ME Minors and Areas of Special Interest

The Additive Manufacturing minor and ASI provides students with the interdisciplinary skills needed to apply cutting-edge manufacturing techniques within a wide range of industries. Throughout the program, students work with state-of-the-art industrial equipment and open-platform fabrication systems with a focus on additive manufacturing. The Additive Manufacturing teaching lab is dedicated to the program, allowing students to explore various equipment and systems. Within this lab, students have the option to work with polymers, metals, ceramics and biological materials, while optimizing structural design and capturing and interpreting important process data.

ASI in Additive Manufacturing: 12 credit hours
Minor in Additive Manufacturing: 18 credit hours

Required Course for ASI and Minor (3.0 credits)

Elective Courses (ASI: 9.0 credits / Minor: 15.0 credits*)

*At least 9.0 of the hours required for the minor or ASI must not be used for any part of the degree other than Free Electives and must be 300-level courses or higher.

Note: if you are seriously considering Additive Manufacturing as a career, you might be interested in the MS-NT in Additive Manufacturing.  You can double count two classes between your UG and Graduate degree, so that leaves 24 CH (8 courses) to finish in one additional year at Mines.

Masters – Non-Thesis in Additive Manufacturing: 30 credit hours
Click here for more information on an MS-NT in Additive Manufacturing.

View the catalog

In the last decade, the pace of technological innovation in aerospace systems has increased at a fast rate. This formidable progress has been possible by the contribution of a variety of engineering disciplines.  Keenly aware of the strong student interest in this field and of the demand of engineering talent to meet the growing needs of the aerospace industry, Mines has launched the Aerospace Engineering Minor.  This program is aimed at students interested in the design, development, and operation of aerospace systems by introducing them to the fundamentals of aero and astrodynamics, systems engineering, propulsion, space operations, structures, and materials and integrating these disciplines into the design of flight vehicles with a variety of mission goals.

Minor in Aerospace Engineering: 18 credit hours
The following courses will launch the new Aerospace Engineering minor, and a team of faculty in ME will help develop additional courses in coming years to expand the opportunities for electives within the minor. Note that three of the six courses will count toward the ME major, with MEGN451 taken as the Advanced Engineering Science Elective.

• • MEGN 408 Introduction to Space Exploration (3 CH) – fall semester
  • MEGN 414 Mechanics of Composites (3 CH) – fall semester
  • MEGN 451 Aerodynamics (3 CH) – each semester
  • MEGN 453 Aerospace Structures (3 CH) – spring semester
  • MEGN 455 Aerospace Systems Engineering (3 CH)  – fall semester
  • MEGN 456 Space Operations (3 CH) – spring semester
  • MEGN 498 Orbital Mechanics (3 CH) – spring semester
    

Recommended order of courses

The Biomechanical Engineering Minor applies foundational mechanical engineering knowledge to the human body.  We offer courses in musculoskeletal biomechanics, injury biomechanics, and computational biomechanical modeling.  These courses incorporate fundamental principles of mechanical engineering such as statics, dynamics and mechanics of materials to biological systems.  There are opportunities to evaluate how device design affects biomechanical function, consideration for the non-linear properties of biological tissue, and treatment of individual variation in biomechanical structure and function.  Students in the biomechanical engineering minor also have the opportunity to take courses outside of mechanical engineering such as anatomy and physiology, mathematical biology, introduction to neuroscience, and biomaterials.  This minor is recommended for students who are interested in the medical device industry, post-graduate opportunities in research, or clinical professions.

Minor in Biomechanical Engineering: 18 credit hours

Required Courses (7.0 credits)

Three more courses may be chosen from the proposed list of electives. The list of electives will be modified as new related courses become available.

View the catalog

The Robotics and Automation track within the ME Minor applies innovative technologies to problems in robotics, robot-human interaction, manufacturing and health care.  Non-ME undergraduate majors can select multiple electives useful to robotics and can choose the Robotics, Automation, and Design track in a Mechanical Engineering Minor or as an Area of Special Interest.

Mechanical engineering students interested in Robotics are encouraged to consider the Robotics & Intelligent Systems minor housed within the Department of Computer Science. The Robotics & Intelligent Systems minor focuses on the software needed to operate robots and other intelligent systems. The software processes information to sense the environment and control robot motion, achieve objectives, learn from past experience, adapt to a changing environment, and interact smoothly with people.

Minor in Robotics & Intelligent Systems: 18 credit hours

Link to the catalog for the latest course information.

For more information regarding the Robotics program, please visit robotics.mines.edu.

Since the advent of the space age in the middle of the last century, the pace of human and robotic exploration of space has been ever increasing. This exploration is made possible by feats of engineering to allow long-term operation of robotic systems and human explorers in the harsh environment of space. The product of this exploration is a large and growing body of knowledge about our neighbors in the Solar System and our place in the universe.

The Space and Planetary Science and Engineering Program offers an Area of Special Interest for students interested in the science, engineering, and exploration of space. This program brings together courses from several Mines departments and programs covering a diverse array of topics, including planetary science, astronomy, space physics, and the design of engineering systems for space exploration. The curriculum can be chosen from a list of approved courses, in consultation with an SPSE program advisor.

ASI in Space and Planetary Science and Engineering: 12 credit hours
Enrollment in the Area of Special Interest is approved by the Director. Students will then be assigned to an SPSE ASI advisor from among the affiliated faculty, who will monitor and advise their progress. The Area of Special Interest requires a total of 12 credits, up to 3 of which may be at the 200 level or below and up to 3 of which may overlap with the requirements of the degree-granting program. Students may choose their ASI courses from the list of approved courses below or from any additional courses approved by the students’ ASI advisor. Application of EDNS Cornerstone or Capstone project credits towards the ASI requires choice of a space or planetary related project and approval by the students’ SPSE ASI advisor.

View the catalog