What is Mechanical Engineering?

The Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering offers programs leading to the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Among the most diverse of the engineering fields, mechanical engineering affects almost all aspects of our lives and embraces many areas of specialization: automotive systems; bioengineering; combustion and propulsion; design methodology and tribology; dynamic systems and controls; energy systems and thermodynamics; fluid mechanics; heat transfer; manufacturing and production; materials behavior and processing; and microscale and nanoscale phenomena and systems.

The undergraduate and graduate programs in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois are consistently ranked as among the best in the United States. Students in our department enjoy access to internationally renowned and award-winning faculty, world-class laboratories, and exceptional resources, such as Grainger Engineering Library and Information Center.

Careers in Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical engineers contribute to improvements and technical advances in many industries, and our former students are now working in a wide range of companies, government agencies, and in academia.

Bachelor's Candidates

About one third of the students completing a bachelor's degree in our department go immediately on to pursue a graduate degree.

Many of them continue study at Illinois, some of them go to other top-ranked programs. Our students are successful in obtaining the most competitive fellowships in the nation. Those students who go into practice with their bachelor's degree begin their careers in a wide range of companies, including Boeing, Caterpillar, Commonwealth Edison, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, IBM, Motorola, Proctor & Gamble, and Westinghouse.

Master's Candidates

About a quarter of our master's students go on to pursue a doctorate, and again, many of those continue their study in our department or other top-ranked programs. Many of those students who go into industry go to the same companies that hire our bachelor's students. However, they usually are hired for their technical expertise and are engaged in advanced engineering.

Doctoral Candidates

Some of our doctoral students go on to conduct post-doctoral research at institutions all around the world. However, most of them go directly to careers in corporate research and development labs, in national research labs, or to academic positions as faculty.

For More Information

Inquiries may be directed to the MechSE Associate Head for Undergraduate Programs, James W. Phillips (217-333-4388, jwp AT illinois.edu) or the Associate Head for Graduate Programs, Anthony M. Jacobi (217-649-3162, a-jacobi AT illinois.edu).