Program Objectives

Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Program Goals and Educational Objectives

In compliance with the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), the Mechanical Engineering Department at Virginia Tech has developed and maintained a well-defined set of Educational Objectives and desired Program Outcomes. These objectives and outcomes have been modified over the years, following our commitment to continuous improvement. The Educational Objectives are the big-picture goals of the Mechanical Engineering program relative to all of our constituencies (students, alumni, employers, faculty, and the Commonwealth). Through surveys and other assessment tools, the department attempts to ensure that these objectives and desired outcomes are being met in a long-term feedback loop. The most recent version of our educational objective list is given below:

Detailed Educational Objectives

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech will produce Bachelor of Science graduates who:

1) provide students with the fundamental technical knowledge and skills in mathematics, science, and engineering to recognize, analyze and solve problems, and to apply these abilities to the generation of new knowledge, ideas or products in industry or government; and to implement these solutions in practice.

2) provide students with the necessary instruction and practical experience to work well in local and international team environments and to be effective written and oral communicators, both for communicating ideas to other people, mentoring, and for learning from others.

3) produce graduates that recognize the importance of and engage in life-long learning, whether through self-study, continuing education courses or workshops, or through formal graduate level education and encourage others to have this same motivation.

4) produce graduates that have an understanding of ethical responsibility and service toward their peers, employers, and society and follow these precepts in their daily lives.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012, telephone: (410) 347-7700. One important objective of the Department of Mechanical Engineering is to ensure that every mechanical engineering graduate has the knowledge, ability, and understanding required to meet the basic ABET guidelines. The structure and sequence of courses is designed to provide these requirements for every graduate. The department is committed to providing students with an exceptional experience in both the theory and practice of mechanical engineering. In the senior capstone sequence, students are required to apply classroom knowledge to complex engineering problems requiring teamwork, problem formulation, economic analysis, effective communication, and product realization. These projects are carefully selected and updated to ensure relevancy to contemporary technical issues and needs. The department encourages the involvement of underclass students and students outside the department and college in these projects. The department also encourages hands-on student involvement by providing dedicated machine and welding shops that exclusively serve the undergraduate program. The required sophomore-level Manufacturing Processes Laboratory course and certification by a professional machinist are required prior to use of either of these shops. Opportunity for professional development is provided by participation in student professional organizations, such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME. The ASME student section at Virginia Tech is one of the most active in the nation.  

Program Outcomes

The ME undergraduate curriculum supports our program educational objectives, listed above, through a structure of basic science, mathematics, engineering science, engineering and liberal arts courses, and through specific educational outcomes associated with the courses in the ME curriculum. The ME Department has adopted the ABET Criterion 3 educational outcomes in support of our program objectives. These outcomes are distributed within and among the courses within our curriculum, and our students are assessed for the achievement of these outcomes, as well as specific course learning objectives, through testing, surveys, and other faculty assessment instruments. Information obtained in these assessments is used in a short-term feedback and improvement loop.

Each Mechanical Engineering student will demonstrate the following attributes by the time they graduate:

ABET criteria a-k:

a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics (including multivariable calculus, differential equations linear algebra and statistics), science (including chemistry and in-depth calculus-based physics), and engineering

(updated January, 2007)