Copyright 2014 Somnath Chattopadhyay

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

SUNY - UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO
MAE 277: Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Practice
Fall 2014

COURSE SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Somnath Chattopadhyay
Email: somnathc@buffalo.edu
Office: 218 Bell Hall
Hours: Monday 1:00 PM 3:00 PM

TEACHING ASSISTANTS: TA information will be posted to UB-Learns when finalized.

COURSE WEBSITE: The official course website will be hosted on UB-Learns.

PREREQUISITES: EAS 140, MAE 177 (co-req), Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
Note: students with senior status are not permitted to take this course

TEXT: Jonathan Wickert and Kemper Lewis, An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, 3
rd

Edition, Cengage Learning, Stamford, CT 2013.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the art and practice of
mechanical engineering. In this course you will be introduced to the engineering and technical skills
characteristic of successful engineers. These skills include constructing engineering models, analyzing
engineering systems, making effective estimations, understanding results, making decisions, and
communicating effectively. You will use hands-on design and other activities as vehicles for learning
some of the fundamentals of mechanical engineering. You will be taking apart common products to
understand what's inside and how they work. You will have the opportunity to demonstrate your
mastery of these skills through the semester long reverse engineering project, homework assignments,
and examinations. You will also learn a variety of basic skills that you can draw upon in later
engineering courses and in your future career as a professional engineer.

COURSE TOPICS
To develop the skills required for successful engineering practice a variety of topics will be covered.
These include the following:
Mechanical engineering profession
Design process and design concepts
Problem solving and communication
skills
Engineering analysis and estimation
Manufacturing processes
Materials selection
Professionalism and ethics


STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Understand the role of mechanical engineers in industry and society, and their impact on a
global level
Create appropriate models for engineering systems given the desired outcome
Copyright 2014 Somnath Chattopadhyay
Effectively estimate and evaluate analytical results in a technically rigorous manner, leveraging
the appropriate information for the desired outcome
Make and justify engineering decisions considering technical, global, societal, economic, and
environmental factors
Effectively communicate your findings across disciplines, including but not limited to business,
engineering, manufacturing, legal, etc.
Understand and demonstrate the characteristics of professional behavior

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
The material in this class will often stress multiple student learning outcomes. The planned list of assignments,
projects, and exams can be found in Table 1. Professionalism and technical communication are always expected
as part of the complete fulfillment of all course requirements; both must accompany the technical content, which
must also be rigorous. Please note that all assignments and exams are cumulative; any material covered is
expected to be utilized when appropriate.

Table 1: Planned Assignments, Projects, and Exams (Subject to Change)
Category Title Description
Assignments

Planned Assignments A number of creative assignments have to be completed
during the semester. These are group and individual
homework assignments



In-class Assignments
A number of assignments will be completed in class
throughout the semester.
Course
Project

Semester Long
This will be a group project to be announced in class


Examinations
Exam 1 Text chapters 1 - 4
Exam 2 Text chapters 5 8
Final Examination Cumulative

GRADING POLICY
Homework (and Quizzes) 20%
Midterm Exams (2) 12.5% each
Final Exam 25%
Final Project 30%
Note: You must have a passing exam average to pass this course.

The following grading scale will be used to determine final grades (instructors reserve the right to
adjust these values based on class performance):

A: 93-100, A-:90-92, B+: 87-89, B: 83-86, B-: 80-82, C+: 77-79, C: 73-76, C-:70-72, D: 65-69,
F: below 65

Copyright 2014 Somnath Chattopadhyay
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Engineering on the whole is fun and exciting. However, to have fun as engineers there are certain
skills which must be mastered. The resources for you to succeed will be made readily available. Your
success is measured by your mastery of the material in this course. To facilitate this, the course
instructor will always be available during office hours or by appointment, and many questions can be
answered via email. The teaching assistants should be available, courteous, and knowledgeable.
Please contact one of the instructors if you have an experience where they fall short (include the TAs
name and issue).


EMAIL POLICY
The instructors in this course will strive to answer your questions via email in a timely manner,
provided the email is intelligible and contains MAE 277 in the subject or body. Please be aware that
the course instructor has a number of outside commitments, and it may take up to a day to respond.

GRADING POLICY
The grading policy in this course is designed to accurately assess the quality of the work submitted. It
is up to you to ensure that you communicate to the instructor and teaching assistants that you
understand the material. Work will be graded fairly, and penalties will be assessed to work that is
incomplete or late (provided late submission is acceptable). No portions of the project will be accepted
late. Assignments are due at 5:00:00 PM (17:00:00) EST their assigned due date; assignments submitted
after this time period are subject to the penalties outlined under Late Homework Assignments. Be
mindful of managing your time in this course; all of you have the ability to succeed in this course if you
put forth the effort.

