Master of Automotive Engineering

Curriculum and Courses

The M.Eng. degree in Automotive Engineering requires a total of 30 credit hours of course work, of which at least 27 hours must be graded, and at least 21 credit hours must be in courses at the 500-level and above. A minimum grade point average of 5.0/9.0 ("B" average) is also required. The credits will be distributed in categories arranged to meet the degree's objectives:

  1. Systems Engineering Core
    (9 credits, graded)
    One course should be selected per area from three core areas: Engineering Systems, Powertrain, Vehicle.
  2. Engineering Electives
    (9 credits, graded)
    The student must take at least three courses in the following engineering disciplines: Design and Manufacturing, Electronics, Energy, Materials, Noise, Vibration and Harshness, Ride and Handling.
  3. Management and Human Factors
    (6 credits, graded)
    Two courses must be taken in the Management and Human Factors core on business and management, ergonomics and human factors, law and professional ethics, operations research, etc.
  4. Automotive Engineering and Seminar and Capstone Project
    (6 credits, AUTO 501, (graded), AUTO 503)
    To provide a significant and industrially relevant team-project experience, a series of seminars will expose students to the wide spectrum of automotive engineering. A capstone project will synthesize the student's knowledge and apply it to an industrially relevant problem.
Systems Engineering Core

ME 458 Automotive Engineering

Prerequisites: ME 350. I, II. (3 credits). (Distance Learning).
Emphasizes systems approach to automotive design. Specific topics include automotive structures, suspension steering, brakes, and driveline. Basic vehicle dynamics in the performance and handling modes are discussed. A semester team based design project is required.
Powertrain

AUTO 563 Dynamics and Controls of Automatic Transmissions

Prerequisites: Graduate Standing or permission of instructor. IIIa, III. (3 credits)
(Distance Learning).
Automatic transmission is a key element of automotive vehicles for improved driving comfort. This course will introduce the mechanisms, design and control of modern transmissions systems. The emphasis will be on the dynamic control design, analysis and synthesis problems.

ME 438 Internal Combustion Engines I

Prerequisites: ME 336. I (4 credits). (Alternate years) (Distance Learning)
Analytical approach to the engineering problem and performance analysis of internal combustion engines. Study of thermodynamics, combustion, heat transfer, friction and other factors affecting engine power, efficiency, and emissions. Design and operating characteristics of different types of engines. Computer assignments. Engine laboratories.
Vehicle

ME 513 (MFG 513) Automotive Body Structures

Prerequisites: ME 311 or ME 412, or ME 511 or equivalent. II. (3 credits)
Emphasis is on body concept for design using first order modeling of thin walled structural elements. Practical application of solid/structural mechanics is considered to design automotive bodies for global bending, torsion, vibration, crashworthiness, topology, material selection, packaging, and manufacturing contraints..

ME 542 Vehicle Dynamics

Prerequisites: MECHENG 440, (AMES 440) II (3 credits) (Distance Learning)
Dynamics of the motor vehicle. Static and dynamic properties of the pneumatic tire. Mechanical models of single and double-track vehicles enabling prediction of their response to control forces/movements and external disturbances. Directional response and stability in small disturbance maneuvers. The close-loop driving process. Behavior of the motor vehicle in large perturbation maneuvers. Ride phenomena treated as a random process.
Engineering Electives
Design & Manufacturing

EECS 598 Production Systems Engineering

Prerequisities: permission of instructor or counselor. II (3 Credits)
This course is devoted to rigorous engineering methods for analysis, design, and continuous improvement of production systems in large volume manufacturing.

ME 452 (MFG 452) Design for Manufacturability

Prerequisites: MECHENG 350. II (3 credits) (Distance Learning)
Conceptual design. Design for economical production, Taguchi methods, design for assembly; case studies. Product design using advanced polymeric materials and composites; part consolidation, snap-fit assemblies; novel applications.

