Integrated curriculum design in mechanical engineering-opportunities and challenges

The undergraduate engineering curriculum around the nation is being modified to meet the needs of the next century; to prepare the students to accept the challenges of a new century, and to satisfy the guidelines of ABET 2000 - the new criteria for accreditation. Mechanical engineering is the widest of all engineering disciplines. The reengineering of engineering curriculum gives an excellent opportunity to introduce new courses and to integrate multidisciplinary topics. However, the challenges are to give an adequate exposure in appropriate areas in the discipline and to minimize the number of credits. An emphasis is given in this paper to optimize the number of credits and to integrate the various aspects of mechanical engineering in the undergraduate curriculum at Parks College of Engineering & Aviation at Saint Louis University.