Mechanical Engineering

ABET Self-Study Report for the Mechanical Engineering at Middle East Technical University Ankara, TURKEY April 2009 CONFIDENTIAL The information supplied in this Self-Study Report is for the confidential use of ABET and its authorized agents, and will not be disclosed without authorization of the institution concerned, except for summary data not identifiable to a specific institution. 1 Table of Contents BACKGROUND INFORMATION.......................................................................................3 CRITERION 1. STUDENTS................................................................................................7 CRITERION 2. PROGRAM EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES.....................................16 CRITERION 3. PROGRAM OUTCOMES......................................................................25 CRITERION 4. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT........................................................45 CRITERION 5. CURRICULUM.......................................................................................48 CRITERION 6 FACULTY.................................................................................................66 CRITERION 7. FACILITIES............................................................................................86 CRITERION 8. SUPPORT.................................................................................................93 CRITERION 9 PROGRAM CRITERIA..........................................................................97 APPENDIX A – COURSE SYLLABI.................................................................................99 APPENDIX B – FACULTY RESUMES...........................................................................239 APPENDIX C – LABORATORY EQUIPMENT............................................................343 APPENDIX D – INSTITUTIONAL SUMMARY............................................................358 APPENDIX E – SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL........................................................359 2 Self-Study Report Mechanical Engineering Bachelor of Science Middle East Technical University BACKGROUND INFORMATION A. Contact information Professor Suha Oral Chairman Mechanical Engineering Department Middle East Technical University 06531 Ankara, Turkey Phone: +90 312 210 2539 Fax: +90 312 210 2536 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.me.metu.edu.tr/ B. Program History Mechanical Engineering (ME) undergraduate program is the second program of the Middle East Technical University (METU) implemented in 1956. The last major change in the curriculum was implemented in 1990 after a one-year long and extensive departmental effort, converting the earlier two-stem-option track and rather rigid structure into today's elective driven senior year structure. In order to harmonize with the new core curriculum requirements brought by the Faculty of Engineering in 1993, two new courses (ME 200 Mechanical Engineering Orientation and Free 3 Elective) are introduced one in the beginning of the 2nd year and the other in the senior year, and credits of those courses higher than three were reduced to three thereby making a uniform credit distribution among courses and also reducing the total credits down to 142 for graduation. From that point on, there have been rather small scale fine tunings made in the curriculum in order to satisfy different requirement at each change: In 2000, a new course, ENG 311 Advanced Communication Skills, was added to the curriculum as a general university requirement set by the university Senate, related to the general education area of the ME curriculum. This course had 3 credits and aimed at developing communication skills in a business context. However, its status has been changed from compulsory to non-technical elective by the university Senate again, effective for students enrolling the programs in 2006 and later. The department decided to remove this added course from the curriculum. As of 2004-2005 academic year, one of the technical electives taken by seniors is restricted to a pool of courses, ME 403, ME 421, ME 426 and ME 437, all regarded as design courses in the area of thermal systems. By this arrangement, it is aimed to have the students gain the ability to work in the area of thermal systems next to mechanical systems, which is handled in the compulsory capstone design course ME 407. As of 2004-2005 academic year, students are allowed to take one of the technical electives from engineering departments other than mechanical engineering provided that there is no substantial overlap between the courses in student's undergraduate program. Because sufficient emphasis on "engineering ethics" and "safety" were not placed in the curricula of most departments, the Faculty Academic Board decided to include these topics in all engineering undergraduate curricula. In the Mechanical Engineering curriculum, as of 2004-2005 academic year the "engineering ethics" topic was included to ME 200 and ME 407 courses, and the "laboratory safety" topic was added to ME 200 and ME 410 courses. There have been frequent changes in the contents, credits, and names of mathematics 4 courses in first three semesters of the curriculum, as a result of continuous improvements efforts by the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematics Department. The very last change involved a credit increase in MATH 119 Calculus with Analytical Geometry and MATH 120 Calculus for Functions of Several Variables courses from 4 to 5, and in MATH 219 Introduction to Differential Equations from 3 to 4, effective 2006-2007 academic year. These changes increased the total credits up to 145 for graduation. The B.S. program of the department was evaluated by ABET in 1996 and received a substantial equivalency status. The program was again successfully evaluated by ABET in 2004 according to the ABET 2000 criteria. C. Options There are no options, tracks, concentrations included in the program. D. Organizational Structure To be provided by the Dean’s office. 5 E. Program Delivery Modes The ME program is offered through daytime classes during fall and spring semesters. Some courses are also offered during summer schools but not on regular basis. F. Deficiencies, Weaknesses or Concerns from Previous Evaluation(s) and the Actions taken to Address them No deficiencies, weaknesses, or concerns were documented in the Final Report in the previous ABET general evaluation. 6 CRITERION 1. STUDENTS A. Student Admissions Key to the quality and performance of students in any educational program is the admission or selection process through which they enter the program. METU Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department admits top quality undergraduates through the Student Selection Examination (ÖSS), a very competitive nationwide examination. ÖSS scores combined with the applicants’ high school performances and their preferences on programs and universities are used in their placements to individual programs of all universities by the Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM), a nationwide institution. Over 1.5 million applicants take this examination each year and only those within approximately first 5500 become eligible to enroll in the METU ME undergraduate program. A vast majority of students in the department are admitted through this process. A very limited number of students, each being the top ranked in their high schools are also admitted with a somewhat lower score through a 2% enrollment quota reserved for them. The history of admission standards for freshmen admissions for past five years is provided in Table 1-1. Note that there is a drop in the ranks of the admitted students in the Academic Year 2008. In this particular year, no new students graduated from the high-schools in Turkey due to the extension of basic education from 11 to 12 years. Therefore, candidates took ÖSS examination in 2008 were high school graduates of previous years, forming not a representative applicant population. Table 1-1 History of Admissions Standards for Freshmen Admissions for Past Five Years Number of Academic ÖSS Score Rank in ÖSS New Students Year MIN. AVG. MIN. AVG. Enrolled 2008 354.750 358.250 5281 3662 185+5 2007 361.012 363.507 3393 2439 180+5 2006 349.846 354.130 3937 2745 180+5 2005 364.216 366.626 3508 2493 170+5 2004 363.447 365.669 2873 2148 180+5 Other students are admitted to the program through; 7 Foreign Student Examination (YÖS), (About 8 students with non-Turkish nationality every year) Transfers from other departments of METU and/or universities Double Major Program Nationwide placement of top ranked graduates of 2–year Technical Vocational Schools through an examination administered by (ÖSYM) B. Evaluating Student Performance Student performances are evaluated on the basis of their success in the courses they take. Instructors keep records of student grades for their coursework and inform them on their achievements and grades as the semester progresses. At the end of each semesters, course and instructor evaluation questionnaires are filled by the students where this point is also rated. Instructors have the sole authority to assign the final letter grades to students and these grades can only be submitted electronically by course instructors through the online Student Affairs Information System maintained by the Registrar’s Office. At the end of a semester, grade distribution statistics for all courses are sent to department chairs by the Registrar’s Office, so that they can monitor the performance of students in individual courses and evaluate the general performance of the

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