ME 588 (MFG 588) Assembly Modeling for Design and Manufacturing

Prerequisities: ME 381 and ME 401 or equivalent. I (3 credits) (Alternate years)
(Distance Learning)
Assembly on product and process. Assembly sequence. Datum flow chain. Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerencing. Tolerance synthesis. Robust design. Fixturing. Joint design and joining methods. Stream of variation. Auto body assembly case studies.
Energy

ME 589: Ecological Sustainability in Design and Manufacturing

Prerequisites: Senior or Graduate Standing. I. (3 credits)
A scientific basis for understanding and reducing the environmental impact of engineering design and manufacturing decision for a life cycle perspective. Environmental impact principles: air/water pollution, ozone depetion, global warming, resource sustainability. Life cycle assessment and environmentally conscious manufacturing of metals, plastics, and electronics products. Systems design metrics, disassembly, remanufacturing, recycling, policy considerations. Case studies include sustainable mobility, alternative energy sources, tooling and machining, refrigeration, electronics remanufacturing.

ME 599 Management for Sustainable Manufacturing

Prerequisites: Graduate standing. I (3 credits). (Alternate Years) (Distance Learning)
The objective of this course is to teach engineers and managers about the environmental issues involved and the associated economic and technological considerations that need to be understood to find an optimal solution. This course will help students gain insight into energy and environmental aspects of manufacturing that have become important for competitiveness and for complying with environmental regulations. Since manufacturing industries face a wide variety of energy and environmental related problems and no single recipe can be used for all of them, several cases will be discussed in detail and assigned as projects to the students.
Materials

M ATSCIE 420 Mechanical Behavior of Materials

Prerequisites: ME 211, MATSCIE 350. I (3 credits)
Macroscopic and microscopic aspects of deformation an fracture. Plasticity, general continuum approach. Microscopic hardening mechanisms. Rate and temperature dependent deformation. Deformation and fracture mechanism maps. Fracture mechanics. Fatigue behavior.

ME 582 (MFG 582) Metal-Forming Plasticity

Prerequisites: ME 211
I (3 credits) (Alternative years) (Distance Learning)
Elastic and plastic stress-strain relations; yield criteria and flow rules; analyses of various plastic forming operations. Effects of hardening and friction, temperature, strain rate, and anisotropy.

MSE 514 (MFG 514) Composite Materials

Prerequisite: MSE 350. I (Alternate years) (3 credits)
Behavior, processing, and design of composite materials, especially fiber composites. Emphasis is on the chemical and physical processes currently employed and expected to guide the future development of the technology.
Noise, Vibration & Harshness

ME 524 Advanced Engineering Acoustics

Prerequisites: ME 424, I. (EECS 415) (3 credits)
Derivation of the acoustic wave equation and development of solution techniques. Transmission and reflection from solids, plates and impedance boundaries. Radiation and scattering from non-simple geometries. Green's functions; boundary element and finite element methods. Sound in ducts and enclosures.
Introduction to structural-acoustic coupling. Automotive and other applications considered.

ME 541 (AMES 541) Mechanical Vibrations

Prerequisites: ME 441, (AMES 441). I (3 credits) (Distance Learning)
Time and frequency domain mathematical techniques for linear system vibrations. Equations of motion of discrete nonconservative systems. Vibration of multi-degree-of-freedom systems. Small oscillation theory. Free vibration eigenvalue problem. Undamped system response. Viscously damped systems. Vibration of continuous systems. Modes of vibration of bars, beams, membranes, plates.
Powertrain

ME 438 Internal Combustion Engines I

Prerequisites: ME 336. I. (4 credits) (Alternate Years) (Distance Learning)
Analytical approach to the engineering problem and performance analysis of internal combustion engines. Study of thermodynamics, combustion, heat transfer, friction and other factors affecting engine power, efficiency, and emissions, Design and operating characteristics of different types of engines. Computer assignments. Engine laboratories.

ME 538 Advanced Internal Combustion Engines

Prerequisites: ME 438. II (3 credits)
Modern analytical approach to the design and performance analysis of advanced internal combustion engines. Study of thermodynamics, fluid flow, combustion, heat transfer, and other factors affecting the design, operating and emissions characteristics of different engine types. Application of course techniques to engine research projects.

