Academic Advising & Degree Planning

• Use the ME Flowchart to plan major and elective courses. Try the fillable version of the form, if you prefer!
   
• Review ME Tech Elective Program and the Elective information below for major requirements
  • Students should talk with an ME advisor regarding their plan for their elective courses. 
  • See the ME Senior Lab Page for lab course information.
     
• ME Undergraduate Tracks will help students take courses that focus on skills they need to develop to succeed in their desired career field. Current tracks include: The Built Environment, Energy Transition, Power & Propulsion, Product Design, and Robotics, with more to come. Each track is customized to the specific area of mechanical engineering that a student might want to specialize in.
   
• ME Course Information (descriptions, offering schedule, master syllabi)

Please see below for high level information on the elective requirements within the Mechanical Engineering program, for more detailed information please see the Elective Program Guide. 

Resources: 

1. ME Track Guides can help explore what areas of interest each course falls into 
2. Talk with an ME Faculty Advisor about what courses might be the best fit for you
3. If you have a course that falls outside the requirements you may submit a petition to the department: z.umn.edu/mepetition (if you are unsure if you should submit a petition, please email meundergrad@umn.edu)

Pair a Minor with your Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering!

Note: The process of adding a minor goes through the department that offers the program. Contact your proposed minor's home department for help.

In the past 10 years….

• 20% of ME students have completed a minor
• ME students have completed 31 different minor programs, the most common being management, computer science, product design, mathematics, and Spanish studies
• Other minors have included: Sustainability studies, creative writing, music, economics, astrophysics and more!

Explore the most popular minor options for ME students:

Management | Computer Science | Product Design

Mathematics | Spanish Studies

Students may complete a directed research project (ME 4090) for 2-4 credits. Each credit implies 3 hours of effort per week on the project (2 credits for 6 hours a week, 3 credits for 9 hours a week, and 4 credits for 12 hours a week). ME 4090 may be used to fulfill 1 technical elective (recommended 4 credits) or the specialization elective (3-4 credits). 

Students will be required to submit a final report on their project by the last day of finals. Final report must be approved by the faculty member overseeing the project.

For more detailed information on Advanced Engineering Problems, ME 4090, see the Elective Program Document for more information — Special Cases, Part 8.

Students can email meundergrad@umn.edu for questions.

CPT Course in ME (ME 3990)

The ME Department supports ME international students who wish to engage in an internship or co-op placement related to their studies. Students participating in the Co-op Program will register for the CSE co-op courses. International students who find an internship related to their studies must enroll in ME 3990 in order to obtain CPT work authorization from ISSS. International students should never begin an internship or co-op prior to obtaining work authorization from ISSS. The ISSS website details the process to obtain CPT work authorization here. The Undergraduate Program Coordinator (meundergrad@umn.edu) is the contact person for ME undergraduates who would like to obtain CPT work authorization. Please follow these steps:

1. Forward a letter detailing your employment offer to meundergrad@umn.edu. The letter must contain the following information:
   • company name
   • job title
   • job responsibilities: must be related to ME studies
   • dates of employment
   • number of hours worked per week
   • the name/contact info for either the hiring manager or the student's supervisor.
2. Fill out the student information (including dates of work) in the CPT Course Instructor Verification Form and forward the form to the Undergrad Program
3. After reviewing the job offer letter and CPT Course Instructor Verification Form, the Undergraduate Program Coordinator will provide registration instructions for ME 3990.
4. The student will then need to complete the CPT work authorization process through ISSS.
5. Note that international students can sometimes register for a spring or fall CPT course when doing a summer internship. This allows students to take advantage of tuition banding for spring or fall terms which can save money.  
6. At the end of the internship or co-op, the student must forward to ME 3990 course instructor and meundergrad@umn.edu a letter from the supervisor stating that the student completed the internship. The letter should reiterate the dates of employment. After receipt of this letter, a passing grade for ME 3990 will be entered.

International students who wish to enroll in fewer than 13 credits need to complete two separate requests:

1) ISSS Request: International students are required to maintain full-time enrollment as part of their legal status as international students. Under certain circumstances, international students may request a Reduced Credit Load. Approval will depend on the reason for the request.

F-1 student RCL information

J-1 student RCL information 

2) UMTC Request: All UMTC undergraduates are expected to enroll full-time which is 13 credits or more per term. Students who wish to enroll in fewer than 13 credits should fill out a 13 credit exemption request. More information about the UMTC request for all undergraduates can be found here.

Second semester seniors: All UMTC students in their final term of study at the U will automatically be granted the UMTC 13 credit exemption if fewer than 13 are needed for graduation. However, international students in their final semester of study must still apply for the ISSS RCL using the links above for F-1 or J-1 students. Students on other types of visas should contact ISSS.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering Honors Program is a part of, and affiliated with, the University Honors Program (UHP). The Department of Mechanical Engineering Faculty Honors Representative provides discipline-specific advice about fulfilling the requirements for graduation with Latin honors to students majoring in mechanical engineering.

Information about the University Honors Program and requirements for graduation with Latin honors is available at the UHP website.

A complete description of requirements for graduation with Latin honors is provided by the University Honors Program.

The Honors Thesis is described in the Honors Thesis Guide.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is committed to ensuring that every one of its graduates is a competent writer. Good writing is critical to mechanical engineering and is highly valued by employers and graduate school research advisors. The ME Writing Program focuses on key characteristics of engineering writing, fostering the writing abilities that every engineer should have, and emphasizing how writing is infused throughout the mechanical engineering curriculum. 

ME Writing Program Overview

The department has developed a series of writing style guides, used in our undergraduate courses, that cover the most important forms of writing used by engineers. We suggest that you make use of these style guides for your writing assignments. 

Writing Problem Sets 

Writing Lab Reports

Writing Design Reports

For more information about the ME Writing Program, please contact Professor Will Durfee (wkdurfee@umn.edu).

If you started your freshman year BEFORE June 2018 OR entered ME BEFORE December 31, 2019:

ME Flowchart

ME Tech Elective Program

Please email meundergrad@umn.edu with any questions.