Assignments:
Assignments will be assigned throughout the semester to be completed at home or in-class.
Assignments will be related to the topics currently being discussed in class. No make ups are allowed
for in-class assignments, unless you have notified course instructors ahead of time by email that you
will not be present in class (and provide a university accepted reason for your absence). Telling the
instructors in class that you have a commitment conflicting with the next class does not constitute an
excused absence; you must communicate with the instructors by email with supporting documentation
so there is a record of the absence.

Homework is intended to be a learning tool. Completing the homework and reviewing (and
understanding) the mistakes you made is essential to doing well on the exams. The grading scheme is
intended to be flexible enough for you to prepare the assignment in a professional manner, and allow
you to grow as an engineer.

Course Project:
The gates of the course project will be graded according to a rubric. This rubric is created from the gate
description provided to you. Rubrics will be returned after the gate is submitted, but will not be
provided. This is done so that you can practice extracting the required content from a general
assignment. You are highly encouraged to create your own list of requirements, which the instructors
are willing to review.

Copyright 2014 Somnath Chattopadhyay
At the conclusion of each project gate, you will rate your project team on a 0 4 scale. These ratings will
allow us to adjust final project grades to reflect actual effort of individual members.

Late Submissions:
Late assignments (both out-of-class and in-class) will not be accepted. The lowest assignment grade
will be dropped. If a situation SUDDENLY arises where submission of an assignment is not possible
due to circumstances beyond your control (e.g. death in the family), please contact one of the
instructors to discuss a late submission.

Late project submissions will not be accepted.
Exams:
There will be three exams for the year and they will contain a mix of matching, identification, multiple
choice, short answer, and long problems. Exams will be given every 4 - 5 weeks and the exams are
cumulative throughout the year. For example, Exam 2 may reference material from Exam 1, as well as,
current material. No makeup exams will be given unless you notify a course instructor by email, before
the exam begins that you will be missing the class; the reason for your absence must comply with
University at Buffalo policy.

Resubmissions:
There may be times when you receive an assignment, project section, quiz, or exam that you feel was
graded incorrectly. Any requests for corrections to a grade must be accompanied by a typed description
of the suspected error in grading. Any regrade will be a complete regrade of the submission, not just
the question at issue (Note: this means your grade could change up or down). Resubmissions will only
be accepted up to two weeks after the assignments, quiz or exam has been handed back in class.

Demonstrated Improvement Clause:
At the end of the semester, when calculating your final course grade, consideration will be given to
students with demonstrated improvement. Namely, if you are able to show individual improvement
over the semester as reflected by your final exam grade in comparison to your midterm exam average
you will be moderately rewarded. Your improvement must exceed expectation (where expectation is
quantified by class improvement statistics). In addition, your grade improvement cannot exceed one
full letter grade (e.g. a B- cannot exceed an A-). Please note, historically only about 5% of students see
any grade change.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Students are encouraged to talk to one another about course material and assignments. There will also
be some times where you have the opportunity to turn in a single assignment for two people.
However, acts of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated, and will result in the student receiving an
F in the course; cheating can also be grounds for dismissal from the university. Please review the
university policies for academic integrity (http://academicintegrity.buffalo.edu). If you have any
questions throughout the semester about what is allowed, please do not hesitate to ask one of the
instructors in person or via email. Ask for permission, not forgiveness.

ACCESSIBILITY RESOURCES
If you require classroom or testing accommodations due to a disability, please contact Accessibility
Resources, located at 25 Capen Hall. Accessibility Resources can be reached by phone at (716) 645-2608
Copyright 2014 Somnath Chattopadhyay
or by email at stu-accessibility@buffalo.edu. Please inform course instructors as soon as possible about
your needs so that your accommodations can be coordinated.

MISCELLANEOUS
- UB does not allow individual extra credit work in any of its courses; all students must be eligible
to receive any extra credit. If you believe you are falling behind in the course make an appointment
to speak with the instructors before the problem gets out of hand.
- The instructors want you to have fun in this course (within the bounds of safety and
professionalism).
- Engineering is difficult at times; this course will be too.
- Scoping engineering problems is sometimes the hardest part; this will be reflected in certain
assignments.
- The work done in this course is of a practical nature (i.e., you can talk about this class in an
interview, especially if you take a leadership role).
- The instructors of this course often have job offers come through us. These offers will be
announced in class or via email. Instructors are often asked to filter resumes, so please keep in
mind that your performance (technical, professional, etc.) will determine if your resume is passed
on.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS
- Work ahead when you can. This allows you time to seek help when needed. Instructors will not
pre-grade your work, but we are happy to look over a draft during office hours.
- Ask questions if you do not understand a concept, an assignment, expectations, etc.
- Consider your own experiences and leverage them in your work. These are helpful for estimation,
checking a solution, etc.
- Seek help with your writing and presentation skills. Poor technical communication often impacts
the audiences ability to understand critical information. In this course it will impact your grade;
later on it will impact your career.
- Justify your statements with evidence (references, statistics, facts, etc.).
- Support your written content with communication aids including figures, tables, etc. When
including a communication aid, select the most appropriate type and refer to it in the text. You
may need multiple communication aids for a section.