Knowledge and understanding
On completion of a Bachelor of Engineering in mechanical engineering, the student is expected to have acquired a basic knowledge and understanding of:
* the relevant sciences and scientific method as it pertains to mechanical engineering;
* written and oral communication;
* the principles of the management of physical, human and financial resources associated with the practice of engineering;
* ethical standards and legal responsibilities;
* the constraints on engineering practice posed by economic factors, safety considerations and impact on the environment.
General skills
The student is expected to have developed skills in:
* written and oral communication;
* interpersonal relations and the capacity to work in teams;
* planning and organising resources efficiently and adapting to change;
* integrating knowledge from different areas to synthesise a coherent approach to the solution of a problem;
* innovative approaches to problem solving;
* the use of mathematical and computer based methods to solve problems.
Professional skills
The student is expected to have developed professional skills in:
* particular with respect to solid mechanics and thermo-fluid mechanics;
* the design of dynamic systems and energy systems;
* the concept of safe design and practice in the solution of problems;
* the evaluation of the performance in terms of economics, safety and impact on the environment.
Attitudes and behaviour
The student is expected to have developed appropriate attitudes and behaviour towards:
* the highest standards of personal performance;
* continuing education;
* the critical evaluation of new knowledge and practice;
* the responsibilities of mechanical engineers to the community, the engineering profession and allied industries;
* minimising any adverse impact on the environment;
* safe practice;
* ethical codes of practice.
Course of studies
Mechanical engineering is the practice that has arisen from the need to generate, transmit and control mechanical energy. This practice brings with it the need to study methods of design generation, transmission, and control, and increasingly to employ scientifically and technologically based tools. Today, mechanical engineering has as its core the interaction of people and machines and the control of that interaction. Mechanical engineers will be found designing, manufacturing and commissioning mobile and fixed machinery, controlling physical environments, dominating aerospace development, exploring forms of transportation, devising new machines and ways of controlling new machines, and concerning themselves with all aspects of mechanical handling systems and methods of production of anything to be manufactured. They will be found not only in factories, research establishments, or in consulting practices, but also in the mineral resource, chemical process and agricultural industries. They will regard their function as one of design, production, operation, consulting, technical management, general management, research and/or development.
The undergraduate course is designed to provide a fundamental and broad training to allow a graduate to steer a course into any of these areas as they now exist or as they might develop in future. The course offers a sound training in engineering design and in the physical and engineering sciences. Comprehensive studies in engineering practices are provided in which the analytical tools are brought to bear in a synthesis which accounts satisfactorily for economic, organisational, managerial and human factors. A mentor program is available to selected students to work with companies on real mechanical design projects in hierarchical teams of postgraduate, fourth, third and second-year students in master-apprentice relationships. The use of computers in data reduction and in system modelling is studied. During the final year either a major experimental project or substantial participation with a design team actively engaged with practising engineers is arranged. The results are presented by thesis and orally.
The design of the course attempts also to acknowledge the interdisciplinary nature of modern engineering and to provide the graduate with a facility for expanding his or her own development into related fields. It provides a working knowledge of the elements of controls, stress systems, electronic instrumentation, microcomputers and managerial procedures.
The course can be completed in four years of full-time study or in up to eight years of part-time study. The first year of the course is essentially a common year in which the science subjects of the VCE are extended and the engineering subjects are introduced. The second year focuses more directly on subjects dealing with the practice of engineering and on the engineering sciences. While the course is identified at this stage as a mechanical engineering one there is still a good deal of overlap with the courses of the other branches of engineering.
During the third year the program allows for some choice in the subjects. Thus the students pursue a set of core subjects but are able to select from a number of streamed subjects. These streams, which permit some limited specialisation, are available in the areas of fluids, energy, solids, design, mechatronics, manufacturing systems as well as a general stream. The pattern continues into the final year of the course. At that stage there is also the opportunity to study a subject from another faculty as well as to carry out a small independent investigation in an area of interest to the student.
The course can be completed at pass or honours level and provides an excellent foundation for entry into the profession or for further study towards a higher degree. Graduates are eligible for admission to membership of the Institution of Engineers, Australia.