Lyle School of Engineering - Programs of Study

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The Lyle School of Engineering offers the following degrees:
  • Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering
  • Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering
  • Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
  • Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering
  • Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
  • Bachelor of Science (Computer Science)
  • Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science)
  • Bachelor of Science (Management Science)
  • Bachelor of Arts (Computer Science)
Engineering work can be classified by function, regardless of the branch it is in, as follows: research, development, design, production, testing, planning, sales, service, construction, operation, teaching, consulting and management. The function fulfilled by an engineer results in large measure from personal characteristics and motivations, and only partially from his or her curriculum of study. Nonetheless, although engineering curricula may be relatively uniform, their modes of presentation tend to point a student toward a particular large class of functions. Engineering curricula at SMU aim generally at engineering functions that include research, development, design, management and teaching – functions ordinarily associated with additional education beyond the Bachelor’s degree.

Lyle School of Engineering undergraduate programs in civil engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, environmental engineering and mechanical engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc., 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012 - telephone: (410) 347-7700. The undergraduate computer science program that awards the degree Bachelor of Science (B.S.) is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET. The undergraduate computer science program that awards the degree Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) is not accredited by a Commission of ABET. ABET does not provide accreditation for the disciplines of environmental science and management science.

Description of Courses

Courses offered in the Lyle School of Engineering are identified by a two-, threeor four-letter prefix code designating the general subject area of the course, followed by a four-digit number. The first digit specifies the approximate level of the course as follows: 1 – first year, 2 – sophomore, 3 – junior, 4 – senior, and 5 – senior. The second digit denotes the term-hours associated with the course. The last two digits specify the course numbers. Thus, CSE 4381 denotes a course offered by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the senior (4) level, having three term hours, and with the course number 81. The prefix codes are as follows:
  • CSE – Department of Computer Science and Engineering
  • EE – Department of Electrical Engineering
  • EMIS – Department of Engineering Management, Information and Systems
  • ENCE – Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering
  • ME – Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • SS – Center for Special Studies


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Computer Science and Engineering

Professor Sukumaran Nair, Chair

Professors: Margaret Dunham, David Matula, Sukumaran Nair, Stephen Szygenda, Mitchell Thornton; Associate Professors: James Dunham, Richard Helgason, Jeff Tian; Assistant Professors: Li Guo Huang, Fatih Kocan, Yuhang Wang; Visiting Assistant Professor: Michael Hahsler; Senior Lecturer: Frank Coyle; Lecturers: Donald Evans, Mark Fontenot; Adjunct Faculty: Jeffrey Alcantara, Abdelhalim Alsharqawi, William Bralick, Ann Broihier, Hakki Çankaya, Christian Christensen, Dennis Frailey, Prasad Golla, Bhanu Kapoor, Kamran Khan, Lun Li, Richmond G. Lewin, Babu Mani, Matt McBride; Lee McFearin, Freeman Moore, Padmaraj MV. Nair, Robert Oshana, John Pfister, Leonid Popokh, Mohamed Rayes, T. Brett Spell, Stephen Stepoway.

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering at SMU offers academic programs in computer engineering and computer science. Faculty specializations include computer architecture, knowledge engineering, software engineering, design and analysis of algorithms, parallel processing, database management, VLSI CAD methods, bioinformatics, computer networks, data and network security, mobile computing, theory of computation and computer arithmetic. The educational objectives of the undergraduate programs in the department are to produce graduates who are productive professionals in an information technology discipline, are pursuing (or have pursued) graduate or professional degrees, are successful entrepreneurs and managers, have a broad knowledge and wide range of interests, are valuable members of their general community, and take a leadership role in their chosen field. As such, the programs are designed to ensure that graduates have:

For graduates with degrees in computer science:



For graduates with degrees in computer engineering:



The CSE Department is engaged in an ongoing assessment process that evaluates the success in meeting these outcomes and enhances the development of the program.

Degrees
Bachelor of Science – Major in Computer Science (123/124* Term Credit Hours)
Bachelor of Science – Major in Computer Science with a Premedical Specialization (129 Term Credit Hours)
Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (127 Term Credit Hours)
Bachelor of Arts – Major in Computer Science (122 Term Credit Hours)
(*the B.S. in Computer Science degree in the gaming track requires one additional hour of coursework)

The undergraduate program in computer engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc., 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012 – telephone: (410) 347-7700. The undergraduate computer science program that awards the degree Bachelor of Science (B.S.) is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET. The undergraduate computer science program that awards the degree Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) is not accredited by a Commission of ABET.

Dual Degree Program
The Lyle School of Engineering offers a dual degree with the Meadows School of the Arts that leads to the degrees of Bachelor of Arts in Music and Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science. Please contact the department for additional details.

4+1 Master’s Degree Program
The 4+1 Program allows students to complete both B.S. and M.S. degrees in five years. In the CSE Department, students may participate in a 4+1 program in either the Computer Science or Computer Engineering area. Up to nine total credit hours of graduate courses may be applied toward fulfilling the student’s undergraduate program requirements. For additional information, contact the Undergraduate Program Director.

Teaching Certification The teacher certification program requires 24 hours of course work and six hours of student teaching. Thus a B.A. in Computer Science student is able to complete these requirements by taking all required education courses within the free electives area. In addition, the student would have to complete student teaching. For information on this, please contact the CSE Department.

Computer Facilities Students in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering have access to a wide range of facilities and equipment. The department’s computing environment has evolved into an Ethernet-based network of personal computers and servers. General-use Unix servers that run OSF1 and Linux are available. A wireless network is also available throughout the CSE facilities. Windows-based PC labs are used during the first two years of coursework. Access to the network is also available via open-area labs containing PCs.

Curriculum in Computer Science
Computers play an ever-increasing role in our society. Their use permeates all other academic disciplines and industrial arenas. Computer science is the study of the concepts and theory surrounding computer design and software construction. The SMU undergraduate program in computer science is designed to give students a solid understanding of these concepts, providing them with the technical knowledge needed to pursue either an advanced degree or a challenging career in the computer industry. The diversity of the Lyle School of Engineering computer environment exposes undergraduate computer science students to many different hardware and software systems.

To study and use computers we must communicate with them through a variety of software interfaces, including programming languages. At SMU, the student will study several high-level languages – such as C++ and Java – that simplify the use of computers. In addition, students are exposed to a variety of Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools and expert systems shells. Assembly languages and operating systems (such as UNIX) for micro-, mini- and mainframe computers are studied to provide an understanding of the architecture and organization of a digital computer. Mathematical topics such as discrete mathematics, graph theory and Boolean and linear algebra are included in required undergraduate classes so that students may better understand the internal structure of the computer and the effective utilization of its languages.

Knowledge of the computer’s internal structure is important to understanding its capabilities. Thus, computer science students take courses in assembly language, computer logic and computer organization. Courses in systems programming and operating systems extend this structural study into the “software” of the computer. A required sequence of software engineering courses prepares students for advanced systems and software applications.

The free electives in the Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science program can also be used to individually tailor a student’s study plan. For example, students who want a program even more intensive than the computer science major could satisfy their free electives with more computer science courses. Students interested in a broader education could satisfy these electives with courses offered by any department in the University.

