Mechanical Engineering Technology Department offers an extensive laboratory facility to support each program with equipment, instrumentation, and test facilities directly related to each field of specialization. Twelve laboratories and micro computer-aided design and computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems are available to provide the practical experience needed by today's technical graduates.
The application of computers for design analysis, CAD/CAM problem solution, data acquisition, data reduction, and data presentation is emphasized in most of the courses and laboratories. An important part of the laboratory facilities is electronic instrumentation for testing and mechanical analysis. These facilities provide the basis for training in the areas of robotics, automated manufacturing systems, and mechanical system control.
Computer-Aided Design Laboratory - provides a true design environment that is supported by computers for computation and design analysis, extensive design library references and applications materials, and CAD/CAM systems. A broad range of actual design experience directly related to each program is provided. This includes building environmental systems, machine design, plant engineering design, and structural and piping system design. This lab is equipped with 22 Pentium computers, printers, and three plotters. The computers are "stand alone", but can access department and campus servers. The local software provides complete CAE, CAD, CAM, CNC concurrent mechanical software from AutoCAD and ProEngineer computer aided design, rendering design, and calculation software. ALGOR machine animation analysis, Solids, Surfacing, Windows, Publishing, CNC Programs, MATH solving and Design Handbooks. Multiple server access to the mainframe provides spreadsheets, word processing, INTERNET, e-mail and many other software programs. The laboratory is used by most mechanical courses and is open for student use 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Materials Testing Laboratory - includes a 160,000-pound universal testing machine, impact, torsion, hardness testers, and a fatigue tester for repeated loading of millions of cycles, microscopes, a research metallograph and facilities for experience with both destructive and nondestructive testing of materials or failure analysis. Heat treating furnaces and metallurgical specimen preparation provides experience with material properties and micro or macroscopic evaluation. Vishay strain analysis systems and strain gauges are used to determine stress.
Automated Manufacturing Laboratory - provides direct experience with a computer numerical control (CNC) machines, robotics and the integration of robotic concepts to automated manufacturing. Part design and programs for operation of the CNC systems are prepared using CAD/CAM. A new addition to this lab is a 3 axis coordinate measuring machine for parts inspection and reverse engineering.
Mechanical Analysis Laboratory - equipped as a standard industrial research and development laboratory in the area of mechanical systems dynamics, with state-of-the-art computers data acquisition and instrumentation.
Internal Combustion Engines, Rotating and Process Equipment Laboratory - includes a laboratory, test cells, and equipment which provide experience with testing and performance evaluation of engines or rotating equipment such as pumps, fans, centrifugal compressors, and turbines. Fuels, lubricants, and emission testing equipment provides experience with standard tests on petroleum products and fuels. Engine and rotating or process equipment testing procedures emphasize the accurate and correct test instrumentation including electronic instrumentation and application of computer to engine tests control, data acquisition, and test data reduction or presentation. This laboratory is supported by the Thermofluid Mechanics, Fluid Power, and Electro-Mechanical Principles Laboratories to provide a broad range of experience related to the mechanical engineering technology program.
Machine Tool/Manufacturing Laboratory - is equipped with 20 manual tool room style engine lathes, vertical and universal milling machines, drill and radial drill presses. Traditional machining operations are introduced and reinforced in this laboratory with the goal of giving the students hands on exposure to various methods and techniques applied to the production of a part so as to give a better understanding of the related design concepts.
HVAC&R (Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) Laboratories - are among the most complete of their kind in the nation. Facilities are available to test major components and complete systems, together with the necessary controls to install, operate, and test residential, commercial and industrial equipment. Included are three complete laboratories equipped for a variety of installation and performance tests.
Modern computer equipment is available for design analysis, estimating for preparation of design drawings to provide a realistic experience with system design, and contracting practices. Laboratory equipment is available to conduct performance tests and determine operating characteristics in accordance with industries' code-test standards. Characteristics of fans, pumps, cooling towers, boilers, air washers, furnaces, heat pumps, refrigeration cycles, automatic controls, unit heaters, evaporative condensers, heat exchangers, and coils are studied. Included in the laboratory are forced warm air, hot water, steam multizone air conditioning, variable air volume air conditioning, commercial refrigeration systems, solar heating, and solar assisted heat pump systems to provide experience with operation, performance and control of complete systems. An increasingly important part of the laboratory is the automatic system controls area which provides actual experience with control system components ranging from simple electric or electronic to microprocessor-based direct digital control.
Solar Systems Laboratory - provides experience with residential and commercial, active solar systems together with passive systems concepts. Instrumentation including data acquisition, digital indicators, and recorders enable direct evaluation of installed systems, assembled systems, and system components such as pumps, heat exchangers, controls, collectors, and storage devices.
Thermofluid Mechanics Laboratory - equipped with systems which provide experience with the principles of fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. Fluids flow through venturis, orifices, nozzles, pipes, ducts, and open channels together with system components such as pumps, fans, and piping systems to provide a broad range of experimentation to support basic principles. Operation of a basic refrigeration system, engine test, and heat exchanger facilities extend the experience to include total energy concepts.
Control Systems Area - provides experience with pneumatic, hydraulic, relay, solid state, and programmable logic controller control systems and components. Included are pumps, cylinders, mechanisms, switches, actuators, flow controls, regulations relays, contactors, programmable logic controllers to enable presentation of system controls principles through a format of design-fabricate-test and interpret control systems.
Computing Graphics Laboratory - the computing facilities for high-end CAD/CAM project work is windows-based. The projects include three-dimensional solid and surface modeling, assembly and engineering working drawings with full associativity between all parts of the project. Computer-aided manufacturing projects that integrate with the computer-aided design include tool-path generation for sheet metal design, milling and turning.