Offered at: Solano Campus
The Mechanical Engineering program at the Solano Campus offers a unique educational approach by combining hands-on experiences and math and science-intensive coursework. The mission of the program is to produce entry-level professionals capable of applying their knowledge of science and engineering in the design, analysis, operation, and production of engineering components, systems, and products. Students can choose one of two options under Mechanical Engineering program. The U.S. Coast Guard Third Assistant Engineer License Concentration is for those seeking engineering careers in the maritime industry, both at sea and on land. The General Curriculum is for those interested in applying their maritime experience toward traditional engineering careers.
The Mechanical Engineering program provides a sound foundation for the practice of engineering through instruction in basic sciences and mathematics, computer applications, design, laboratory experiences, communication, humanities, and social sciences. All students, regardless of concentration, start with the same first year experience, which includes fundamental math, science, communications, and critical thinking courses. In addition, students are trained to be engineering cadets aboard the Training Ship Golden Bear before embarking on a summer sea term lasting over 60 days. In subsequent terms, the curriculum includes fundamental mechanical engineering courses such as statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, mechanics of materials, and heat transfer. In addition, students will have time in both lecture and the laboratory for circuits, instrumentation and measurements, electromechanical machinery, controls, materials/mechanical, manufacturing processes, and experimental design. Throughout the curriculum, core ideas about design, programming, and controls are introduced and reinforced. Through the selection of electives, students can choose to specialize in several different areas. The entire experience is incorporated into a two-semester senior capstone experience.
The mission of the Mechanical Engineering program at the Solano Campus is to produce graduates capable of applying their knowledge of science and engineering in the design, analysis, evaluation, and production of engineering devices and systems. The academic foundation provided to each graduate allows for further education and professional development going forward.
Mechanical Engineering Program Educational Objectives
Mechanical Engineering graduates of Cal Poly Maritime Academy working in the engineering profession will:
- Be well educated professionals who utilize their intellectual learning, applied technology experience, leadership skills and global awareness in successful careers, and continue to improve their skills through lifelong learning and advanced studies;
- Effectively practice as professional engineers, managers, and leaders in the maritime and energy industries and a wide variety other fields, and as licensed engineers in the merchant marine;
- Successfully combine fundamental engineering knowledge, core leadership skills and the practical experience gained at the Academy to turn ideas into reality for the benefit of society;
- Be influential members of multidisciplinary teams, creatively and effectively contributing to the design, development, and objective evaluation of engineering components, systems, and products;
- Personally assume and actively encourage peers to uphold the professional, ethical, social and environmental responsibilities as well as the safety practices of their profession;
- Demonstrate professional and effective communication skills to varying audiences, including colleagues, customers, and the general public.
Concentrations
United States Coast Guard License
Offered at: Solano Campus
The U.S. Coast Guard Third Assistant Engineer License Concentration is for those seeking engineering careers in the maritime industry, both at sea and on land.
Program Learning Objectives
- An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
- An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
- An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
- An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
- An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
- An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
- An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
Degree Requirements and Curriculum
In addition to the program requirements listed on this page, students must also satisfy requirements outlined in more detail in the Minimum Requirements for Graduation section of this catalog, including:
- 40 units of upper-division courses
- 2.0 GPA
- Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR)
- U.S. Cultural Pluralism (USCP)
Note: No Major, Support or Concentration courses may be selected as credit/no credit. In addition, no more than 12 units of cooperative or internship courses can count towards your degree requirements.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| MAJOR COURSES | ||
| ENG 1110 | Introduction to Engineering and Technology | 1 |
| ENG 1112 | Introduction to Technical Communication (1C) 1 | 2 |
| ENG 2210 | Engineering Computer Programming | 2 |
| ENG 2250 & 2250L | Electrical Circuits and Electronics and Electrical Circuits and Electronics Laboratory | 4 |
| ENG 3310 | Engineering Ethics (Upper-Division 4) 1 | 3 |
| EPO 1110 | Plant Operations I | 1 |
| EPO 1125 & 1125L | Introduction to Marine Engineering and Introduction to Marine Engineering Laboratory | 4 |
| EPO 2213 | Welding Laboratory | 1 |
| EPO 2215 | Manufacturing Processes I | 1 |
| ME 2220 | Computer Aided Engineering | 2 |
| ME 2230 | Engineering Materials | 3 |
| ME 2232 | Engineering Statics | 3 |
| ME 2241 | Engineering Thermodynamics | 3 |
| ME 3330 | Engineering Dynamics | 3 |
| ME 3332 | Mechanics of Materials | 3 |
| ME 3340 | Engineering Fluid Mechanics | 3 |
| ME 3344 | Heat Transfer | 3 |
| ME 3360 & 3360L | Instrumentation and Measurement Systems and Instrumentation and Measurement Systems Laboratory | 3 |
| ME 3392 | Mechanical Design | 3 |
| ME 4429 | Manufacturing Processes Laboratory | 1 |
| ME 4436 & 4436L | Mechatronic System Design and Mechatronic System Design Laboratory | 3 |
| ME 4462 & 4462L | Experimental Methods in Mechanical Engineering and Experimental Methods in Mechanical Engineering Laboratory | 2 |
| ME 4490 | Engineering Design Process (1C) 1 | 3 |
| ME 4492 & 4492L | Project Design I and Project Design I Lab | 3 |
| ME 4494 & 4494L | Project Design II and Project Design II Lab | 3 |
| SUPPORT COURSES | ||
| General Curriculum in Mechanical Engineering or Concentration | ||
| See General Curriculum in Mechanical Engineering and Concentration below | 17-42 | |
| CHE 1110 & 1110L | General Chemistry and General Chemistry Laboratory (5A & 5C) 1 | 4 |
| CRU 1150 | Sea Training I - Engine | 8 |
| DL 1105 & 1105L | Marine Survival and Marine Survival Laboratory | 2 |
| DL 1105X | United States Coast Guard Lifeboatman's Exam | 0 |
| EGL 1100 | English Composition (1A) 1 | 3 |
| EGL 2220 | Critical Thinking (1B) 1 | 3 |
| FF 1100 | Basic Marine Firefighting | 0 |
| GOV 2200 | American Government (4A) 1 | 3 |
| HIS 1100 | Survey of American History to 1877: Precontact Through the Civil War (4B) 1 | 3 |
| or HIS 1101 | Survey of American History from 1877: Civil War Through Civil Rights | |
| MTH 2210 | Calculus I (2) 1 | 4 |
| MTH 2211 | Calculus II | 4 |
| MTH 2212 | Calculus III | 4 |
| MTH 2215 | Differential Equations | 3 |
| NAU 1104 | Shipboard Security and Responsibility | 1 |
| PE 1101 | Swim Competency Exam 2 | 0 |
| PHY 2200 & 2200L | Engineering Physics I and Engineering Physics I Laboratory | 4 |
| PHY 2205 & 2205L | Engineering Physics II and Engineering Physics II Laboratory | 4 |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (GE) | ||
| (See GE program requirements below) | 18 | |
| FREE ELECTIVES | ||
| Free Electives | 0 | |
| Total Units | 148-173 | |
- 1
Required in Major or Support; also satisfies General Education (GE) requirement.