The B.S. degree allows students to major in any of three concentration tracks or to pursue a general program where they can choose nine hours of computer science electives. The Research track allows students to participate in an undergraduate research project of their choice. Like graduate students, undergraduate students majoring in Research are required to perform independent research in an area of their choice (with a tenure-track faculty member as an adviser), document the research results, and present the results of the research in a presentation open to the entire University community. The Security track facilitates a more in-depth study of software security issues. The Game Development track is provided in collaboration with the Guildhall of SMU.





Minor in Computer Science
A student majoring in Computer Engineering may not minor in computer science.

Requirements:
  • CSE 1341 Principles of Computer Science I
  • CSE 1342 Programming Concepts
  • CSE 2341 Principles of Computer Science II
  • CSE 2353 Discrete Computational Structures
Elective Courses:
Any six hours of CSE courses numbered 3000 or above as approved by the Computer Science Minor adviser.

Curriculum in Computer Engineering
Computer engineering deals with computers and computing systems. Computer engineers must be capable of addressing problems in hardware, software and algorithms, especially those problems whose solutions depend upon the interaction of these elements.

Career opportunities for computer engineers require a broad range of knowledge. The design and analysis of logical and arithmetic processes that are the basis of computer science provide basic knowledge. Computer engineering courses are concentrated on the interacting nature of hardware and software. Basic electrical engineering is a clear foundation for computer engineers.



Minor in Computer Engineering
A student majoring in Computer Science may not minor in Computer Engineering.

Requirements:
  • CSE 1341 Principles of Computer Science I
  • CSE 1342 Programming Concepts
  • CSE 2240 Assembly Language Programming and Machine Organization
  • CSE 2341 Principles of Computer Science II
  • CSE 2353 Discrete Computational Structures
  • CSE 3381 Digital Logic Design





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Electrical Engineering

Associate Professor Marc P. Christensen, Chair

Professors: Jerome K. Butler, Delores M. Etter, Gary A. Evans, W. Milton Gosney, Alireza Khotanzad, Geoffrey Orsak, Panos E. Papamichalis, Behrouz Peikari; Associate Professors: Marc P. Christensen, Carlos E. Davila, Scott C. Douglas, James G. Dunham, Choon S. Lee, Sukumaran Nair, Dinesh Rajan, Mitchell A. Thornton; Assistant Professor: Ping Gui; Adjunct Professor: Richard Levine; Adjunct Associate Professors: Hossam Hímimy, Clark Kinnaird, Gordon Sohl; Adjunct Assistant Professors: Joseph Cleveland, Ahmed Hímimy, Shantanu Kangude, Nhut Nguyen; Emeritus Professors: Kenneth L. Ashley, Robert R. Fossum, Someshwar C. Gupta, Lorn L. Howard, Mandyam D. Srinath; Senior Lecturer: H. Charles Baker.

The discipline of electrical engineering is at the core of today’s technology-driven society. Personal computers, computer-communications networks, integrated circuits, optical technologies, digital signal processors and wireless communications systems have revolutionized the way we live and work, and extraordinary advances in these fields are announced every day. Because today’s society truly is a technological one, a degree in electrical engineering offers exceptional opportunities for financial security, personal satisfaction and an expansion of the frontiers of technology.

The Department of Electrical Engineering at SMU offers a full complement of courses at the Bachelor’s degree level in communications, networks, digital signal processing, optoelectronics, electromagnetics, microelectronics and systems and control.

The mission of the department is:
Through quality instruction and scholarly research, engage each student in a challenging electrical engineering education that prepares graduates for the full range of career opportunities in the high technology marketplace and enables them to reach their fullest potential as a professional and as a member of society.

Departmental goals include:
  • Becoming one of the nation’s leading electrical engineering departments by building peaks of excellence in the fields of communications/signal processing and micro/optoelectronics and by being a leader in innovative educational programs
  • Offering an undergraduate curricula that equips graduates for careers that require ingenuity, integrity, logical thinking, and the ability to work and communicate in teams, and for the pursuit of graduate degrees in engineering or other fields such as business, medicine and law
  • Offering world-class Ph.D. programs that prepare graduates for academic careers, for research careers in the high technology industry or for technical entrepreneurship
  • Promoting lifelong learning animated by a passion for the never-ending advance of technology
The educational objectives of the electrical engineering department undergraduate program are to enable graduates to:
  • Be successful in understanding, formulating, analyzing and solving a variety of electrical engineering problems
  • Be successful in designing a variety of engineering systems, products or experiments
  • Be successful in careers and/or graduate study in engineering or other areas such as business, medicine and law
  • Have the ability to assume leadership and entrepreneurial positions
  • Successfully function and effectively communicate, both individually and in multidisciplinary teams
  • Understand the importance of lifelong learning, ethics and professional accountability
The Electrical Engineering undergraduate program outcomes as related to the above educational objectives are as follows:

All graduates of the electrical engineering program are expected to have:



The Electrical Engineering Department is engaged in an ongoing assessment process that evaluates the success in meeting the educational objectives and outcomes and enhances the development of the program.

The undergraduate program in electrical engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc., 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012 – telephone (410) 347-7700. The SMU Electrical Engineering Department emphasizes the following major areas of research interest:



Department Facilities
The department has access to the Lyle School of Engineering academic computing resources, consisting of shared-use computer servers and desktop client systems connected to a network backbone. All of the servers in the Lyle School of Engineering are running some variant of UNIX or Microsoft Windows. There is one primary file server that exports files using FNS or CIFS protocols. Each user, whether faculty, staff or student, has a “home” directory on the central file server. This directory is exported to other servers or desktop computers, regardless of operating systems, as needed. There are over 40 servers whose purposes include the following: file service, UNIX mail, Exchange mail, firewall, UNIX authentication, NT authentication, printer management, lab image download, classroomspecific software, X windows service, news, domain name service, computational resources and general use. This allows the files to be used as a resource in both the UNIX and Microsoft PC environments. Almost all computing equipment within the Lyle School of Engineering is connected to the Engineering network at 100 megabits and higher. The network backbone is running at a gigabit per second over fiber. Most servers and all engineering buildings are connected to this gigabit backbone network. The backbone within Engineering is connected to both the Internet 2 and the campus network that is then connected to the Internet at large. In addition to servers and shared computational resources, the Lyle School of Engineering maintains a number of individual computing laboratories associated with the departments.

Specific department laboratory facilities for instruction and research include: Antenna Laboratory. This laboratory consists of two facilities for fabrication and testing. Most of the antennas fabricated at the SMU antenna lab are microstrip antennas. Small and less complex antennas are made with a T-Tech milling machine and a photolithic/chemical etching method is used to make more complex and large antennas. Fabricated antennas are characterized with an HP 5810B network analyzer. Workstations are available for antenna design and theoretical computation. Radiation characteristics are measured at the UTD (University of Texas at Dallas) – SMU Antenna Characterization Lab near the UTD campus.

Biomedical Engineering Laboratory. This laboratory contains instrumentation for carrying out research in electrophysiology, psychophysics and medical ultrasound. Four Grass physiographs permit the measurement of electroencephalograms as well as visual and auditory evoked brain potentials. The lab also contains a state-of-the-art dual Purkinje eye tracker and image stabilizer made by Fourward Technologies, Inc., a Vision Research Graphics 21-inch Digital Multisync Monitor for displaying visual stimuli, and a Cambridge Research Systems visual stimulus generator capable of generating a variety of stimuli for use in psychophysical and electrophysiological experiments. Ultrasound data can also measured with a Physical Acoustics apparatus consisting of a water tank, RF pulser/receiver and RF data acquisition system. Several PC’s are also available for instrumentation control and data acquisition.

