Mechanical Engineering: Prospective Students

What is it like being a mechanical engineering student at the University of Portland?  The University is small, about the size of a large high school.  Classes are small so that students and faculty get to know each other.  Faculty members, not teaching assistants, teach the classes, read and correct student papers, oversee the design projects, and hold office hours.  Beginning students take Introduction to Engineering—a hands-on course that covers the design process, teamwork, etc.—and actually make a working engineering device.  First and second-year courses in basic sciences are followed by discipline-specific engineering science courses.  In the third year, students take courses specific to mechanical engineering.  During the senior year, students take technical electives in areas of their specific interest.