- 2
Swim assessments are required of all cadets during Orientation week. If PE 1101 is not passed with a grade CR, then enrollment in PE 1102 will be required.
General Curriculum
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| REQUIRED COURSES | ||
| CEP 2250 | Mechanical Engineering Industry Cooperative I | 3 |
| CEP 3350 | Mechanical Engineering Industry Cooperative II | 3 |
| ME 2205 | Engineering Career Preparation | 1 |
| ME 4405 | Fundamentals of Engineering Exam Seminar | 1 |
| Select from the following: | 9 | |
| Mechanical Vibrations | ||
| Machinery Design | ||
| Advanced Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics | ||
| Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning | ||
| Energy Systems Design | ||
| Automatic Feedback Control | ||
| Total Units | 17 | |
Concentrations
United States Coast Guard License
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| REQUIRED COURSES | ||
| CRU 2250 | Sea Training II - Engine | 8 |
| CRU 3350 | Sea Training III - Engine | 8 |
| ENG 4430 | Naval Architecture | 3 |
| EPO 2210 | Plant Operations II | 1 |
| EPO 2220 & 2220L | Diesel Engineering I and Diesel Engineering I Laboratory | 2 |
| EPO 2214 | Boilers | 3 |
| EPO 2217 | Shipboard Medical | 1 |
| EPO 2230 | Steam Plant System Operations | 1 |
| EPO 2235 | Steam Plant Watch Team Management | 1 |
| EPO 3310 | Plant Operations III | 1 |
| EPO 3312 | Turbines | 3 |
| EPO 3322 & 3322L | Diesel Engineering II/Simulator and Diesel Engineering II/Simulator Laboratory | 2 |
| EPO 3343 | Refrigeration & A/C | 1 |
| FF 3300 | Advanced Marine Firefighting | 0 |
| ME 3350 & 3350L | Electromechanical Machinery and Electromechanical Machinery Laboratory | 4 |
| ME 4459 | Automatic Feedback Control | 3 |
| Total Units | 42 | |
General Education (GE) Requirements
- 43 units required, 25 of which are specified in Major and/or Support.
- If any of the remaining 18 Units is used to satisfy a Major or Support requirement, additional units of Free Electives may be needed to complete the total units required for the degree.
- See the complete GE course listing.
- A grade of C- or better is required in one course in each of the following GE Areas: 1A (English Composition), 1B (Critical Thinking), 1C (Oral Communication), and 2 (Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning).
| Lower-Division General Education | ||
| Area 1 | English Communication and Critical Thinking | |
| 1A | Written Communication (3 units in Support) 1 | 0 |
| 1B | Critical Thinking (3 units in Support) 1 | 0 |
| 1C | Oral Communication (3 units in Major) 1 | 0 |
| Area 2 | Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning | |
| 2 | Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (3 units in Support) 1 | 0 |
| Area 3 | Arts and Humanities | |
| 3A | Arts | 3 |
| 3B | Humanities: Literature, Philosophy, Languages other than English | 3 |
| Area 4 | Social and Behavioral Sciences (Area 4 courses must come from at least two different course prefixes.) | |
| 4A | American Institutions (Title 5, Section 40404 Requirement) (3 units in Support) 1 | 0 |
| 4B | Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 units in Support) 1 | 0 |
| Area 5 | Physical and Life Sciences | |
| 5A | Physical Sciences (3 units in Support) 1 | 0 |
| 5B | Life Sciences | 3 |
| 5C | Laboratory (may be embedded in a 5A or 5B course) (1 units in Support) 1 | 0 |
| Area 6 | Ethnic Studies | |
| 6 | Ethnic Studies | 3 |
| Upper-Division General Education | ||
| Upper-Division 2/5 | Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning or Physical and Life Sciences | 3 |
| Upper-Division 3 | Arts and Humanities | 3 |
| Upper-Division 4 | Social and Behavioral Sciences (Area 4 courses must come from at least two different course prefixes.) (3 units in Support) 1 | 0 |
| Total Units | 18 | |
- 1
-
Required in Major or Support; also satisfies General Education (GE) requirement.