Digital Signal Processing Laboratory. Digital signal processors (DSPs) are programmable semiconductor devices that are used extensively in cellular telephones, high-density disk drives and high-speed modems. Courses in this laboratory focus on programming the Texas Instruments TMS320C55, a fixed-point processor, with emphasis on assembly language programming. Topics include implementation of FIR and IIR filters, the FFT and a real-time spectrum analyzer.

Networks Laboratory. This laboratory provides the opportunity to simulate and evaluate different network configurations from local area networks to the Internet. High-end PCs are configured with OPNET and mathematics software to model telecommunications networks and study their performance. The Networks Laboratory is used for instruction in conjunction with several networking courses offered in the department.

Multimedia Systems Laboratory. This facility includes an acoustic chamber with adjoining recording studio to allow high-quality sound recordings to be made. The chamber is sound-isolating with double- or triple-wall sheet rock on all four sides as well as an isolating ceiling barrier above the drop ceiling. The walls of the chamber have been constructed to be nonparallel to avoid flutter echo and dominant frequency modes. Acoustic paneling on the walls of the chamber are removable and allow the acoustic reverberation time to be adjusted to simulate different room acoustics. The control room next to the acoustic chamber includes a large 4-footby- 8-foot acoustic window and inert acoustic door facing the acoustic chamber. Up to 16 channels of audio can be carried in or out of the chamber to the control room. Experiments to be conducted in the Multimedia Systems Laboratory include blind source separation, deconvolution and dereverberation. Several of the undergraduate courses in Electrical Engineering use sound and music to motivate systemlevel design and signal processing applications. The Multimedia Systems Laboratory can be used in these activities to develop data sets for use in classroom experiments and laboratory projects for students to complete.

High-speed Wireless Communications Laboratory. The laboratory provides a multitier network testbed for research purposes and also serves as a facility for conducting lab courses on wireless communications and networking. The infrastructure in the lab includes: a) GSM-based cellular network that provides wide range connectivity at medium data rates, b) 802.11-based WLAN offering high data rates in an office environment, and c) Bluetooth networks that offers low cost, short range and low data rate connections. One of the research focus areas is on investigating total power efficiency of these heterogeneous networks.

Semiconductor Processing Clean Room. The 2,800 square-foot, class 10,000 clean room, consisting of a 2,400 square-foot, class 10,000 room and a class 1,000 lithography area of 400 square feet, is located in the Jerry R. Junkins Engineering Building. A partial list of equipment in this laboratory includes acid and solvent hoods, photoresist spinners, a scanning electron microscope, two contact mask aligners, a thermal evaporator, a plasma asher, a plasma etcher, a turbo-pumped methane hydrogen reactive ion etcher, a four-target sputtering system, a plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition reactor, a diffusion-pumped four pocket e-beam evaporator, an ellipsometer, and a profilometer. Other equipment includes a boron-trichloride reactive ion etcher, a chemical-assisted ion-beam etcher, and an e-beam evaporator for dielectric deposition. The clean room is capable of processing silicon and compound semiconductors for microelectronic, photonic, nanotechnology devices.

Submicron Grating Laboratory. This laboratory is dedicated to holographic grating fabrication and has the capability of sub tenth-micron lines and spaces. Equipment includes a floating air table, an argon ion laser (ultraviolet lines) and an Atomic Force Microscope. This laboratory is used to make photonic devices with periodic features such as distributed feedback, distributed Bragg reflector, gratingoutcoupled and photonic crystal semiconductor lasers.

Photonic Devices Laboratory. This laboratory is dedicated to characterizing the optical and electrical properties of photonic devices. Equipment includes optical spectrum analyzer, an optical multimeter, visible and infrared cameras, an automated laser characterization system for edge-emitting lasers, a manual probe test system for surface-emitting lasers, a manual probe test system for edge-emitting laser die and bars, and a near- and far-field measurement system.

Photonics Simulation Laboratory. This laboratory has specific computer programs that have been developed and continue to be developed for modeling and designing semiconductor lasers and optical waveguides, couplers and switches. These programs include WAVEGUIDE (calculates near-field, far-field, and effective indices of dielectric waveguides and semiconductor lasers with up to 500 layers. Each layer can contain gain or loss), GAIN (calculates the gain as a function of energy, carrier density and current density for strained and unstrained quantum wells for a variety of material systems), GRATING (uses the Floquet Bloch approach and the boundary element method to calculate reflection, transmission and outcoupling of dielectric waveguides and laser structures with any number of layers), and FIBER (calculates the fields, effective index, group velocity and dispersion for fibers with a circularly symmetric index of refraction profiles). Additional software is under development to model the modulation characteristics of photonic devices.

Photonic Architectures Laboratory. This laboratory is a fully equipped optomechanical and electrical prototyping facility, supporting the activities of faculty and graduate students in experimental and analytical tasks. The lab is ideally suited for the packaging, integration and testing of devices, modules and prototypes of optical systems. It has three large vibration isolated tables, a variety of visible and infrared lasers, single element 1-D and 2-D detector arrays and a large compliment of optical and opto-mechanical components and mounting devices. In addition, the laboratory has extensive data acquisition and analysis equipment, including a 1394 (Firewire) capable image capture and processing workstation, specifically designed to evaluate the electrical and optical characteristics of smart pixel devices and FSOI modules. Support electronics hardware includes various test instrumentation, such as arbitrary waveform generators and a variety of CAD tools for optical and electronic design including optical ray trace and finite difference time domain software.

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Curriculum in Electrical Engineering

The undergraduate curriculum in electrical engineering provides the student with basic principles through required courses, and specialization through a guided choice of elective courses.

Areas of Specialization
Due to the extensive latitude in course selection and to the wide variety of courses available within the Department of Electrical Engineering and within the University as a whole, it is possible for the electrical engineering student to concentrate his or her studies in a specific professional area. The areas available include the following:
  • Biomedical Specialization
  • Computer Engineering Specialization
  • Engineering Leadership Specialization
  • Mathematics Dual Degree Specialization
  • Physics Dual Degree Specialization
Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
The electrical engineering curriculum is administered by the Department of Electrical Engineering.
The term credit hours within this curriculum are distributed as follows:



Three hours of advanced electrical engineering electives must be selected in each of the three areas listed below:
EE 5360, 5362, 5370, 5371, 5372, 5373, 5374, 5375; and 5376
EE 5356, 5357, 5381, 5385 and 5387;
EE 5310, 5312, 5314, 5321, 5330, 5332 and 5333.

The remaining six hours of advanced electrical engineering electives may be chosen from any of the above three areas or advanced (5000-level) CSE courses offered by the CSE Department with the approval of the student’s adviser. Please note that EE 8000-level courses are primarily for graduate students but may be taken by highly qualified undergraduates with the approval of the adviser and the instructor. Special topics courses also are available.

Each student is expected to complete and file a plan of study with his or her academic adviser. The plan should state specific choices to meet the foregoing requirements and develop an area of specialization when this is desired. This should be done as soon as possible; however, for many students, it is a process that continues from term to term as the individual becomes better acquainted with the discipline of electrical engineering and with the choices available.

