Advanced Engineering Technical Electives

ME 590 – Dr. Depcik         Advanced Cooling, Heating & Energy Systems      Pre: Instructor approval

ME 590/810 - Dr. Coil        Advanced Fluid Mechanics       Pre: ME 510

ME 627 - Dr. Sorem          Automotive Design (Required for JMS)         Pre: ME 617

ME 633 - Dr. Fischer          Basic Biomechanics (Required for BIOE)        Pre: ME 311 or ME 309 and ME 320 or CE 250 or CE 260 

ME 702 - Dr. Yang             Mechanical Engineering Analysis      Pre: MATH 220

ME 712 - Dr. Depcik           Adv Engineering Thermodynamics      Pre: ME 212**

ME 743 - Dr. Pourladian      Mechanical Metallurgy          Pre: ME 306, ME 307, ME 311  

ME 765 - Dr. Tamerler         Biomaterials (BIOE)       Pre: ME 306  

** ME 212 grade of C- or better.

ME 590 - Dr. McVey             Life Cyc Asses for Sust Design    Pre: Junior or Senior standing. MATH 365, ME 212, 306, 311

ME 590/790 - Dr. Carter           Batteries          Pre: CHEM 150 or CHEM 130 or CHEM 170 or CHEM 190/191, and EPHX 210 and PHSX 212 and EECS 316 and EECS 318

ME 608/708 - Dr. Wilson/Professor Aftah     Intro to Mechatronics / Mechatronics   Pre: ME 208, 320

ME 632/832 - Dr. Coil       Computational Fluid Dynamics & Heat Transfer  Pre: ME 508, ME 510, ME 612

ME 752 - Dr. Yang              Acoustics       Pre: ME 320            

ME 753 - Dr. Fischer          Bone Biomechanics        Pre: ME 311     

ME 760 - Dr. Friis               Biomedical Product Development (BIOE)   Pre: Senior or Graduate Student  

ME 790 - Dr. Wilson            Intro to AI for Mechanical Engineering     Pre: ME 208 or EECS 138

ME 790 - Dr. DeFilippo        Fundamentals of Multi Heat Transfer & Flow   Pre: ME 612

ME 797 - Dr. Liu                   Materials for Energy Applications       Pre: ME 212**

** ME 212 grade of C- or better.

Fall 2026

ME 590 Advanced Cooling, Heating & Energy Systems (3 cr.)

Cooling, heating, and environmental control systems are critical to modern life. Human comfort, healthcare and medicine, and food preservation rely on refrigeration and air conditioning systems. Likewise, high performance computing and data centers have significant cooling needs. Yet, while these technologies have become ubiquitous, vapor-compression systems present challenges in energy efficiency and in the life cycle impacts of the refrigerant fluid itself. This course explores the science and engineering of current and emerging environmental management technologies. 

Topics: Cycle thermodynamics, refrigerant chemistry, solid-state cooling, passive thermal management approaches, and life cycle analysis.

Prerequisite: Instructor approval

ME 590/810 Advanced Fluid Mechanics (3 cr.)

Topics: Kinematic and dynamic behavior of fluids, derivation of Navier-Stokes equations, flow classification, solutions of viscous and inviscid flows for simple geometries, potential flow theory and laminar and turbulent boundary layer theory.

Prerequisite: ME 510 or equivalent

ME 627 Automotive Design (3 cr.)

Basic concepts of automotive design and manufacture. Primary focus of course on vehicle design and performance. Design is subdivided into vehicle components of frame, suspension, front and rear axle, steering power train, front and rear wheel drive, and braking. Integration of these ideas into a vehicle design project with analysis of its performance culminates the course.

Topics: Vehicle Design: Chassis and frame; Suspension and steering; Front and rear axles and power train; Braking and vehicle dynamic performance; Design Project: Engineering specifications; Project scheduling; Concept generation and evaluation; Performance evaluation; Design for manufacture, assembly and implementation; Analysis (stress, thermal, economic, environmental, etc.)

Prerequisite: ME 617

ME 633 Basic Biomechanics (3 cr.)

