Overview
MECH 2 is a carefully designed engineering curriculum aimed at developing student’s analytical, practical and design skills in Mechanical Engineering. We believe that the traditional curriculum is not an optimal way to educate all students and that many students will benefit from the unified approach of MECH 2. The goal of MECH 2 is for students to be able to use their knowledge and skills to apply engineering science to practical engineering problems. The most obvious difference between MECH 2 and the traditional program is the integration of course material in MECH 2 and focus on application of theory.
Integrating Concepts & Hands On Learning
Traditional Programs
- Students take a diverse range of courses at the same time
- Students spend a great deal of energy juggling disconnected mid-terms and assignments
MECH 2
- Has a custom course structure
- Courses are designed to integrate material and provide good communication between the instructors in mathematics, materials, electronics and mechanical engineering
- There is time to focus your thinking on key aspects of theory, and then have a chance to use the ideas in an experimental or design setting
In order to accomplish this, we have had to completely change the way courses are scheduled over each day and over the term. You will see in the weekly schedule that your life in MECH 2 will be very different from that of your friends in other programs.
We are very pleased that MECH 2 has also been recognized locally and internationally. The MECH 2 Program received the Alan Blizzard Award from the Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. The award was established to “encourage, identify, and publicly recognize those whose exemplary collaboration in university teaching enhances student learning. The Award seeks to make visible and disseminate scholarship of teaching and learning, based on values and practices of collaborative teaching,” (Alan Blizzard Website). In 2005, MECH 2 received the prestigious American Society of Mechanical Engineers Curriculum Innovation Award for demonstration of significant advancement in engineering education. In 2006 MECH 2 received the UBC Alfred Scow Award for providing a significant positive impact on student life and development at UBC.
Program Structure
In MECH 2, the four courses you will take are numbered MECH 220, MECH 221, MECH 222, MECH 223†, and MECH 226. The five courses are taught in series as shown in the schedule below:
Notes: MECH 221 includes MATH 258, MECH 222 includes MATH 254, and MECH 226 is taught in parallel with all the other courses throughout both terms.
MECH 2 starts a week before the regular term 1 begins; students must be available and on campus the week before Labour Day. The early start date is necessary to spread out the workload associated with the four hand-on MECH 220 modules and the five MECH 221 subjects. Students must participate in MECH 220 to continue in MECH 2 – skipping the first week is not an option
Course Descriptions:
In MECH 220 you learn all of the skills required to take you through the development and building of a small project. You will complete four one-week modules that include training in machine shop practice, engineering drawing, computer aided design and analysis, and instrumentation. At the end of the four weeks, you will have modeled, documented, fabricated and tested your own fully-working, electronically-controlled magnetic levitation (MagLev) device based on a design that we will supply.
Duration: 4 weeks
MECH 221 is an integrated course combining dynamics, solid mechanics, ordinary differential equations, electrical circuits, and materials science. The course is taught by a team of instructors and includes lectures, labs, computer labs, tutorials, and field trips. MECH 221 will conclude at the end of first term.
Duration: 10 weeks
MECH 222 covers material in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and mathematics. As with MECH 221, the material will be provided by a team of instructors through lectures, labs, computer labs, field trips, and problem sessions.
Duration: Term 2
MECH 223 is the design course which runs in parallel with MECH 222. In MECH 223, you will complete a design project relating directly to the material from MECH 221 and MECH 222. MECH 223 will also include a series of lectures and tutorials focusing on engineering design and professional practice. At the end of MECH 223, you will have designed and fabricated a mechanical device with a group of other students. You will then have an opportunity to demonstrate your device in a competition with the rest of the class. In addition, you will prepare professional quality engineering documentation.
Duration: Term 2
MECH 226 and 227 are courses in technical communication. They focus on developing the written and oral skills required to be a professional engineer. In MECH 226 and 227 you will learn how to prepare design reports and business correspondence effectively and practise your skills in verbal, online, and visual presentation of technical material. While both courses cover technical communication, MECH 227 focuses more thoroughly on linguistic structure and style.
Students are placed in either MECH 226 or 227 based on their level of English. MECH 226 runs through both term 1 and 2, while MECH 227 takes place during the second summer term following Mech 2.
Weekly Schedule
To see what a typical week would look like in MECH 2, take a look at the schedule below. One of the first things that you will notice is that you have no more than twelve hours of regular lectures per week. There is also a weekly test and one or two labs per week that are coordinated with the lecture material. You will notice that there is a lab lecture before you perform a lab so that you will know exactly what to expect when conducting experiments and how it relates to the lecture material. The other activities include one computer lab each week and numerous tutorials to give you plenty of opportunity to work through problems and ask questions. Other than lectures, all activities are done in small groups of four to thirty-five students.
Sample Weekly Mech 221/2/3 Schedule