Specializations are offered in five important areas: premedical or biomedical engineering, computer engineering, a dual degree in physics, a dual degree In mathematics and engineering leadership. Each student may select one of these specializations or may personalize his or her degree by a particular choice of advanced major electives.

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (Biomedical Specialization)
The Department of Electrical Engineering offers a B.S.E.E. degree with a specialization in biomedical engineering. This program enables students to satisfy requirements for admission to medical school.

The term credit hours within this curriculum are distributed as follows:



Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (Computer Engineering Specialization)
The Department of Electrical Engineering offers a B.S.E.E. degree with a computer engineering specialization, which brings together aspects of electrical engineering and computer science with the aim of developing state-of-the-art digital computer systems. Students in the Computer Engineering specialization receive training in a variety of areas ranging from C programming, assembly language and data structures, to logic design, microprocessor interfacing and computer architecture.

The term credit hours within this curriculum are distributed as follows:



Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (Engineering Leadership Specialization)
This specialization prepares graduates to be highly-educated engineers with the appropriate interdisciplinary knowledge to assume important management and leadership positions and to become technical entrepreneurs in a globally competitive world.

The term credit hours within this curriculum are distributed as follows:



Three hours of advanced electrical engineering electives must be selected in each of the three areas listed below:
EE 5360, 5362, 5370, 5371, 5372, 5373, 5374, 5375; and 5376
EE 5356, 5357, 5381, 5385 and 5387;
EE 5310, 5312, 5314, 5321, 5330, 5332 and 5333.

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Bachelor of Science with a Major in Mathematics
The Electrical Engineering Department and the Mathematics Department offer an integrated curriculum that enables a student to obtain both a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (B.S.E.E.) degree and a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree with major in Mathematics. The term credit hours within this curriculum are distributed as follows:



Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Bachelor of Science with a Major in Physics
The Electrical Engineering Department and the Physics Department offer an integrated curriculum that enables a student to obtain both a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (B.S.E.E.) degree and a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree with a major in Physics.

The term credit hours within this curriculum are distributed as follows:









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Engineering Management, Information and Systems

Associate Professor Richard S. Barr, Chair

Professors: Jeffery L. Kennington, Stephen Szygenda, Margaret H. Duhnam (Computer Science); U. Narayan Bhat (Statistics); Marion Sobol (Business); Associate Professors: Richard V. Helgason, Eli V. Olinick, Jeff Tian (Computer Science); Assistant Professor: Junfang Yu; Scholar in Residence in EMIS: Jerrell R. Stracener; Senior Lecturer: Thomas Siems; Lecturers: Mary Alys Lillard, Gretchen Miller; Visiting Lecturer: William Swanson; Adjunct Faculty: Karl Arunski, John Baschab, Robert Bell, William David Bell, George Chollar, Kevin Cluff, David Cochran, Howard Cowin, Dennis Delzer, Matthew Durchholz, James Hinderer, Michael Hopper, Gerard Ibarra, John Lipp, Jan Lyons, Robert Oshana, David Peters, Oscar K. Pickels, Jon Piot, Christopher Rynas, Mark Sampson, Steven P. Sanazaro, Nand Singh, Gheorghe Spiride, John Via, John Yarrow, Hossam Zaki.

The Department of Engineering Management, Information and Systems (EMIS) brings together the school’s technical management and operations areas to offer a Bachelor of Science with a Major in Management Science. This academic program in management science focuses on computer models for decision-making and the application of engineering principles and techniques to enhance organizational performance. Faculty specializations include optimization, telecommunications network design and management, supply-chain systems, systems engineering, logistics, quality control, reliability engineering, information engineering, benchmarking, operations planning and management, network optimization, and mathematical programming.

The same systems-oriented, mathematical-model-based approach that is the cornerstone of engineering also has powerful application within organizations and their operations. This is the field of management science, the discipline of applying advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions.

Curriculum in Management Science
Management science – also termed the Science of Better – is the discipline of applying advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions. Management science deals with the development of mathematically-based models for planning, managing, operating and decision-making. In our curriculum, these methods are also applied to the design and management of efficient systems for producing goods and delivering services.

A management scientist at a major airline would be concerned with building mathematical models to decide the best scheduling of flights, routing of planes, assignment of pilots and crews to specific flights, and flight gate assignments as well as deciding the best number of planes to own and operate, which cities to fly to, which cities to use as major hubs, how to lay out an airport terminal, which overbooking policy should be used, where to refuel aircraft and other related issues. Optimal and good usable solutions for such issues can be uncovered through analysis with computer-based mathematical models. The management scientist develops an understanding of a practical decision problem, then designs and constructs a model that incorporates data from the MIS department and produces a high-quality solution.

Because of its generality, management science has broad applications in all engineering disciplines and in the fields of computer science, economics, finance, marketing, medicine, logistics, production, information engineering, and statistics. Management science methods are used extensively in both industry and government, and SMU’s Management Science program prepares the technically-oriented student to excel in today’s competitive business environment.

ABET, Inc., 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012 – telephone: (410) 347-7700, does not provide accreditation for the discipline of management science.



Example Program
The following is a typical schedule of classes for a Management Science major and takes into account course prerequisites and standard terms that individual classes are offered. Alternative schedules are possible and can be designed in consultation with the EMIS undergraduate adviser.



Minor in Management Science
For information on a minor in Management Science, the student should consult the department. A total of 18 TCH in management and computer science courses is necessary to meet the following requirements:



Dual Degree Programs and the 4+1 Program
Because of the flexibility of the curriculum, a majority of management science majors choose to receive a second major or one or more minors from a wide range of other disciplines. Examples include a Bachelor of Science, major in management science, plus a second bachelor’s degree in economics, mathematics, business, computer science, history, psychology, Spanish or French.

Other management science majors continue their studies to obtain a Master’s of Science in Engineering Management, systems engineering, information engineering or operations research. The 4+1 Program permits management science majors to obtain both undergraduate and graduate degrees in a shorter time and with fewer courses than if taken separately or from different universities.

More information on these and other options available to management science majors can be found on the EMIS Department web site: engr.smu.edu/emis. EMIS faculty and advisers are also available to answer questions about the program.

Computing Facilities Students in the EMIS Department have access to a wide range of computing facilities and networking equipment. The department manages three PC-based computing labs, including the Enterprise Systems Design Laboratory created for students in the senior design course. General-use Unix and Linux machines (including eight-processor 64-bit Xeon workstations) provide advanced computing, analytical software, and Web hosting to all engineering students. Windows- and Linux-based PCs and workstations are the primary desktop equipment. All computing facilities are networked via high-speed Ethernet, with Gigabit Ethernet connections to Internet 1, Internet 2 and the National Lambda Rail research network. Open computing labs and wireless services provide additional facilities access points for students.





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Environmental and Civil Engineering

Professor Bijan Mohraz, Interim Chair

Professor: Bijan Mohraz; Associate Professors: Paul Krueger (Mechanical Engineering), David A. Willis (Mechanical Engineering); Research Associate Professor: Alfredo Armendariz; Assistant Professors: Khaled Abdelghany, Usama El Shamy, Jim T. Yu; Senior Lecturer: Roger O. Dickey; Visiting Lecturer: Jong-Wha Bai; Adjunct Faculty: Arthur Beck, Mark K. Boyd, Gerald R. Carney, Robert R. Casagrande, Weiping Dai, Betsy del Monte, James Duke, Ted Dumas, John Easton, Carl Edlund, Fawzi Elghadamsi, Andrew Felder, Edward Forest (Retired Chair), Anwar Hirany, Louis Hosek, Ron Jackson, Timothy L. Jacobs, James E. Langford, Donald L. Legg, Shannon K. McCall, Paul Martin, Jennifer O’Brien, Jon D. Rauscher, Cecil Smith (Professor Emeritus), D. Blair Spitzberg, John Stanley, Bennett Stokes, Patricia A. Taylor, Ken Thomas, Philip K. Turner, Dan Wittliff, Scott Woodrow.

