Mechanical Engineering

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Mechanical engineers are experts in systems and products that involve any form of motion. We design products and systems that move people and goods, such as energy, water, heat, cold, rockets, robots, turbo pumps, microfluid sprays, and prosthetic limbs. We take that expertise and use it to solve problems to make the world a better place.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering's mission is to prepare our graduates for leadership roles in engineering by:

offering a quality education to foster a distinctive curriculum accentuating design and project-based learning;

committing to individual development, while emphasizing the values of teamwork in a culturally diverse and multidisciplinary environment; and

encouraging undergraduate and graduate research to nurture creative solutions to complex engineering problems.

Faculty and Staff

Student Professional Activities

Mechanical engineering undergraduate students are actively involved in numerous professional development activities through professional society chapters (e.g., ASHRAE, ASME, SAE, and SEDS) and a multitude of project-based learning teams that are hosted by CAMP and SEDS. Many of these team experiences are done in collaboration with multidisciplinary senior capstone design programs. These activities provide the students an opportunity to develop leadership, teamwork, and inter-personal communication skills; learn about the profession; make industry contacts; and become involved in extracurricular projects, community service, and social activities.

For a list of student organizations on campus, please click here.

Professional Society Chapters

ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc.)
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers advances the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world. Membership is open to any person associated with the field, including indoor air quality, building design and operation, and environmental control for food processing and industry.
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880, ASME is a professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education, and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world. ASME helps university students develop their professional identity by offering access to a wide range of activities such as conferences, competitions, scholarships, fellowships, and other programs that will support them through their years in school.
SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers)
SAE has more than 300 collegiate chapters at universities throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and offshore chapters in Bulgaria, Columbia, India, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Through the guidance of SAE faculty advisors, over 11,000 student members participate in hands-on engineering projects. Many build vehicles to compete in SAE's annual Collegiate Design Competitions, which include Mini Baja, Formula SAE, Aero Design, Supermileage, Walking Machine Decathlon, and Mico-Truck Baja, plus special events featuring alternative fuel vehicles.
SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space)

SEDS empowers young people to participate and make an impact in space exploration. SEDS helps students develop their technical and leadership skills by providing opportunities to manage and participate in national projects as well as to attend conferences, publish their work, and develop their professional network, in order to help students become more effective in their present and future careers in industry, academia, government, and education. Please see the SEDS Student Section at SDSM&T for more details.

CAMP Teams (Center for Advanced Multidisciplinary Projects)

To see a current list of all CAMP teams, please click here.

SEDS Teams

CubeSat
The purpose of this organization is to gather a team of students who are interested in space exploration and nanosatellite technologies. The goal is to work together as a team to design a CubeSat and a specific research experiment for the CubeSat and enter it into the NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative in hopes of getting the CubeSat launched into space. Also with the interest of K-12 outreach and promoting space exploration to the next generation to come.

High-Altitude Balloon Projects
These projects initiated in the 2016-2017 academic year with the formation of the South Dakota Solar Eclipse Team that prepared a scientific payload to be launched into the path of the 2017 solar eclipse. That team had a successful flight and the project has continued with the development of a cosmic ray detector for future high-altitude balloon flights and potential CubeSat flights. Learn more about the Solar Eclipse Team here.
MARS (Mines Association of Rocketeers)
MARS is an organization focused on allowing students to engineer, build, and launch rockets. The primary goal of our organization is to get students involved in the aerospace industry and create an interest in rocketry at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
Moonrockers
The purpose of the Moonrockers team is to coordinate a multidisciplinary effort to design and build a robot that meets the objectives set forth by NASA’s Robotics Mining Competition or related competition. The concepts developed by Moonrockers conceivably could benefit NASA technology and the competition encourages innovative ideas and solutions for the robotics competition. In addition, the team conduct multiple K-12 outreach activities throughout the year.
NASA Undergraduate Student Instrumentation Projects (USIP)
Two NASA USIP grants were received to support undergraduate projects. The first is associated with multispectral imaging for monitoring crop health. The second is for measuring the helium lift gas in high-altitude balloons. Both projects are being done in collaboration with Raven-Aerostar.

