Academics - Mechanical Engineering

A basic utility vehicle (BUV) built by a Calvin senior design team from salvaged automobile parts placed second in the 2007 BUV Design Competition sponsred by the Institute for Affordable Transportation.

Introduction

Mechanical engineers work in teams with many other professionals, helping to convert an idea into a real product. An electrical engineer might design the electronics of a microwave oven, and a mechanical engineer will decide how the oven parts are made and assembled. A mechanical engineer will then design the machines that make the oven parts, and will run the factory that puts them together.

Mechanical engineers are involved in three main areas:

1. machine design
2. manufacturing
3. power (electricity, heating and air conditioning)

Virtually every object in our lives has been touched by a mechanical engineer. They design telephones and the machines that make them, cars, airplanes and computers. They run power plants, design air conditioners and furnaces.

Mechanical engineers design and make machines - anything with moving parts:

• Cars, trucks, boats and airplanes
• Power plants of all types — hydro, coal, gas, nuclear
• Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning systems (HVAC)
• Factories — from pencils to prepared food

Program Overview

Freshman & Sophomore Year

The first two years include introductory engineering courses, physics, chemistry, math and humanities courses. The engineering courses will give you a broad base of engineering skills, and along with your other classes, will build the foundation for a more advanced study. At the end of your second year, you will formally select mechanical engineering as your concentration.

Many of the courses in the first two years include lab work and explore real engineering principles. We also make use of service-learning projects -- you dive into solving a real-world problem for real people right away.

Junior & Senior Year

You've picked mechanical engineering, and now you will build some advanced engineering expertise. You will take mechanical engineering classes and lab courses (including machine design, thermal/fluid science, manufacturing) as well as a variety of humanities and fine arts classes. You'll study:

• Solids
  • Machine design (things that move)
  • Strength and materials
  • Machine dynamics & design
  • Engines
  • Manufacturing

• Thermal Fluid Science
  • Heating and cooling for houses, buildings, cars
  • Heating/cooling of equipment
  • Aerodynamic design for vehicles and buildings
  • Water systems within buildings

Senior Project

Your senior year will include a capstone design course in which you work with a team of students to complete a design project effectively integrating much of your college education.

Summer Internships

We work to place students in a variety of internships at local and international companies to gain practical work experience.