Design courses are integrated throughout the curriculum. The design experience begins in the first semester of the freshman year, where students learn to use various types of software to solve and present engineering problems. The number of design-orient courses progressively increases as the student advances through the program.
The entire M&ME program is laboratory intensive with emphasis on hands-on learning. In the mineral processing and extractive metallurgy laboratories, students learn basic principles of equipment operation, how to properly set up and conduct experiments, and how to interpret and utilize experimentally derived data to size equipment, develop process flowsheets, and perform cursory economic analyses. In the materials realm, principles are demonstrated in laboratory courses that deal with microstructure analysis, fundamentals of physical metallurgy, and materials engineering.
In years 3 and 4, students expand upon their design experience through a series of process unit operations courses, transport phenomena, and thermodynamics. Students also take materials courses in ceramics, corrosion, materials characterization and an assortment of restricted (track-dependent) and free technical electives.
The program culminates in the senior year with a two-semester capstone senior design experience. Students are challenged to apply their cumulative knowledge of engineering fundamentals, process and materials engineering, safety, and communication skills to solve a “real world” engineering problem.