ME 532 Convection Heat Transfer

Prerequisite: ME 330. (3 credits)
Differential and integral formulations of convection. Parallel and nearly parallel laminar (boundary layer) flows. Similarity solutions. Periodic convection. Computational convection. Instability and turbulence. Kinetic and thermal scales and spectra. Flow prediction. Heat transfer prediction. Multiple scale dimensional analysis. Technological applications.
Dynamics and Control

ME 440 Intermediate Dynamics and Vibration

Prerequisites: ME 240. I, II (4 credits)
Newton/Euler and Lagrangian formulations for three-dimensional motion of particles and rigid bodies. Linear free and forced responses of one and two degree of freedom systems and simple continuous systems. Application to engineering systems involving vibration isolation, rotating imbalance and vibration absorption.

ME 542 Vehicle Dynamics

Prerequisites: ME 440. II (3 credits) (Distance Learning)
Dynamics of the motor vehicle. Static and dynamic properties of the pneumatic tire. Mechanical models of single and double-track vehicles enabling prediction of their response to control forces/movements and external disturbances. Directional response and stability in small disturbance maneuvers. The close-loop driving process. Behavior of the motor vehicle in large perturbation maneuvers. Ride phenomena treated as a random process.

ME 568 Vehicle Control Systems

Prerequisites: ME 461 or equivalent. I. (3 credits)
Design and analysis of vehicle control systems such as cruise control, traction control, active suspensions and advanced vehicle control systems for Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS). Human factor considerations such as driver interfaces. This course may be used as part of the IVHS certification program..

ME 569 Control of Advanced Powertrain Systems

Prerequisites: Graduate Standing. ME 360, ME 461. (3 credits)
In this course we study essential aspects of electronic engine control. We first introduce modeling and simulation techniques and follow with classical spark ignition (diesel) engine control problems. In the last part of the course we present recent control development for advanced engines with direct injection, camless actuation, active boosting technologies and modern powerplants with hybrid-electric and fuel cell power generation.
Management & Human Factors
Human Resources

MO 501 Human Behavior and Organization

II, IIIa. (3 credits)
This core course focuses on three primary areas: 1) current behavioral and organizational theory and techniques, 2) fundamentals that will be applied in other core courses, and 3) basics for advanced courses in personnel administration-industrial relations. The course covers the multiple roles of the manager, the personnel function, and the constraints on personnel decisions.

MFG 599 Industrial Organization Design for Responsiveness

I. (3 credits)
This course provides an overview of organization theory, particularly as it relates to industrial organization. The following areas will be covered in more details: (1) organizational decision making, (2) economics of organizations, (3) organizations and technology, and (4) human element in organizations.
Finance

MFG 505 Financial Analysis for Modern Manufacturing I

(3 credits) (Distance Learning)
This course will discuss and evaluate how accounting systems impact the implementation of modern manufacturing systems. Traditional accounting practices and systems will be analyzed to show how they can impede a shift from traditional mass production to more efficient lean manufacturing systems. Alternative measurement tools will be presented that facilitate the implementation of modern lean manufacturing systems. In-depth case studies will be used to illustrate the impact of traditional and newer measurement methods. Students should have knowledge of introductory accounting/capital budgeting concepts and lean manufacturing concepts.
Seminar and Capstone Project

AUTO 501 Integrated Vehicle Systems Design

Prerequisites: Grad standing or permission by instructor, I. (3 credits) (Distance Learning)
This course is intended to examine the process by which a first layout is developed for a new vehicle platform. The course will focus on the layout of the major space-defining vehicle subsystems required to arrive at a preliminary vehicle package drawing. The process followed will be based on systems engineering: requirements-to-design concepts to performance prediction to comparison to requirements to iteration.

AUTO 503 Automotive Engineering Project

Prerequisites: AUTO 501 or permission of instructor; mandatory satisfactory/unsatisfactory. I, II, III (3 credits)
Student will carry out a project in interdisciplinary teams, and where possible in conjunction with an internship held during the summer with an industrial or governmental sponsor. A faculty member will follow the progress and serve as an advisor to the project teams.