Mission
The undergraduate program in Mechanical Engineering at U.C. Berkeley seeks to provide students with a broad education emphasizing an excellent foundation in scientific and engineering fundamentals. The program prepares undergraduate students for employment or advanced studies with four primary constituencies: industry, the national laboratories, state and federal agencies, and academia (graduate research programs). The mission statement of Mechanical Engineering supports the broader mission of the UC Berkeley College of Engineering.
Program Educational Objectives
The objectives of the Mechanical Engineering undergraduate program are to produce graduates who:
- Vigorously engage in post-baccalaureate endeavors, whether in engineering graduate study, in engineering practice, or in the pursuit of other fields, such as science, law, medicine, business or public policy.
- Apply their mechanical engineering education to address the full range of technical and societal problems with creativity, imagination, confidence and responsibility.
- Actively seek out positions of leadership within their profession and their community.
- Serve as ambassadors for engineering by exhibiting the highest ethical and professional standards, and by communicating the importance and excitement of this dynamic field.
- Retain the intellectual curiosity that motivates lifelong learning and allows for a flexible response to the rapidly evolving challenges of the 21st century.
Student Outcomes
The Department of Mechanical Engineering has adopted the ABET Outcomes as its Program Outcomes. These are that our graduates have:
- An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering.
- An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data.
- An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability.
- An ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams.
- An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems.
- An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.
- An ability to communicate effectively.
- The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context.
- A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning.
- A knowledge of contemporary issues.
- An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.
Joint Majors
The Department of Mechanical Engineering also has two joint major programs with Nuclear Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. These ME joint majors meet the same ME program objectives and student outcomes as the ME single major, listed above. The ME/NE joint major also meets the Nuclear Engineering program objectives and student outcomes, and the ME/MSE joint major also meets the Materials Science and Engineering program objectives and student outcomes.
Census Data and Graduation Rates for ME Single Majors
Average Time to Graduation
The 2017-2018 academic year saw 135 new freshmen and 55 new junior transfers join the department. Based on historical trends, over 90% of these students are expected to graduate from UC Berkeley.