Instructional Laboratories

The Basic Mechanical Engineering Laboratory

MAE 157 Laboratory

Students learn about basic measurements including temperature, fluid flow, strain, humidity, become familiar with data acquisition systems, and perform experiments on engineering systems including pipe flow, aerodynamic drag, a heat exchanger, a refrigeration system, a loaded arch, and an automobile engine.

The Computer Numerical Control and Application Laboratory

MAE 185 Laboratory

In this laboratory the students learn the fundamentals of numerical control (NC) technology, programming of computer numerical control (CNC) machines in NC codes and APT language and with CAD/CAM systems. Students also gain experience in NC postprocessors and distributed numerical control, operation of CNC lathe and milling machines, and programming and machining complex engineering parts.

The Robotics and Motion Control Laboratory

MAE 163C Laboratory

Laboratory): Students gain hands-on experience of motion control and robotics; modeling of electromechanical systems, analog PID controllers, sensors, actuators, multi-axes coordination, and robot programming.

The Basic Aerospace Engineering Laboratory

157S Laboratory

Students learn measurements of basic physical quantities in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and structures; the operation of primary transducers, computer-aided data acquisition, signal processing, and data analysis. Experiments are performed to enhance the understanding of basic physical principles and characteristics of structures/systems of relevance to relevance to aerospace engineering.

The Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer Laboratory

MAE 131AL Laboratory

Experiments in this laboratory include forced convection over a cylinder, internal natural convection; fixed and variable conductance heatpipes; pool boiling; a cooling tower; and a perforated plate heat exchanger.

The Computer-Aided Design/Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) Laboratory

The CAD laboratory is one of the key instructional labs in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. It mainly supports undergraduate CAD and design courses. It also supports student projects of professional societies and supports faculty and graduate student research.

This CAD lab serves five design and laboratory courses of our Mechanical Engineering undergraduate program – MAE 94, MAE 162B, MAE 162C, MAE 162M, and MAE 184. Students from these classes use software such as SolidWorks, Autodesk, and CosmosWorks. The CAD lab is also used in our Aerospace Engineering undergraduate courses MAE 154B and MAE 157A and supports our undergraduate research project course MAE 199. In addition, CAD lab offers finite element software, that is used by course M168 and offers C/C++ and Java for MAE 184. The lab also has Matlab that is used by MAE 154B for general computing and simulation.

The Fluid Mechanics/Aerodynamics Laboratory

MAE 157A Laboratory

Students are shown experimental illustration of important physical phenomena in an area of fluid mechanics/aerodynamics, as well as have hands-on experience with design of experimental programs and use of modern experimental tools and techniques in the field.