Undergraduate Opportunities

Scholarships are available for all qualified undergraduate students. USC mechanical engineering graduates have earned many national awards, including National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships and Goldwater Scholarships.

Research opportunities enable students to work in world-class laboratories on cutting-edge problems, mentored by faculty who are leaders in their fields.

Industrial co-op experiences expose students to real-world manufacturing and research environments, provide competitive salaries and on-the-job experience, and give graduates an edge in the job market.

Advanced degrees are possible after earning a bachelor’s degree. Graduates usually qualify for direct admission to most mechanical engineering doctoral programs, as well as professional programs in medicine, law, or business.

Degree Programs

The University of South Carolina offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs in mechanical engineering. Requirements for these comprehensive programs include:

Bachelor’s degree: 126 semester hours, including 24 hours of general education requirements, 33 hours of science and mathematics courses, and 69 hours of engineering and technical elective courses.

Master’s degree: 30 semester hours beyond the bachelor’s degree, including 18 (for a master’s degree in mechanical engineering) or 15 (for a master’s degree in nuclear engineering) hours of core/focus area courses. The Master of Science (MS) degree requires six hours of thesis preparation. Remaining hours for both the MS and Master of Engineering (ME) degrees are drawn from a list of elective courses.

Doctoral degree: 60 semester hours beyond the bachelor’s degree, including 12 hours of dissertation preparation. A student with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering or a closely related field must take 18 hours of graded graduate courses (half of which must be 700-level or above), and a student without a master’s degree must earn 48 graduate semester hours (42 or more hours must be graded graduate courses, half of which must be at the 700 level or above).

For more information

To learn more about the undergraduate mechanical engineering program at the University of South Carolina, click to e-mail Dr. Stephen McNeill.

For more information on our graduate programs, click to e-mail Dr. Xiaomin Deng, the graduate coordinator.

Explore USC mechanical engineering at www.me.sc.edu.

About Mechanical Engineering

Modern and leading-edge processes and products are made safer, more energy-efficient, and environmentally friendlier due to the contributions of mechanical engineers. Mechanical engineers apply their knowledge of heat, force, and conservation of mass and energy to contribute to the design of processes and products such as automobiles, aircraft, heating and cooling systems, household appliances, medical devices, weapons systems, and industrial equipment and machinery.

Mechanical engineering is a broad field that involves the analysis, design, manufacture, and maintenance of mechanical systems to meet society’s needs. Because of their diverse training mechanical engineers are employed by almost all industries, including transportation, aerospace, automation, electronic, medical, and energy generation, to name a few. Mechanical engineers are also employed by federal and state governments in various capacities.

Mechanical engineers are also at the forefront of research and development using emerging technologies in biotechnology, material science, and nanotechnology to create new and exciting products that will benefit society and improve the quality of life. Various computational tools aid modern mechanical analysis and design processes.

Since their talents are in great demand, mechanical engineers receive some of the highest starting salaries earned by BS graduates. Beyond monetary rewards, mechanical engineers also experience great personal satisfaction for the contributions they make to the health, welfare, and prosperity of our society.

Areas of Study

Degree programs in mechanical engineering include basic courses in science and mathematics, advanced topics in mechanical engineering, and many technical electives that enable USC students to specialize in a number of areas.

At USC, the study of thermo-fluids involves heat and/or mass transfer in porous media; electronics cooling; transport phenomena in joining and manufacturing processes; the design, fabrication, packaging, and modeling of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for micro cooling systems and micro fluidic and biomedical devices.

At USC, the study of mechanics of materials and nondestructive evaluation improves the understanding of engineering materials and structures and their mechanical response and failure behavior, develops digital deformation measurement systems for structural evaluation and characterization, and provides engineers with advanced theories, analysis methods, and modeling/simulation/design tools for cars, ships, aircraft, etc.

At USC, the study of smart structures and condition-based maintenance of machines focuses on characterizing piezoelectric/piezomagnetic active materials and utilizing them for structural health monitoring, damage detection, diagnostics/prognostics of machinery/active/adaptive vibration control, health monitoring of rotating machinery, aircraft, and condition-based maintenance of mechanical systems.

At USC, the study of mechatronics involves the integration of mechanical systems and electronics such as electromechanical systems with embedded sensors, microcontrollers, actuation, and process control; robots and autonomous vehicles; and automotive systems.

At USC, the study of nanotechnology develops nanostructured materials, including the design, fabrication/processing, reliability testing, nanomechanical characterization, and simulation of nanowires, nanofilms, and nanocomposites.

At USC, the study of manufacturing and materials processing includes the development and modeling of advanced joining technology for friction stir welding of Ti alloys, steel alloys, thick-section Al alloys, and Al metal matrix composites.

At USC, the study of nuclear engineering focuses on advanced nuclear fuels and materials, thermal hydraulics, reactor design, advanced fuel cycles, structural integrity of nuclear reactor vessels and piping systems, embrittlement of reactor vessel steels, and application of nuclear power in future energy economies for sustainability, including the production of hydrogen from nuclear energy and use of hydrogen as a fuel.