Work with our renowned faculty and collaborate on groundbreaking projects that address real-world challenges. The hands-on experience and expertise you will acquire here will not only contribute to your academic growth but also prepare you for successful careers in academia, industry, or government agencies.

The overarching goal of our research lab is to tackle challenges in the current-generation and to foster innovations for next-generation electrochemical energy storage devices and systems.

The Experimental and Computational Mechanics Laboratory (ECML) was established in 2006 to provide the basic infrastructure (facilities, hardware, and software) required to promote, support, and perform academic and research activities in the field of computational mechanics at South Dakota Mines.

Our research is focused on topics at the intersection of fluid mechanics and dynamics and controls, including pioneering innovative design concepts to enhance the performance of aircraft and underwater vehicles, optimization of nonlinear dynamic systems, and developing low-order models for controlling aircraft in extreme flight conditions, such as dynamic stall.

Engineering Licensure

“A century ago, anyone could work as an engineer without proof of competency. Now every state regulates the practice of engineering to ensure public safety by granting only (professional engineers) the authority to sign and seal engineering plans and offer their services to the public,” said Scott S. Haraburda, president of the Indiana Society of Professional Engineers.

(The Journal Gazette, July 25, 2015, N. Kelly)

“Licensure as a professional engineer involves completing three main components, which are education, experience and examinations. Although no engineering experience is required, an individual must achieve at least senior status in an accredited engineering program before being eligible to apply to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. Upon passing this FE exam, the individual is enrolled as an engineering intern and begins internship in the engineering profession” (http://dlr.sd.gov/btp/engineers.aspx).

Why obtain your engineering license? “Licensure is the mark of a professional. It's a standard recognized by employers and their clients, by governments and by the public as an assurance of dedication, skill and quality. There are many powerful reasons both professional and personal for earning and maintaining a PE license. Only a licensed engineer, for instance, may prepare, sign, seal and submit engineering plans and drawings to an public authority for approval, or to seal engineering work for public and private clients. For consulting engineers and private practitioners, licensure is a virtual necessity. In fact, it is a legal requirement for those who are in responsible charge of work, be they principals or employees. More and more with each passing day, government agencies, educational institutions and private industries are requiring that they hire and contract only with licensed professional engineers. This is a trend that is almost certain to continue in the future. Today, no matter what career path a professional engineer chooses, a successful, ongoing career virtually requires PE licensure” (https://www.nspe.org/resources/licensure/why-get-licensed).

“In the United States, engineers are licensed at the state level by professional licensing boards. Engineering boards confer the P.E. license when licensure candidates meet a combination of requirements in education, experience, and exams” (www.NCEES.org). Before registering for an upcoming NCEES exam, review your unique approval and registration process by visiting the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation website. For additional information please visit the South Dakota FAQ as well as the NCEES FE Exam page. Finally, specifics about the FE Exam for Mechanical Engineers can be found here.

“NCEES develops and scores the FE and PE exams for engineering licensure. The FE exam is generally your first step in the process to becoming a professional licensed engineer (P.E.). It is designed for recent graduates and students who are close to finishing an undergraduate engineering degree from an EAC/ABET- accredited program. The PE exam is designed to test for a minimum level of competency in a particular engineering discipline. It is designed for engineers who have gained a minimum of four years of work experience in their chosen engineering discipline (www.ncees.org).

Passing the FE Exam is your first step to becoming a licensed professional engineer!

PE License

Below we list the Mechanical Engineering Faculty Members that have their engineering license. Feel free to stop by and visit with any of them to chat and ask questions regarding the FE Exam and the subsequent steps needed to obtain an engineering license in South Dakota or in another state.