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Major Approved Electives

Upperclass Major Approved Electives in Mechanical Engineering

The concentration requirement has been replaced by Major Approved Elective l and Major Approved Elective ll. Effective Fall 2009 for B.S., M.E. Class of 2010 and beyond. 

These courses listed below build upon one or more of the required mechanical engineering core courses. M.E. students must complete any two upper-level Major Approved Electives totaling at least 6 credits. These courses should be chosen from any of the seven areas listed below. Students may choose to focus on one topic, however, it is not necessary to select both courses from one topic. 

M&AE 4900 (team/independent research) or M&AE 4291 (supervised senior design experience) may not be used to satisfy a Major Approved Elective. M&AE 4900 may be used to fulfill the technical or advisor approved elective requirements. Effective Fall 2010, the Senior Design Elective requirement may not be fulfilled by a Major Approved Elective. 

Courses used to fulfill the Major Approved Elective requirement may not be used to also satisfy the M.E. Senior Design requirement. 

Consult the Courses of Study and the online course roster for availability of courses. 

Aerospace Engineering 

Aerospace Engineering deals with a large variety of engineering problems associated with the flight of aircraft and space vehicles. A student interested in this major should obtain a solid background in basic engineering fundamentals and mathematics. There is no undergraduate degree program in aerospace engineering, but students interested in the area may supplement a basic mechanical engineering program with electives chosen from the following courses: 

  • MAE 3050 Intro to Aeronautics
  • MAE 3060 Spacecraft Engineering
  • MAE 4150 GPS: Theory and Design
  • MAE 4230 Intermediate Fluid Dynamics
  • MAE 5060 Aerospace Propulsion Systems (next offered TBA)
  • MAE 5070 Dynamics of Flight Vehicles

For M.E. Majors intending to earn a Minor in Aerospace, two courses must be selected from the Aerospace Engineering courses listed above. These two courses may not be used towards fulfilling the B.S., M.E. degree requirements. 

Biomechanics 

Biological systems present a wide range of analysis and design problems that include all aspects of mechanical engineering. Our current focus in this concentration is on the mechanics and control of the musculoskeletal system. Mechanical engineers are engaged in understanding the behavior of components of the skeletal system such as bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles, and the performance of systems comprised of these components. Mechanical engineers are also involved in the design of diagnostic and surgical procedures for diseases that damage the musculoskeletal system. Courses of interest are: 

  • MAE 4640 Orthopaedic Tissue Mechanics (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 4660 Biomedical Engineering Analysis of Metabolic & Structural Systems
  • MAE 5680/BME 5810 Soft Tissue Biomechanics
  • MAE 5690/BME 5690 Clinical Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal Tissues 

Energy and the Environment

Energy is central to modern society: for transportation, for production of goods and electricity, for heating and cooling buildings, and for the new habitats of space and ocean. The increasing energy demands and the associated environmental impacts such as global climate change have made sustainable development a vital issue of our time. The Energy-Environment interaction is the core of the sustainable development problem as well as our energy security. Mechanical engineers are involved with all aspects of the development of sustainable energy sources, and with the production and conversion of energy to provide the power needs of society in an efficient and environmentally safe fashion. Mechanical engineering activities range from research and development of solar, wind and other renewable energy conversion devices to the efficient use of conventional and nuclear fuels for generating electric power, and for all aspects of terrestrial and aerospace propulsion.

  • MAE 4020 Wind Power (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 4230 Intermediate Fluid Dynamics (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 4590 Introduction to Controlled Fusion
  • MAE 5010 Future Energy Systems
  • MAE 5430 Combustion Processes

Engineering Materials

Engineering materials are the building blocks upon which all engineered products rely. They include biological tissues, metals, plastics and composites. This concentration focuses on the properties that these materials bestow upon mechanical systems.

  • MAE 3120 Mechanical Properties of Materials, Processing and Design
  • MAE 3130 Atomic and Molecular Structure of Matter
  • MAE 4040 Materials Selection for Clean Mechanical Designs (next offered TBA)
  • MAE 4140 Mechanics of Lightweight Vehicles (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 4550 Introduction to Composite Materials (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 4640 Orthopaedic Tissue Mechanics (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 4700 Finite Element Analysis for Mechanical and Aerospace Design (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 5130 Mechanical Properties of Thin Films

Mechanical Systems and Design

Mechanical engineers engage in the design of a very broad range of equipment: for example, steam, gas, and water turbines and diesel engines, automatic production machinery and machine tools; mining and oil production equipment; refrigerating and air-conditioning equipment; printing machines and reproduction equipment and consumer products of great variety. Mechanical engineers can be found designing nuclear and electrical machinery and hardware; heating, flow and storage equipment for chemical plants and for food making, and such computer peripherals as disk drives and printers. Courses of interest are:

  • MAE 3780 Mechatronics (*see note below)
  • MAE 4000 Components and Systems: Engineering in a Social Context (next offered TBA)
  • MAE 4150 GPS: Theory and Design
  • MAE 4180, Autonomous Mobile Robot
  • MAE 4320 MicroElectro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
  • MAE 4700 Finite Element Analysis for Mechanical and Aerospace Design (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 4770 Engineering Vibrations
  • MAE 4780 Feedback Control Systems
  • MAE 5200 Dimensional Tolerancing in Mechanical Design (**see note below)
  • MAE 5910 Applied Systems Engineering

*Note: Students taking MAE 3780 to fulfill the electrical circuits requirement may not also use M&AE 3780 as a Major Approved Elective.

** Note: MAE 5200 is a 2-credit course. If it is used a Major Approved Elective, an additional Major Approved Elective course or courses in the may be selected so that the total number of credits is 6 or greater for Major Approved Elective l and Major Approved Elective ll.

Thermo-Fluids Engineering

Analysis of propulsion systems, energy generation processes, and biomedical technologies requires knowledge of thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, combustion, and laminar and turbulent fluid flow. This concentration includes both courses in the fundamentals of the thermal/fluids discipline and in applications. Courses of interest:

  • MAE 4230 Intermediate Fluid Dynamics (also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 4530/BEE 4530 Computer-Aided Engineering: Applications for Biomedical Processes
  • MAE 5010 Future Energy Systems
  • MAE 5430 Combustion Processes

Vehicle Engineering

Transportation is vital to the operation of our society and comprises about one-fifth of the Gross National Product. Our Transportation requirements are being met primarily by automobiles and by heavy-duty trucks. In the future, questions of economy, pollution, safety and convenience will cause the major of vehicle engineering to remain a very important area for mechanical engineers.

The mechanical engineer is involved in transportation through the design of the vehicle, its engine, and its other components. In addition, the mechanical engineer is concerned with solving many of the problems associated with vehicle operation.

At Cornell, vehicle engineering currently includes studies of engine design and emissions as well as of vehicle design, handling and braking. The following courses are concerned with these and other aspects of vehicle engineering. They are suggested for those who have an interest in eventual work in vehicle engineering.

  • MAE 3050 Intro to Aeronautics
  • MAE 3060 Spacecraft Engineering
  • MAE 4860 Automotive Engineering (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 4140 Mechanics of Lightweight Vehicles (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 4250 FSAE (Also M.E. Senior Design)
  • MAE 5060 Aerospace Propulsion Systems (next offered TBA)
  • MAE 5070 Dynamics of Flight Vehicles (next offered TBA)