Undergraduate Program

Opportunities to Learn and Develop Professionally

Our undergraduate program, ranked 18th among public university by U.S. News & World Report, consists of 128 credit hours. The College of Engineering and Applied Science also has numerous minor and certificate programs for engineering students. Some students also choose to extend their undergraduate education through the Bachelor’s–Accelerated Master’s (BAM), a program that gives you the opportunity to earn an MS degree more quickly than you otherwise could. 

At the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, we make hands-on learning a priority. Our faculty have varied career, research and teaching experiences which make for a broad range of available technical electives covering topics from bio-inspired robotics to flow visualization and beyond. In their final year of study, our undergraduates participate in Senior Design, a unique capstone design experience that allows students to apply the knowledge they've acquired in fundamental mechanical engineering courses to a real-world, open-ended design challenge. 

Professional development is also a focus of the program. Students participate in experiences that grow them as professionals like company tours, networking events, professional development coursework and real-world design projects.

Finding Community at Rady Mechanical Engineering

A strong undergraduate community exists within the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, in part because of active student organizations like American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and many others. ASME plans multiple professional development and community-building events each semester and invites all mechanical engineering students, and sometimes mechanical engineering staff, faculty and alumni, to participate. Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering is unique in that while students excel academically, they also exemplify what it means to work together as a team and are able to celebrate the successes of one another. 

Standing for diversity of all kinds, including diversity of background, life experience and learning style, is important to the department and our students. As such, the department seeks to hire and recruit students, faculty and staff of diverse backgrounds and is committed to supporting a community of inclusion that values everyone and their unique perspectives.