opportunities.

In the first two years, engineering students take basics courses in physics, chemistry, and calculus. These are the fundamentals that all of engineering builds upon. In sophomore year, students in most majors (Mechanical, Nuclear, Industrial, Civil, Aerospace, Engineering Mechanics) take a series of Engineering Mechanics course that begin to apply the physics and calculus to engineering problems. In some majors (Bioengineering, Chemical, Electrical, Computer) students begin taking courses in their major in sophomore year.

All science, math, and engineering mechanics courses taken by engineering students in the first two years are available at the College Campuses. Many General Education courses are also available at the College Campuses. The course numbers and course content are the same at all locations. Course syllabi are distributed from University Park to the Campus College locations so that courses taught at the Campus College locations are the same as those taught at the University Park campus. This provides all students with similar background and preparation. Approximately 40% of MNE students take courses for the first two years at a Campus College location.

Upon entering a major within the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department, each student is asked to attend an orientation session before Fall classes begin where he or she is given a current copy of our "Undergraduate Curriculum Information and Planning Manual". This manual contains the degree requirements, department procedures, and all pertinent University regulations governing undergraduate studies at Penn State.

In the first two years of study, students at University Park are advised at the Engineering Advising Center. Full-time Academic advisers and faculty from each department are available for advising at the Center. Students at campus locations are assigned an adviser at their location. Once admitted into a major, students are assigned a faculty adviser in the MNE Department. Students are encouraged to meet with their adviser each semester to discuss course scheduling, course offerings, drop-add procedures, graduation credit requirements, and career planning. Questions can also be answered in the Undergraduate Programs Office by the Records Secretary, the Curriculum Adviser, and Dr. Trethewey, Professor-in-Charge of Undergraduate Programs in MNE.

Entering the Major

Courses in junior year are required courses in the major and include both lecture courses and laboratory courses. In the MNE department, all lecture courses are taught by MNE faculty. Graduate students assist in most required courses by holding additional office hours and grading homeworks. Laboratories in MNE are run by MNE faculty. Graduate students are usually present during laboratory times to assist students. NucE courses are taught once a year with a class size of approximately 30 students. All ME courses are taught every semester and half of the required ME courses are also taught in summer. Five to six sections of required ME courses are taught each year with a typical class size of 50 to 65 students. Technical elective courses in ME and NucE are usually taught once a year with class size between 20 to 35 students.

In Mechanical Engineering, each student takes a senior design course (ME 414W or ME 415W). These courses seek to integrate aspects from across the entire discipline. The intent of the capstone design course is to instruct students how to undertake an open-ended design in which a device or process has to be created within prescribed constraints of time and budget. The capstone design course also contains lectures for professional ethics, engineering economics, etc. Section size is restricted to 30. Design projects are drawn from issues recommended by industry or the instructor's personal consulting experience. Early in the design process, students prepare individual written assignments that are graded. Most design teams build a prototype and test it at the Learning Factory. The course ends with the preparation of a written report and an oral presentation prepared by the design group. Each design team prepares a poster describing their project and presents the poster at the Project Showcase. The Project Showcase is open to the public. Usually faculty, industry representatives, and other students attend to learn more about the design efforts. Without emphasizing it, the course is intended to enable students to learn how to work as a group, distribute work among themselves and, in general, sharpen their talents for leadership. When possible, the students use the patent literature to identify patents related to their design.

In Nuclear Engineering, students take two senior-level courses that specifically stress and integrate Engineering Design Experience: NucE 430 and NucE 431W. In both courses, the student is exposed to nearly all aspects of reactor design including: thermal design of the fuel rods, stress calculations for the fuel rod cladding, pressure drop in the reactor, convective heat transfer in the reactor core both single phase and two-phase behavior, multi-dimensional reactor lattice and core neutronics calculations for reload analysis and three-dimensional thermal hydraulic calculations for the reactor core. Group design projects are used in both classes to have the students work and function as a group in a similar environment as they would work in industry. Formal written reports are required as well as a formalized format for homework that is similar to that used in industry for engineering calculations. Calculations are performed by the students using simple codes, which stress the basic principles, as well as more complex computer codes which are typical of those currently used in industry. Students in NucE 431W use the Westinghouse Nuclear Design Computer codes installed on our computers. Westinghouse engineers also work with and mentor our students in the use of these codes as well as typical design procedures for reactor core reload analysis. The design problems which the students work on with the Westinghouse engineers are intended to be open-ended, very realistic design problems and issues that are faced in the nuclear industry on a daily basis. Penn State 's unique collaboration with Westinghouse gives NucE students an excellent experience using current state-of-the-art simulation ad analysis codes used in industry. You can find further program information about the ME and NucE programs in the Curriculum section under Current Students.