The BSME curriculum at Portland State University is distinguished by its emphasis on the design process culminating in the Capstone project in the Senior year. The curriculum allows specialization in fluid systems, mechanical systems, thermal systems, and machine design.
The mechanical engineering curriculum is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012 - telephone: (410) 347-7700. This national organization sets standards for engineering education defined in terms of curricular content, quality of faculty, and adequacy of facilities.
The mechanical engineering department is engaged in a continuous program improvement process in which the educational needs of our students have the utmost importance. The goal of the department is to ensure that all of our graduates receive a balanced education that makes them highly desirable to employers.
Bachelor's Plus Master's Pathway
Many students recognize the importance of continuing education beyond the Bachelor’s degree. The Bachelor’s Plus Master’s Pathway shortens the time to complete both the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and it is more cost effective because graduate credits earned while still in the undergraduate program are charged at the undergraduate credit rate. The Pathway allows students enrolled in the PSU BSME program to apply up to 15 credits of their senior elective classes to both the BSME degree and any of the Master’s programs offered by the MME department. To use the Pathway, students must maintain an undergraduate GPA of 3.3 and apply to the program before they graduate with their BSME.
Admission criteria
Students must apply to the Bachelor’s Plus Master’s Pathway while they are still enrolled in the BSME program using the form available form on the MME web site. A GRE score is not required. The admission criteria for the program are as follows
- Currently enrolled in the BSME program
- Completed at least 12 credits of upper division ME classes
- Cumulative PSU GPA of at least 3.3
- Written recommendations by three of the MME faculty
- Submit a statement of purpose
Admission process and program flow
Applications for the Bachelor’s Plus Master’s Pathway are processed by the Graduate Program Director. Applications must be received before the student graduates with a BSME, but may be received as late as the last quarter before graduation with the BSME. After being accepted into the Bachelor’s Plus Master’s Pathway, the student selects graduate level courses (500 or 600 level) that will be applied to the student’s BSME degree requirements. In the last term of enrollment in the BSME program, the student submits an abbreviated application form to indicate the intended Master’s degree program. If the student admitted to the Pathway graduates with a GPA of 3.3 or better, no additional application to the graduate program is necessary. The student then completes the requirements for the BSME and graduates. When the student admitted to the Bachelor’s Plus Master’s Pathway matriculates into the graduate program, up to 15 credits of graduate level course work completed while an undergraduate will then be applied to the student’s graduate program.
Students admitted to the Pathway who do not maintain a PSU GPA of 3.3 at graduation are not allowed the benefit of applying graduate credits to both their BSME senior elective requirements and to their graduate degree programs. A student in that situation can still reserve up to 15 graduate credits taken as an undergraduate for use in their graduate program. However, they must use the process specified by the graduate school to request that those courses be reserved. They must also not use those courses to meet degree requirements for the BSME.