Provides an overview of musculoskeletal anatomy. Biodynamics includes linear and angular dynamics of human movement, energy expenditure, and power required to perform a given activity. Students will learn to determine joint forces and torques (in 2-D) from kinematic data for body segments and force plate data. The tissue mechanics section builds on ME 311.

Topics: Brief History of Biomechanics (1 week); Cellular Biomechanics (3 weeks); Tissue Biomechanics (5 weeks); Orthopedic pathologies, treatments, implants, and FDA considerations (2 weeks); Basic Dynamics applied to Human Motion (2 weeks); Cardiovascular Biomechanics (3 weeks); Extracellular Matrix Biomechanics (1 week)

Prerequisite: ME 311 and ME 320

ME 702 Mechanical Engineering Analysis (3 cr.)

A study of advanced methods for engineering analysis of practical problems utilizing fundamental principles from engineering disciplines. The emphasis is on the solution of these problems and the interpretation and generalization of the results.

Topics: ODE review (1 week); Laplace transform techniques (2 weeks); Partial differential equations (analytical and [numerical, time permitting] solutions) (3 weeks); Eigenvalue problems (2 weeks); Matrices and vectors (1 week); Fourier transforms (1 week); Complex numbers, integration, residues (3 weeks); R^3 space and vector calculus (time permitting); Examinations and special topics (1-2 weeks)

Prerequisite: MATH 220

ME 712 Adv Engineering Thermodynamics (3 cr.)

An advanced course in thermodynamics, mathematical in nature, with emphasis on a critical re-evaluation of the laws of thermodynamics, thermodynamics of one-dimensional gas flow, development of the classical thermodynamic relations and their application to engineering problems.

Topics: Review of basic thermodynamics (1 week); Reacting systems and chemical equilibrium (2 weeks); Thermodynamic relationships and real gas models (2 weeks); Exergy (2 weeks); One-dimensional gas flow and compressibility (3 weeks); Special thermodynamic systems (2 weeks); Examinations and special topics (2 weeks)

Prerequisite: ME 212 (grade C- or better)

ME 765 Biomaterials (3 cr.)

An introductory course on biomaterials science and consideration of biomaterials in the design of biomedical implants. Topics including ethical considerations in biomaterials research and the role of the FDA in medical device design are also presented.

Topics: Technical Writing (2 weeks); Economic Analysis (0.5 week); Ethics (0.5 week); Research Design (3 weeks); Regulatory (0.5 week); Biomaterials (7 weeks); Oral Communication (0.5 week); Examinations (1 week)

Prerequisite: ME 306

ME 743 Mechanical Metallurgy (3 cr.)

This course will present an area of knowledge which deals with the behavior and response of metals to applied forces. This knowledge will be presented in four parts: 1) Mechanical fundamentals; 2) Metallurgical fundamentals; 3) Applications in materials testing; 4) Plastic forming of metals.

Topics: Mechanical Fundamentalssuch as stress and strain relationships for elastic behavior and an introduction to elements of the theory of plasticity (2 weeks); Metallurgical Fundamentals such as plastic deformation, dislocation theory, strengthening mechanisms, fracture (3 weeks); Applications in materials testing such as Tension Test, Torsion Test, Hardness Test, Fracture Mechanics, Fatigue, Brittle fracture and impact testing (3 weeks); Plastic forming of metals such as Fundamental of metalworking, Forging, Rolling of metals, Drawing of rods, wires and tubes, Sheet-Metal forming (3 weeks); Literature reviews and case studies (3 weeks); Exams (1 week).

Prerequisite: ME 306, ME 307, ME 311

Spring 2026

ME 590 Life Cyc Asses for Sust Design (3 cr.)

Introduction to and application of environmental life cycle assessment as a quantitative tool for sustainable engineering design, with a focus on whole-building and MEP applications.

Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing. MATH 365, ME 212, ME 306, and ME 311

ME 590/790 Batteries (3 cr.)

Undergraduate students will enroll in ME 590 and graduate students will enroll in ME 790. This course will cover the fundamental mechanisms of battery energy storage, key types of batteries and their applications, define performance metrics and analysis strategies, introduce thermal risks, and provide a glimpse in to future battery design.

