Program Offerings
• Bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering
• Accelerated master’s in Mechanical Engineering (earn your bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in as little as five years)
• Master of science degree in Mechanical Engineering
• Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering
• Certificates: Construction Engineering and Management,
*The BS in Mechanical Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org.
What is Mechanical Engineering?
Mechanical engineering is the study of objects or systems in motion. If you own any type of machine, odds are a mechanical engineer created it. In fact, nearly every product or service in our modern world has been affected by mechanical engineering, from the sensors in your car to the satellites in the sky.
With a degree in mechanical engineering from South Dakota Mines, you will be trained to determine the forces and environment that a product - and all of its components - will be exposed to. You will learn to design not only for functionality but durability and even appearance. You will be a designer, creator, developer, marketer, and much more.
What does a mechanical engineer do?
With a mechanical engineering degree from South Dakota Mines, you will design, develop, build, and test mechanical systems, ranging from individual components in small devices to large pieces of equipment on machines as large as NASA's next generation Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
You will use your individual creativity, your training, and your ability to analyze systems to create and maintain the devices and machines found throughout society. As a mechanical engineer, you might:
• Design bionic limbs or prosthetic joints
• Develop high performance composite materials
• Develop custom medical devices
• And much more
First-Year Courses
The South Dakota Mines undergraduate mechanical engineering program offers project-based engineering design curriculum which provides students with an educational experience through teaching and learning, research and development, and service and social responsibility.
Required first-year courses for mechanical engineering students include:
• Introduction to mechanical engineering
• Design for manufacturing
• Calculus
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Programming for engineers and scientists
Course Curriculum
Link to Catalog
Internships and Co-ops
At South Dakota Mines, 77% of students land internships and/or co-ops, earning an average salary of $20.00/hour. As a Mines mechanical engineering major, you will have the opportunity to intern with some of the biggest names in business and government, including:
• NASA
• Nucor
• Caterpillar
• Garmin
• Bobcat
• Kiewit
• LafargeHolcim
• Boeing
• John Deere
• US Army Corp of Engineers
• RESPEC
• Northrop Grumman
• Kimberly-Clark Corporation
• B9 Creations
• National Wind Technology Center