Teaching Labs

The Department of Mechanical Engineering has both a manual machine shop and several Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines. In the manual machine shop, there are nine lathes and six mills that are used for the laboratory component of MCHE 365 Manufacturing Processes. The CNC lathe and mill are used in Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) courses as well as in the support of research.

The department has a steam power generation system that includes a full size boiler and turbine. This equipment is used for instruction in energy systems. Additional energy systems equipment (heat exchangers, engines, piping systems, compressors) support the energy systems laboratory courses.

The senior projects course has a dedicated area for the design, build, and testing of projects in the capstone design course. There are five to six separate work areas, each of which has work-tables, power outlets, and storage cabinets

Rougeau room 211 is the Frank’s CAD Student Education Laboratory. This laboratory houses forty-eight new PCs, two 60” LCD screens, an instructor podium that includes a PC, a document viewer, and a DVD player. There are also several moveable whiteboards that can be used for groups of students in part of the room. The computers in this room have the full AutoDesk suite of products, MATLAB, MS office, and LabView among other software packages. This classroom is used for the graphics, engineering analysis, finite element analysis, and other computer intensive courses.

Room 119 is large high bay area that is used for multiple purposes. There are several metal forming machines in this facility that are used in courses as well as for research. There are also numerous other machines for material testing and development.

Dr. Vaughan has a controls and robotics research facility. He uses some of the same robotics equipment in courses.