Course Guide

Below, you’ll find our course guide, a visual guide to the many courses offered by the ME department. Remember that courses change semester by semester, and that there are lots of interesting offerings in the wider College of Engineering as well!

Prerequisites are denoted with solid  arrows, while corequisites and recommended courses are denoted with dashed arrows. Remember that although it is strongly recommended that you follow the official prerequisites, they are not strictly enforced, and you still will be able to sign up for and take any class on CalCentral that you wish!

Towards the base of the chart, you’ll find many of the mechanical engineering technical electives, grouped by subject! Check out the subject descriptions below to find out more about what each subject is!
About the lower division core: Lower division classes (numbered less than 100 on the course guide) are classes that are typically taken by the end of your sophomore year. They’ll provide an introduction to many of the concepts important to mechanical engineering. Click on each class below to learn more!

• E7: Intro to Computer Programming for Scientists and Engineers

  E7: E7 is the introductory computer science course for engineers. It’s taken by many majors in the College of Engineering, as well as certain students in the College of Chemistry. It provides a strong introductory background in programming in teaching a wide range of concepts. Topics such as functions, recursion, and numerical analysis are covered in detail, and depending on the semester, elements of object-oriented programming and data structures will be reviewed as well.  E7 is a gateway course that’s essential to many classes in the mechanical engineering department! E7 is one of the higher workload lower division classes, but, even if you’ve programmed before, you’ll really learn a lot of useful and exciting topics over the course of the semester!

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• E 26: Three-Dimensional Modeling for Design

  E 26: E26 is the introductory 3D modeling class for mechanical engineers. In it, you’ll learn the fundamentals of SolidWorks, a popular 3D modeling software. At the end of the course, you’ll work on a team to design a scale wind turbine, capable of generating electrical power. In a final competition, you’ll test your wind turbine against other groups of students to find out whose can generate the most power and carry the highest load. E26 is a great introduction to the principles of mechanical design.

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• E 29: Manufacturing and Design Communication

  E 29: E29 teaches concepts of manufacturing, tolerancing, and technical drawings. Whereas in previous classes, such as E26, you may have focused on how a part is designed, in E29, you’ll learn about how it can be constructed. Through a series of labs and lectures, you’ll learn about manufacturing technology, and how to design your parts with the limitations of machine precision in mind. You’ll gain hands on experience in prototyping and complete an open-ended final project where you showcase what you’ve learned about manufacturing with a team of other students.

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• E 78: Statistics and Data Science for Engineers

  E 78: A new course in the ME department, E78 will introduce you to many of the computing concepts that are becoming increasingly important in a digitally driven world. You’ll learn about probability and statistics, and apply them to computer science through machine learning and data science. This class is a natural continuation of E7.

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• ME 40: Thermodynamics

  ME 40: Thermodynamics! In ME 40, you’ll learn all about how we can harness energy to produce useful mechanical devices. If you’re interested in aerospace propulsion, car engines, and clean energy, you’ll be excited by the practical nature of the topics covered in this course! As ME 40 has a problem solving style different to other classes you may have taken, it can be challenging – we recommend working through worked examples to get used to the nature of the course. Although not strictly necessary, having physics 7B (for its introduction to thermodynamics) and math 53 (for ME40’s brief uses of partial derivatives) may be useful!

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• ME C85: Introduction to Solid Mechanics

  ME C85: ME C85 provides you with a strong knowledge of engineering statics and solid mechanics. By the end of the course, you’ll know how to design and analyze structures such as bridges and mechanical systems, and solve for their internal stresses. You’ll learn all about how and why materials deform and gain lots of practical knowledge of how to improve your designs. Taking C85 opens up many of the further upper division courses in the ME Department such as ME 104, ME 106, and ME 108! Like ME40, C85 is a challenging class, and can seem daunting at times, but persevere! It’s some really interesting material, and you’ll be able to see much of the engineered world around you through a new perspective afterwards!

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Elective + Subject Guide:

Below, you’ll find a description of the core subjects (and their associated electives) in mechanical engineering. Click on the subject, and the name of the elective you’re interested in to find a sample syllabus for the class.