Undergraduate programs within the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering educate and train leaders in the fields of environmental protection, resource management, construction and engineering design. Programs are tailored to the individual needs and interests of our students, so that students with interests in studying global climate change, protecting the quality of our drinking water, or designing the next generation of high-rise buildings or smart highways receive the training they need to excel in their careers. As part of their education, our students are paired with CEOs, business leaders, professional engineers, EPA directors or corporate attorneys in a mentoring program designed to propel students into promising careers.

Environmental and civil engineering are inextricably linked. While civil engineering focuses on the infrastructure of modern society, environmental engineering is concerned with the well-being and health of the population and the environment. Environmental and civil engineering entered the early 1900s as a single integrated discipline, when it was critical to address sanitary problems to protect public health, and to develop regional water supplies and the civil infrastructure to support rapid urbanization and early industrialization. Separate disciplines gradually emerged, evolving and broadening to address the overall quality and function of modern society – preserving the environment while enabling the realization of an enriched life through technology.

Environmental Engineering and Environmental Science Programs Today, the environmental field is dynamic and wide-ranging, comprising many different disciplines and professional roles. Environmental engineering and science involve not only traditional water and wastewater management, but also the management of hazardous and radioactive materials, pollution prevention and waste minimization, innovative hazardous waste treatment and site remediation processes, environmental and occupational health, resource conservation and recovery, sustainable development of natural resources, and air quality management and pollution control. In addition, modern manufacturing, both domestic and worldwide, is focusing on products fabricated from recycled and natural materials that are both competitive and harmlessly degraded in the environment. The trend toward global manufacturing will grow stronger in the years ahead. Environmental challenges presented by this movement must be overcome if the economic and lifestyle benefits of globalization are to be extended to all peoples of the world.

The educational objectives of the environmental engineering program are consistent with the missions of the Environmental and Civil Engineering Department, the Lyle School of Engineering, and the overall institutional mission of SMU and were determined based on the needs of the program’s various constituencies. The program prepares graduates to achieve the following educational objectives during the medium term of their professional careers:
  1. Assume important leadership positions in a globally competitive world.
  2. Fully participate either as engineering designers or managers in the public or private sectors.
  3. Pursue advanced academic or professional degrees in engineering, medicine, law, business or public policy.
  4. Licensing as professional engineers.
The environmental engineering program prepares graduates for professional practice and advanced study through a focus in the following areas: (1) water supply and resources, (2) environmental systems and process modeling, (3) environmental chemistry, (4) wastewater management, (5) solid waste management, (6) hazardous waste management, (7) atmospheric systems and air pollution control and (8) environmental and occupational health.

Civil Engineering Program
Civil engineers are engaged in planning, design, construction, maintenance and management of the infrastructure of modern society. They are responsible for the design of water supply and wastewater treatment systems; transportation systems such as highways, railways, waterways, mass transit, airports, ports and harbors; dams, reservoirs and hydroelectric power plants; thermoelectric power plants; transmission and communication towers; high-rise buildings; and even aircraft and aerospace structures, shuttles and space stations. Every major structure critical to this country, and global society, depends on the work of civil engineers.

The mission of the civil engineering program is to prepare graduates for professional practice and advanced studies by focusing in the following areas: structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, transportation planning, environmental engineering and water resources. Graduates will be equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to be fully participatory members of civil engineering teams, and to contribute to civil engineering efforts conducted within the evolving global economy.

The mission and educational objectives of the civil engineering program are consistent with the missions of the Environmental and Civil Engineering Department, the Lyle School of Engineering, and the overall institutional mission of SMU and were determined based on the needs of the program’s various constituencies. The program prepares graduates to achieve the following educational objectives during the medium term of their professional careers:
  1. Assume important leadership positions in a globally competitive world.
  2. Fully participate either as engineering designers or managers in the public or private sectors.
  3. Pursue advanced academic or professional degrees in engineering, medicine, law, business, or public policy.
  4. Licensing as professional engineers.
Degrees Offered
The Environmental and Civil Engineering Department offers undergraduate degrees as follows:
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics dual degrees
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering with a Premedical Specialization
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with a Premedical Specialization
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics dual degrees

The undergraduate programs in environmental engineering and civil engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc., 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012; telephone (410) 347-7700. ABET does not provide accreditation for the discipline of environmental science.

Both the environmental and civil engineering programs are designed to prepare students for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Examination, the first step toward licensure as a Professional Engineer (P.E.). Engineering design is integrated throughout the environmental and civil engineering curricula, each culminating in a major design experience based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier course work. In their senior year, the department’s engineering students are required to take two terms of design where teams of two to four students work closely on practical projects sponsored by industry and government. Senior design projects incorporate engineering standards and realistic constraints including most of the following considerations: economic, environmental, sustainability, manufacturability, ethical, health and safety, social and political. The department’s engineering curricula ensure that students develop an understanding of the concepts of professional engineering practice including ethical responsibilities, effective oral and written communication, engineering management and entrepreneurship, participation on multidisciplinary teams, procurement, bidding, interaction of design and construction professionals, professional licensing and the need for lifelong learning.

The B.S. degree in Environmental Science and the B.S. degree in Environmental Science with a Premedical Specialization are designed to meet the professional goals of students whose environmental interests are broader. These programs offer the student greater depth with respect to the sciences, and greater course flexibility with respect to electives.

Departmental Facilities
Departmental offices and instructional and research laboratories are located in the new, state-of-the-art J. Lindsay Embrey Engineering Building. Environmental teaching and research laboratories include dedicated space for air quality and meteorology, industrial hygiene, environmental microbiology and water quality. The air quality/meteorology and water quality laboratories are capable of conducting sophisticated chemical analyses of air samples, and assessing the quality of water supplies and wastes and the effectiveness of water and waste treatment procedures. Major equipment includes several spectrophotometers including atomic absorption (AA), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) emission for low-level heavy metals analysis, and two Hewlett-Packard gas chromatographs (GC). Other equipment includes continuous ambient air monitoring equipment, a UV/visible spectrophotometer, pH and other specific ion meters, incubating ovens, microscopes, furnaces, centrifuges, dissolved oxygen meters, a Mettler titrator for chemical and acid/base surface experiments, several temperature control baths, and a tumbler for constant temperature studies. The air quality and meteorology laboratory includes state-of-the-art airflow, pressure, and volume measurement instrumentation. The industrial hygiene laboratory includes an inventory of the latest state-ofthe- art personal monitoring equipment for assessing occupational exposure to a variety of industrial process stressors including: asbestos, noise, total and respirable dust, metals, radiation, and heat stress.

