The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) offers traditional ABET accredited engineering programs leading to the B.S. degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering. We also offer a traditional, non-ABET accredited degree in environmental engineering. The B.S. degree requires a minimum of 196 units. Depending on which of the six colleges a student is associated with, this number can vary due to the general education requirements of their college. These courses are referred to a HSS (Humanities and Social Sciences) in the four-year curriculum plans provided below.

Aerospace engineering is a four-year curriculum that begins with fundamental engineering courses in mechanics, thermodynamics, materials, solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. Additional courses are required in aerospace structures, aerodynamics, flight mechanics, propulsion, controls, and aerospace design. Graduates of this program normally enter the aerospace industry to develop aircraft and spacecraft, but also find employment in other areas that use similar technologies, such as mechanical and energy-related fields. Examples include automobile, naval, and sporting equipment manufacturing. This program received ABET accreditation in 2002.

The Mechanical Engineering Program has a traditional ABET accredited four-year curriculum involving mechanics, vibrations, thermodynamics, fluid flow, heat transfer, materials, control theory and mechanical design. Graduates of this program find employment in the high-technology elector-mechanical industry as well as in the mechanical and aerospace industry.

The Environmental Engineering program resembles the Chemical Engineering program for the first two years. In the third and fourth year, the programs diverge: an environmental engineering sequence is offered, as well as further specialization in fluid mechanics, and a wide choice of Technical Elective (TE) courses, both from within MAE and in other departments. The newly founded Environmental Engineering program within the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) at UCSD is a modern interpretation of this rapidly changing field. Unlike the classical environmental engineering topics (e.g. water sanitation, brownfield remediation) many new environmental engineering and sustainability challenges require strong quantitative skills. Renewable energy technologies require skills in material science and physics, climate change research requires individuals trained in fluid mechanics and environmental transport and sustainable building design requires deep knowledge of heat and mass transfer in complex geometries.

Click here for the MAE majors core course curriculum list (.PDF).