Prerequisite: CHEM 150 or CHEM 130 or CHEM 170 or CHEM 190/191, and EPHX 210 and PHSX 212 and EECS 316 and EECS 318

ME 608/708 Intro to Mechatronics / Mechatronics (3 cr.)

Undergrads should enroll in ME 608. Graduate students should enroll in ME 708. If you are an undergraduate who would like to take ME 708 instead for an honors class, please email Dr. Wilson for permission. sewilson@ku.edu

Design and implementation of interfaces of microcomputers to mechanical equipment. Includes laboratory experiments presenting selected industrial applications. Emphasis on human factors, functional design parameters and microprocessor interfaces. Includes instruction concerning specifications of practical hardware configurations and writing of programs necessary to accomplish mechanical systems applications.

Topics: C++ programming of microcontrollers (4 weeks); Sensors and actuators (3 weeks); Robotic system integration and programming (3 weeks); Modeling and design of mechatronic systems (3 weeks); Individual projects (2 weeks)

Prerequisite: ME 208 and ME 320

ME 632/832 Computational Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer (3 cr.)

This class derives the equations governing the transport of mass, momentum, species, and energy and then introduces the finite volume approach to solve them on a discretized domain. Exercises explore the tradeoffs in specifying resolution in space and time. Subsequent units introduce subgrid models that express different physics such as turbulence, combustion, fluid-structure interaction, multi- and dispersed phases. Each week, students conduct simulations on topics of interest to practice these fundamentals and develop skills in monitoring health of simulations. A final project offers the opportunity to validate simulations against experimental data.   

Prerequisite: ME 508, ME 510, ME 612

ME 752 Acoustics (3 cr.)

This course will teach the production, propagation, and effects of sound waves. Detailed topics include plane wave, spherical wave, and cylindrical wave propagation in free space and waveguides, wave reflection and transmission on an interface, piston radiation, wave scattering and diffraction.

Topics: Wave equation (1 week); Plane waves (1 week); Reflection and transmission (3 weeks); Waveguides (1 week); Absorption and dispersion (1 week); Spherical waves (2 weeks); Cylindrical waves (1 week); Radiation (2 weeks); Scattering and diffraction (1 week); Examination and special talk (3 weeks)

Prerequisite: ME 320

ME 753 Bone Biomechanics (3 cr.)

Provides an in-depth knowledge of bone as a living mechanical system. 

Topics: microstructure, biology, mechanical properties, mechanical modeling, adaptation of bone to the mechanical environment, and its simulation. Student assignments include homework, a poster presentation, basic finite element analysis laboratory, and bone remodeling simulations.  

Prerequisite: ME 311

ME 760 Biomedical Product Development (3 cr.)

Introduction to methods of taking medical product inventions from conception to initial stage production. Students work in cross-functional teams to investigate development potential of inventions. Topics covered include product development processes, regulatory issues with the FDA, quality system requirements, SBIR/STTR funding pathways, biomaterial and biomechanics issues in medical product design, and ethical considerations.

Topics: Technical Writing (2 weeks); Economic Analysis (2 weeks); Ethics (1 week); Research Design (3.5 weeks)

Intellectual Property (1 week); Regulatory (1 week); Quality Systems (1 week); Product Design (2 weeks); Biomaterials and Biomechanics (1 week); Examinations (0.5 weeks)

Prerequisite: Senior or graduate student standing in engineering, business, industrial design, or an applicable life science field

ME 790 Intro to AI for Mechanical Engineering (3 cr.)

An introduction to machine learning and artificial intelligence and its applications in Mechanical Engineering. 

Prerequisite: ME 208, EECS 138 or similar programming course

ME 790 Fundamentals of Multi Heat Transfer & Flow (3 cr.)

Exploration of flow, heat transfer, and phase transition in multiphase systems including solid, liquid, gas, and/or plasma. Fundamental characteristics and practical applications will be explored. 

Prerequisite: ME 612     

ME 797 Materials for Energy Application (3 cr.)

Focus on fundamentals of materials for energy applications. The main topics covered will be: 1) introduction to material science & engineering and electrochemical technologies, 2) microscopic view of solid materials, 3) mass transfer by migration and diffusion, 4) energy related materials and devices, 5) electrochemical engineering fundamentals, etc.

Prerequisite: ME 212