Civil engineering teaching and research laboratories include dedicated space for mechanics of materials and structural engineering, hydraulics and hydrology, soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering, transportation materials, and intelligent transportation systems. Mechanics of materials/structural engineering lab equipment include a tension-compression testing machine with automatic data acquisition instrumentation and computer software, a torsion test machine, a bending test machine and a set of impact test equipment. Major hydraulics/hydrology laboratory equipment include a 5-meter open channel flume with various accessories (e.g., undershot weir, rotary undershot gate, sharp and broad-crested weirs, etc.), a basic hydraulics bench for fundamental fluid mechanics experiments (e.g., hydrostatic pressure forces, Bernoulli’s theorem, pipe friction losses, etc.), and a hydrology study system for hydrology experiments (e.g., simulating rainfall over watersheds and measuring resulting outflow hydrographs, groundwater flow profiles, etc.). The Geotechnical Engineering laboratory has a fully-automated multi-purpose testing machine that can be used to conduct triaxial, consolidation, flexible-wall permeability, swelling, and unconfined compression tests. The lab also has a fully-automated direct shear test machine. Traditional geotechnical testing equipment such as sieve analysis, hydrometer, constant head/falling head permeameter, liquid and plastic limits, compaction and relative density are also available.

The Embrey Building also houses a dedicated computer-aided design (CAD) laboratory with AutoCAD software, and a general-use computer laboratory for the department’s students including personal computers, high-resolution color monitors and laser printers. Computers in both the CAD and general-use laboratories are connected, through a high-speed network, to the computer systems of the Lyle School of Engineering and SMU, as well as off-campus systems via the Internet. The computer network provides access to general applications software and specialized software for engineering problems including air dispersion modeling, AutoCAD, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling for water resource systems, statistical analysis and stochastic modeling, structural analysis and design, transportation systems planning and analysis, and water quality modeling.




Minor in Environmental Engineering
For approval of a minor in environmental engineering, the student should consult the Environmental and Civil Engineering Department. A minimum of 15 term credit hours in environmental engineering courses is required. One example of an approved set of courses that provides a broad introduction to environmental engineering is:

ENCE 2304 Introduction to Environmental Engineering and Science
ENCE 2421 Aquatic Chemistry
ENCE 3431 Fundamentals of Air Quality I
ENCE 4329 Design of Water and Wastewater Systems
ENCE 5354 Environmental Engineering Principles and Processes

Based on the student’s interests and background, other sets of environmental engineering courses may be substituted with the approval of the Environmental and Civil Engineering Department. Minor in Civil Engineering
For approval of a minor in civil engineering, the student should consult the Environmental and Civil Engineering Department. A minimum of 15 term credit hours in civil engineering courses is required. One example of an approved set of courses, totaling 16 term credit hours, that provides an emphasis on structural analysis and design is:

ENCE 2310 Statics
ENCE 2340/2140 Mechanics of Deformable Bodies/Mechanics of Materials Laboratory
ENCE 3350 Structural Analysis
ENCE 4350 Design of Steel Structures
ENCE 4385 Soil Mechanics and Foundations

Based on the student’s interests and background, other sets of civil engineering courses may be substituted with the approval of the Environmental and Civil Engineering Department.







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Mechanical Engineering

Professor Volkan Otugen, Chair
Professor Radovan Kovacevic, Director, Research Center for Advanced Manufacturing

Professors: Yildirim Hürmüzlü, Radovan Kovacevic, José Lage, Bijan Mohraz, Volkan Otugen, Peter E. Raad, Wei Tong; Associate Professors: Paul Krueger, Charles M. Lovas, Edmond Richer, David Willis; Lecturers: Elena Borzova, Donald C. Price; Senior Lecturer: Dona T. Mularkey; Adjunct Faculty: Bogdan Antohe, Eric Cluff, Rajeev Dwivedi, Santos Garza, Wade Meaders, David Nowacki, Allen Tilley, Andy Weaver, Jim Webb; Emeritus Professors: Jack P. Holman, David B. Johnson, Paul F. Packman, Cecil H. Smith, Hal Watson Jr., Edmund Weynand.

Mechanical engineering is a very diverse, dynamic and exciting field. Because of the wide-ranging technical background attained, mechanical engineers have the highest potential for employment after graduation with exceptional mobility necessary for professional growth even during bear-market conditions. Mechanical engineers apply their creative knowledge to solve critical problems in several different areas, such as bio-engineering (e.g., drug-delivery; artificial organs), construction, design and manufacturing, electronics, energy (e.g., production, distribution and conservation), maintenance (individual machinery and complex installations), materials processing, medicine (diagnosis and therapy), national security and defense, packaging, pollution mitigation and control, robotics and automation, sensors, small scale devices, and all aspects of transportation including space travel and exploration.

The Mechanical Engineering Department at SMU has a long tradition of offering a superb engineering education within an environment fostering creativity and innovation. Small classes, a trademark of the program, not only provide for strong mentoring but also foment academic excellence through cooperation and teamwork. The exceptionally qualified faculty imparts knowledge using the most effective pedagogical skills, assisted in large by the SMU Center for Teaching Excellence and by the Norwick Center for Media and Instructional Technology. Leading by example, through encouragement and dedication, the faculty is committed to the success of every student. In addition to offering the introductory and advanced courses in their areas of specialization, faculty members teach courses that address the critical issues of technology and society, such as Machines and Society and Information Technology and Society.

The program genuinely prepares students to be creative by providing a solid background in fundamentals of science and engineering without compromising the practical aspects of mechanical engineering. Essential entrepreneurial knowhow, interpersonal skills and the importance of lifelong learning complement the educational experience of students. The department stimulates professional and social leadership by providing, among others, opportunities for students to participate in the SMU Student Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and on the SMU Tau-Sigma Chapter of Pi-Tau-Sigma, the National Honorary Mechanical Engineering Fraternity.

The curriculum consists of two major areas, namely, Solid Mechanics and Thermal and Fluids, interlaced via practical mechanical engineering design throughout the curriculum. In the senior year, student teams are guided through a complete design project, all the way from concept to construction to testing, with support from industries, foundations and volunteer professionals. State-of-the-art software, computers and laboratory equipment support the high-quality education provided to students. Moreover, undergraduate students are encouraged to participate in research projects conducted by faculty and to consider extending their studies toward a graduate degree in mechanical engineering at SMU or elsewhere.

In conjunction with a solid liberal arts component, the program prepares students for graduate studies not only in engineering but also in other professional fields such as business, medicine and law. SMU mechanical engineering graduates have consistently and successfully attained higher degrees in engineering, medicine, business and law, besides gaining employment as engineers or consulting engineers for major engineering, pharmaceutical, environmental, financial, banking and real estate companies.

The undergraduate program in mechanical engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc., 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012 – telephone: (410) 347-7700.

Our mission is to educate mechanical engineers who are innovative, entrepreneurial, and equipped to become global leaders in research and technology. Specific educational objectives of the mechanical engineering undergraduate program are to produce graduates who:
  1. Will be innovative problem solvers and critical thinkers addressing technical and societal issues
  2. Will embrace professional development and lifelong learning relevant to their careers
  3. Will have entrepreneurial and leadership roles in industry, government and academia
The Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Program Outcomes and their relationships to the discipline-specific criteria are as follows:



An outstanding cooperative education program (Co-op) is also available for our students. For further information on the Co-op Program, see Cooperative Education at the beginning of the Lyle School of Engineering section.

