Program
Mission: The Mechanical Engineering Department strives to offer the highest quality engineering education to prepare graduates for effective and creative practice as professional engineers, advanced study at the graduate level, and lifelong learning.
The department offers a program major leading to a bachelor of science degree, and a minor open to any Lafayette student.
The curriculum’s solid foundation includes mathematics, science, and technology, along with electives in the humanities and social sciences. Students engage in a variety of hands-on projects and experiences that bring their ideas to life. Facilities include laboratories for modern manufacturing designs, internal combustion engines, thermo-fluids, controls, instrumentation, precision measurement, and materials. All majors complete a yearlong senior design project, and seniors may elect to conduct undergraduate research through an independent study course or honors thesis.
Technical electives allow students to apply the fundamentals of mechanical design, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and system dynamics and control to mechanical engineering problems. Recent projects have included theoretical and experimental work in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, bioengineering, manufacturing, and material behavior. These projects have resulted in numerous student/faculty publications and presentations at national meetings.
Lafayette offers many study abroad options, including a full semester in Spain and Germany geared toward engineering students, as well as interim/summer study abroad courses in several other countries. Instruction in semester abroad programs is in English.