Mechanical Engineering
Design and Innovate
Mechanical engineers design things that move to improve our world. It's the broadest of all engineering disciplines, which increases your chance of finding your passion.
At UD, you can choose to focus on different areas of mechanical engineering. The most common minors or concentrations for mechanical engineering students are:
- Aerospace Engineering – Develop, test and design aircraft and spacecraft.
- Energy Systems – Oversee energy distribution systems, discover new ways to use clean energy and make processes more energy efficient.
- Human Movement Biomechanics – Use engineering principles to study how the human body moves and performs.
- Industrial Automation and Applied Robotic Systems – Create systems that use robots to streamline manufacturing processes.
- Automotive Systems Design – Discover what it takes to design elements of vehicles.
$68K
average starting salary for mechanical engineering majors.
98%
are employed, in grad school or in a full-time service program within 6 months of graduation.
Classes
Mechanical engineering students take a well-rounded group of courses to build their engineering skills and technical knowledge.
Examples of courses:
- Engineering Thermodynamics – the study of heat and energy, and how they are used in engineering systems.
- Mechatronics – a blend of mechanical, electrical and computer engineering that allows engineers to create robotic and automated systems.
- Programming for Mechanical Engineers – solve engineering problems through computational methods including arrays, functions, decision making, loops and graphing.
- Manufacturing Processes – manufacturing includes many processes, from casting and metal working to welding, design and prototyping, to create products out of metal, plastics, composite materials and others.
Exploring Inside and Outside the Classroom
In mechatronics, you’ll build a small robot to learn about the interface between electrical and mechanical engineering, how each component of the robot works and how to program the robot to perform specific tasks.
Aerospace engineering students learn to use our unique Merlin Flight Simulator. The simulator allows students to design any type of aircraft and program it into the simulator. They can fly their plane at airports around the world.
We’re big enough to have significant research programs, but small enough to involve students in meaningful undergraduate research as early as their first year. Our faculty have active research projects and encourage students to become involved in their labs.
Your academic journey culminates in a senior year capstone design course, where your student team will solve a real-world challenge for a client. You’ll be paired with students from other engineering majors to work together to find the solution – many of which clients have adopted and use today.
Minors
Compliment your major or connection with your passion by adding a minor or concentration to your degree program. The School of Engineering offers more than 30 minors, or you can choose one outside of engineering. 39% of mechanical engineering students have a minor.
Learn more about our minors
Engineering for the Common Good
The Ethos Center connects students to community partners around the world for community-engaged engineering education, research, partnerships and action. Many students go on immersions or breakouts inside and outside the U.S. for hands-on social impact engineering projects.
Learn more about the Ethos Center
Earn your Master's Sooner
Students can also earn their master’s at UD at an accelerated rate through our Bachelor’s Plus Master’s Program. Earn up to six credits that count for both undergraduate and graduate degree requirements, and enjoy 30% off graduate tuition for the first year of the master’s program. On average, most students graduate with their master’s degree in two additional semesters.
Learn more about the BPM ProgramCareers
Because mechanical engineering is broad, our graduates work in numerous different fields including manufacturing, aerospace, automotive, healthcare, clean energy and defense. Many of our students co-op and intern at these organizations, and accept full-time positions before graduation.
Some of these organizations include:
- Cargill
- Boeing
- GE Aerospace
- Johnson & Johnson
- Honda
- Procter & Gamble
- Emerson
- United States Air Force, Air Force Research Laboratory
- University of Dayton Research Institute
They also continue their education at schools including:
- Auburn University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- University of Michigan
- Ohio State University
- University of Dayton
- University of Notre Dame
Engineering Co-op and Internship
Explore Your Engineering Future
Take your engineering experience to the next level and find your passion with co-op and internship opportunities. Our Engineering Co-op and Internship office helps students find placements.
Henry Jacques, a recent May 2024 mechanical engineering graduate and now master’s student, was chosen for the competitive Ohio Space Grant Consortium (OSGC) fellowship program. The program, which funds his graduate studies, is a partnership between OSGC and NASA.
Two mechanical engineering students were awarded full scholarships for their junior and senior years through the Women in Engineering Program (WEP) and the Clare Boothe Luce Program (CBL), which are dedicated to increasing the participation of women in engineering in higher education.
At the start of the spring semester, senior mechanical engineering students John Faetanini, Ben Parlett, Sam Gepperth and Grant Newland were tasked with designing a UAV system for The Corps, a contract engineering firm, as their senior design project.