The Mechanical Engineering Department offers the following degrees:
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with a Bachelor of Science in Math Dual Degree
Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with a Bachelor of Science in Physics Dual Degree
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (with a Minor in Business Administration)
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (with a Premedical/Biomedical Specialization)
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (with a Manufacturing Specialization)
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (with an Engineering Management and Entrepreneurship Specialization)
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Master of Science in Manufacturing Systems Management
Master of Science in Packaging of Electronic and Optical Devices
Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering

In addition, a minor in Mechanical Engineering is available to interested students.

Departmental Facilities
In support of the teaching and research endeavors of the department, several research laboratories are available.

Laboratory for Porous Materials Applications. This laboratory is concerned with modeling, numerical simulation and experimental testing of mass, energy and momentum transport in heterogeneous and porous media.

Nano-Scale Electro-Thermal Sciences Laboratory. This facility focuses on noninvasive characterization of the thermal properties of thin-film materials.

Laser Micromachining Laboratory. This laboratory conducts studies of laserassisted microfabrication, including high-power laser ablation and laser micromachining.

Experimental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory. This facility focuses on pulsed jet micropropulsion and flow through porous media.

Micro, Nano, and Biomechanics of Materials Laboratory. This laboratory supports research primarily in the area of solid mechanics and materials engineering with a focus on the combined experimental characterization as well as computational analysis of mechanical properties, stress/strain, and microstructure of engineering and biological materials. Applications in advancing manufacturing and materials processing technologies, engineering design analyses, and biomedical sciences and engineering are also studied in this facility.

The Systems, Measurement, and Control Laboratory. This facility is equipped for instruction in the design and analysis of analog and digital instrumentation and control systems. Modern measurement and instrumentation equipment is used for experimental control engineering, system identification, harmonic analysis, simulation, and real-time control applications. Equipment also exists or microprocessor interfacing for control and instrumentation.

Micro-Sensor Laboratory. This laboratory focuses on research in the development of micro-optical sensors for a wide range of aerospace and mechanical engineering applications including temperature, pressure, force, acceleration and concentration. A major research component in this lab is concentrated on the study of the optical phenomenon called the “whispering gallery modes” and its exploitation for sensor development in the micro-size level with a nano-level measurement sensitivity.

Systems Laboratory. This facility is dedicated to analysis and modeling of bipedal gait dynamics, rigid body impact mechanics and the Pneumatically Operated Haptic Interface (PHI) System.

Research Center for Advanced Manufacturing (RCAM). This center supports research and development activities in areas of rapid prototyping and manufacturing (laser-based and welding-based deposition), laser materials processing (welding, forming, surface modification), welding (including electrical arc welding, variable polarity plasma arc welding, friction stir welding, micro plasma arc welding), waterjet/abrasive waterjet materials processing, sensing and control of manufacturing processes and numerical modeling of manufacturing processes.

Center for Laser-Aided Manufacturing. This facility is housed in the RCAM facility and collaborates with RCAM.

Biomedical Instrumentation and Robotics Laboratory. This laboratory’s research activities promote strong interdisciplinary collaboration between several branches of engineering and biomedical sciences. The research interests are centered on two areas:
  • Medical robotics, especially novel robotic applications in Minimally Invasive, Natural Orifice, and Image-Guided and Haptic-Assisted Surgery.
  • In vivo measurement of mechanical properties of biological tissue.
These areas of concentration touch upon fundamentals in analytical dynamics, nonlinear control of mechanical systems, computer-aided design and virtual prototyping, applied mathematics, data acquisition, signal processing and high-performance actuators.

Instructional Laboratories
In support of the teaching and research endeavors of the department, several instructional laboratories are available. They include:

Information Technology Computer Laboratory. This laboratory features 25 computer workstations, printers, scanners and an overhead projector with an Internet connection used to support mechanical engineering and non-Lyle School of Engineering undergraduates in meeting the SMU-wide IT requirement for all students.

Computational/Design Laboratory. Dedicated computational facilities that include personal computers and high-resolution color X-Terminals, all connected through a high-speed network that allows communication with the school’s and University’s computers, as well as with off-campus systems via NSFNet. Available Lyle School of Engineering computational facilities include several high-speed, multiprocessor workstations and servers. Educational software includes Parametric Technologies Pro-Engineer CAD system, Matlab, ANSYS structural analysis package, MacroFlow and Fluent CFD packages.

Graphics Laboratory. Used primarily for first-year graphics, this facility is available for students working on design projects. A special design projects library is located adjacent to the drafting room.

Mechanics of Materials (Structures) Laboratory. This laboratory is equipped for instruction and research on the behavior of materials under various loading conditions such as fatigue, impact, hardness, creep, tension, compression and flexure.

Systems, Measurement and Control Laboratory. This facility is equipped for instruction in the design and analysis of analog and digital instrumentation and control systems. Modern measurement and instrumentation equipment is used for experimental control engineering, system identification, harmonic analysis, simulation and real-time control applications. Equipment also is used for microprocessor interfacing for control and instrumentation.

Thermal and Fluids Laboratory. Equipment in this laboratory is used for instruction in experimental heat transfer, thermodynamics and fluid mechanics. Modern equipment is available for conducting experiments on energy conservation, aerodynamics, internal combustion engines, HVAC systems, convective cooling of electronics, heat exchangers and interferometric visualization. State-of-the-art systems support automatic control and data acquisition. Some of the current equipment in this lab include a refrigeration training unit, heat transfer test unit with water boiler, air flow bench, kinematic viscosity bath, forced convection heat transfer experiment bench, low pressure board, dead weight tester, vortex tube, free and forced heat transfer unit, hydraulic trainer and pneumatic trainer.

Shared Laboratory Space
Laboratories shared with Environmental and Civil Engineering include:
Hydraulics/Hydrology, Thermal and Fluids Laboratory
CAD Computer Laboratory
Structural and Mechanics of Materials Laboratory
Project construction area
Engineering Design Studio

Curriculum in Mechanical Engineering Mechanical Engineering offers the broadest curriculum in engineering, as evidenced by the wide range of job opportunities in government and industry. The mechanical engineer is concerned with creation, research, design, analysis, production and marketing of devices for providing and using energy and materials. The major concentration areas of the program are:

Solid and Structural Mechanics. Concerned with the behavior of solid bodies under the action of applied forces. The solid body may be a simple mechanical linkage, an aerodynamic control surface, an airplane or space vehicle or a component of a nuclear reactor. The applied forces may have a variety of origins, such as mechanical, aerodynamic, gravitational, electromotive and magnetic. Solid mechanics provides one element of the complete design process and interacts with all other subjects in the synthesis of a design.

Fluid Mechanics. Deals with the behavior of fluid under the action of forces applied to it. The subject proceeds from a study of basic fundamentals to a variety of applications, such as flow-through compressors, turbines and pumps, around an airplane or missile. Fluid mechanics interacts with solid mechanics in the practice of mechanical engineering because the fluid flow is generally bounded by solid surfaces. Fluid mechanics is also an element in the synthesis of a design.

Thermal Sciences. Concerned with the thermal behavior of all materials – solid, liquid and gaseous. The subject is divided into three important branches, namely, thermodynamics, energy conversion and heat transfer. Thermodynamics is the study of the interaction between a material and its environment when heat and/or work are involved. Energy conversion is a study of the transformation of one form of energy to another, such as the conversion of solar energy to electrical energy in a solar cell. Heat transfer is a study of the processes by which thermal energy is transferred from one body of material to another. Because it takes energy to drive any apparatus and some of the energy always shows up as thermal energy, the thermal sciences interact with all other areas of study and can never be ignored in the design synthesis process.

