Voiland CollegeWSU School of Mechanical and Materials EngineeringUndergraduate ProgramCurrent Students

Current Students

Here are links to important information and steps to assist you in achieving your goals.

On this page:

Admission to Major

Students can be admitted to a major if they meet the criteria specified in the catalog. Once admitted to the major, a student must maintain good standing in their major by completing the required benchmarks as outlined in the catalog.

WSU Catalog Materials Science and Engineering
WSU Catalog Mechanical Engineering

4-Year Plans

New Student Orientation

All new WSU students are required to participate in New Coug Orientation. Students interested in the ME or MSE majors will meet with an MME advisor as part of the program to assist with the scheduling classes. All students who meet the MME Admission requirements will be assigned to an MME advisor at orientation.

Advising and Mentoring

All ME and MSE students are required to meet each semester with their assigned advisor, in order to ensure that they are making appropriate progress through their degree programs.

MME Advisors connect students to relevant resources within the College, including VCEA Tutoring, Clubs, and various events. Advisors also encourage students to connect with the Voiland College Internships and Career Services office, and to seek mentoring and career guidance from MME Faculty.

Policy on student requests for academic exceptions

  1. The School of MME does not generally grant exceptions for curriculum requirements (such as waving prerequisites, etc.). Starting Fall 2020, the curriculum requirements will also include new benchmarks, as specified in the WSU catalog, to continue in MME majors.
  2. If a student believes that there is an exigent reason to request an exception, a student must first meet with an academic advisor for consultation.
    If the adviser sees a merit for considering an exception, a student will be asked to prepare a letter detailing (i) the rationale for the request, and (ii) a plan to become compliant with the curriculum requirements.
  3. This letter, together with the advisor’s recommendations, will be assessed by the Associate Director for Undergraduate Studies, who may bring up the request to the Undergraduate Studies Committee (UGSC) for additional consideration.
    The decision by the Associate Director for Undergraduate Studies is final.
Note:

Students should not ask faculty members, including the School Director, to grant them exceptions for curriculum requirements. If approached with such requests, faculty members will direct students to the advisors.

Policy on incomplete grades

Please refer to Academic Regulation 90h. Before an incomplete grade is assigned, the instructor and the student must sign the incomplete grade agreement (PDF), which will list specific assignments that the student must complete by the specified date. The instructor signing the agreement will be responsible for evaluating the student work and assigning a final grade that will replace the I grade.

Graduation

Students who have 90 completed credits and are certified in their major are eligible to apply for graduation. Students submit their graduation application for undergraduate degrees online, through myWSU student center.

Steps for completing the application

Disabilities Syllabus Statement

Reasonable accommodations are available for any student with a documented disability. If you have a disability and may need accommodations to fully participate in any MME class, please visit the Disability Resource Center (DRC). All accommodations MUST be approved through the DRC (Washington Building, Room 217). Please stop by or call 509-335-3417 to make an appointment with a disability specialist.

Safety at WSU

Washington State University is committed to maintaining the safety of the students, faculty, staff, and visitors to the Pullman campus. These web links connect to the WSU Safety and Emergencey Managment sites, students should take the time to view these sites.

Classroom Safety

Classroom and campus safety are of paramount importance at Washington State University and are the shared responsibility of the entire campus population. WSU urges students to follow the “Alert, Assess, Act” protocol for all types of emergencies and the Run, Hide, Fight response for an active shooter incident. Remain ALERT (through direct observation or emergency notification), ASSESS your specific situation, and ACT in the most appropriate way to assure your own safety (and the safety of others if you are able).

Please sign up for emergency alerts on your account at MyWSU.
For more information on this subject, campus safety, and related topics, visit the WSU safety portal.

Professional Registration: FE Exam

ME students are required to take the FE exam prior to graduation.

Some career options may require a Professional Engineering License issued by the state in which you practice engineering. WSU students may start the registration process by taking the Washington State FE (EIT) exam during their senior year.

If you plan to take the FE, remember the exam is now computer based. Exam windows will be Jan-Feb; April-May; July-Aug; October-November so please plan accordingly based on your graduation date.

Register at the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) website. The exam is available at the University of Idaho and you can take it there. Space will be limited and the exam will only be available during normal business hours, you may need to miss class, so plan ahead.

Laptop Requirements

Recommended system

Your laptop PC should be able to use a CAD system, like the one linked below.

Solidworks Requirements Overview

DescriptionMinimumRecommended
Operating System1Windows 10 64-bit (Home, Pro, or Education)Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Processor (CPU)Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 (quad-core, ~2.5+ GHz)Intel Core i7/i9 (12th-gen or newer) or AMD Ryzen 7/9 with high single-core speed (~3.3–5.0 GHz)
Memory (RAM)16 GB32 GB or more (especially for large assemblies or simulations)
Graphics Card (GPU)NVIDIA GeForce GTX/RTX 4 GB VRAM or AMD Radeon (non-certified)NVIDIA RTX A2000–A5000 / Quadro RTX series (8+ GB VRAM, certified)2
Storage512 GB SSD (SATA acceptable)1 TB NVMe SSD
1macOS is not supported — SOLIDWORKS is Windows-only. Running it on a Mac requires virtualization or Boot Camp, which is not officially supported and can be unstable
2A dedicated GPU is highly recommended. Integrated graphics may work for simple models, but they’re not stable or supported.

Wireless Network

Integrated Wireless 802.11 a/g/n standard, configured for use on the WSU wireless network.

Software

  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) Microsoft and WSU offer Office 365 to students at no cost. For more details visit the Office 365 Website.
  • Virus protection software required. If you have not purchased an anti-virus software package there are several free options including Microsoft Security Essentials.
  • Most courses that will require student purchased software will include the software with the textbook purchased at the bookstore.
  • Some courses will have WSU provided software available for students to install as needed for the course.
  • Students may install Solidworks on their personal computers for use in ME courses.
  • Due to the EULA, Solidworks installation available here is only for students studying mechanical engineering at WSU and is NOT to be used for research activities.

Program Contacts