Materials Science and Engineering. Pertains to the properties of all materials – solid, liquid and gaseous. It deals with mechanical, fluid, thermal, electrical and other properties. Properties of interest include modulus of elasticity, compressibility, viscosity, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity and many others. The study of materials proceeds from the characteristics of individual atoms of a material, through the cooperative behavior of small groups of atoms, up to the behavior and properties of the bulk material. Because all mechanical equipment is composed of materials, works in a material environment, and is controlled by other material devices, it is clear that the materials sciences lie at the heart of the design synthesis process.

Control Systems. Provides necessary background for engineers in the dynamics of systems. In the study of controls, both the transient and steady-state behavior of the system are of interest. The transient behavior is particularly important in the starting and stopping of propulsion systems and in maneuvering flight, whereas the steady-state behavior describes the normal operating state. Some familiar examples of control systems include the flight controls of an airplane or space vehicle and the thermostat on a heating or cooling system.

Design Synthesis. The process by which practical engineering solutions are created to satisfy a need of society in an efficient, economical and practical way. This synthesis process is the culmination of the study of mechanical engineering and deals with all elements of science, mathematics and engineering.

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Curriculum Notes
The minimum requirements for a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree are as follows:



Any deviation from the mechanical engineering curriculum requires approval of a petition submitted by the student to the mechanical engineering faculty prior to the beginning of the term during which the student expects to complete the requirements for graduation.

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
The Mechanical Engineering Department and the Mathematics Department offer a curriculum that enables a student to obtain both a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.



Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (with a Minor in Business Administration)
The minimum requirements for a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Business Administration are as follows:



Any deviation from the mechanical engineering curriculum requires approval of a petition submitted by the student to the mechanical engineering faculty prior to the beginning of the term during which the student expects to complete the requirements for graduation.

Admission requirements of the Cox School of Business for the Minor in Business Administration must be satisfied.

Areas of Specialization
Mechanical engineering is a diverse field, and advanced major electives may be selected from a variety of advanced courses in mechanical engineering. In addition, specializations are offered in three important areas, namely Premedical/Biomedical, Manufacturing, and Engineering Management and Entrepreneurship, Therefore, each student may select one of these three specializations or may personalize his or her degree by particular choices of advanced major electives.

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Premedical/Biomedical Specialization)
The Mechanical Engineering Department offers a B.S.M.E. degree with a Premedical/ Biomedical specialization. This program enables students to satisfy the premedical or predental requirements for admission to medical or dental school, while at the same time satisfying the requirements for an accredited degree in mechanical engineering.



Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Engineering Management and Entrepreneurship Specialization)
The Mechanical Engineering Department offers a B.S.M.E. degree with an Engineering Management and Entrepreneurship Specialization. This program includes required courses in Engineering Management, Information Engineering and Global Perspectives, Technical Entrepreneurship and Technical Communications, while at the same time satisfying the requirements for an accredited degree in mechanical engineering.



Any deviation from the mechanical engineering curriculum requires approval of a petition submitted by the student to the mechanical engineering faculty prior to the beginning of the term during which the student expects to complete the requirements for graduation.

Minor in Mechanical Engineering
For approval of a minor in Mechanical Engineering, the student should consult the department. A total of 15 term hours in mechanical engineering courses is required. For example, a choice of five of the following courses represents a minor that provides a broad introduction to mechanical engineering.

ME 1202 and 1102 Introduction to Engineering
ME 2310 Statics
ME 2320 Dynamics
ME 2331 Thermodynamics
ME 2340 Mechanics of Deformable Bodies
ME 2342 Fluid Mechanics
ME 3340 Engineering Materials ME 3370 Manufacturing Processes Based on the student’s interests and background, other sets of mechanical engineering courses may be substituted with the approval of the department.







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Center for Special Studies

The Special Studies designation is used to accommodate academic programs and courses that do not typically fit within the departments of the Lyle School of Engineering. Included under this section are courses designed for Co-op students and first-year students exploring engineering degree programs.

The Courses (SS)
1099, 2099, 3099, 4099, 5099. Engineering Co-op Workterm. Each of these courses represents a term of industrial work activity in connection with the Engineering Cooperative Program. The courses are taken in numerical sequence and carry no credit. Students register for these courses in the same manner as other SMU courses except that no tuition is charged. Each course grade is determined by a written report by the student and from the scoring of the employer’s and student’s evaluation forms.

1101. Engineering and Beyond. This one-hour course is designed to assist first-year students in making an informed decision about their choice of major. Students experience each engineering department and the degrees offered through real-world examples of engineering.

5(0-4)9(0-4). Special Topics. Individual or group study of selected topics in applied science. These are areas that do not belong strictly to any department, but nevertheless are meaningful to the Lyle School of Engineering. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

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Reserve Officers' Training Corps

Air Force. Air Force ROTC courses are not offered on the SMU campus. SMU students who wish to earn appointments as commissioned officers in the U.S. Air Force may participate in the Air Force general military course and professional officer course through the University of North Texas in Denton (UNT). Students who participate in the UNT Air Force ROTC program are responsible for their own travel and other physical arrangements. The Air Force ROTC program develops skills and provides education vital to the career officer. Active-duty Air Force personnel provide all instruction and program administration.

The program is open to all students. First-year students may enroll in the four-year program, and students with at least two undergraduate or graduate academic years remaining may apply for the two- or three-year program. Students who complete their program with at least a Bachelor’s degree will be awarded commissions as U.S. Air Force officers.

Scholarships, available to qualified students in both four-year and two-year programs, provide full tuition, fees, textbook allowance, and a monthly tax-free $100 subsistence allowance. National competition is based on SAT or ACT results, Air Force Officer Qualifying Test results or college academic record, and extracurricular and athletic activities. Uniforms and textbooks for AFROTC courses are issued at no cost to cadets. Students with at least six months’ active military service may be granted waivers on a portion of the general military course.

UNT’s Air Force ROTC courses are described under “Aerospace Studies” in the Dedman College section of this catalog. Further program information and application procedures may be obtained by contacting AFROTC-Det 835, P.O. Box 305400, Denton TX 76203-5400; 940-565-2074; afrotc@unt.edu.

Army. Army ROTC courses are not offered on the SMU campus. Students can participate in the Army ROTC program at the University of Texas at Arlington by enrolling as they enroll for other SMU courses. Further program information and application procedures may be obtained by contacting UTA Department of Military Science at 817-272-3281. Students who participate in the UTA Army ROTC program are responsible for their own travel and other physical arrangements.

Army ROTC offers students the opportunity to graduate as officers and serve in the U.S. Army, the Army National Guard, or the U.S. Army Reserve. Army ROTC scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis. Each scholarship pays for tuition and required educational fees and provides a specified amount for textbooks, supplies, and equipment. Each scholarship also includes a subsistence allowance of up to $1,000 for every year the scholarship is in effect.

Students can participate in the Army ROTC on-campus program by enrolling as they enroll for other SMU courses. Army ROTC courses are listed under ROTC in the Schedule of Classes and permission to enroll must be obtained from Karen Coleman at kcoleman@lyle.smu.edu or 214-768-3039.

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