What you’ll learn
Mechanical engineering at Dunmere is built around the machines the valley runs on: irrigation pumps, harvesters, food processing lines and the solar arrays that power them.
You design, build and test from the first year, in shops and labs that farm equipment makers helped equip.
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Design and model
CAD, materials and machine design, from sketch to working drawing.
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Build and test
Machine shop, 3D printing and a test lab with instrumented rigs.
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Analyze energy and fluids
Thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer, with pumps as the running example.
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Deliver a project
A two-semester senior design project for a valley company, presented at the spring expo.
Degree options
One bachelor’s degree with two emphases, a minor for other majors, and a clear path in from community college.
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Bachelor of Science
Mechanical Engineering, B.S.
Four years, 128 units, with a senior design project. For careers in design, manufacturing and energy, or graduate school.
Emphases
- Agricultural machinery
- Energy systems
Advisor
Engineering Student Services[email protected]
(555) 555-0195 -
Minor
Mechanical Engineering minor
Six courses, 20 units. Common with physics, agricultural science and business majors.
Advisor
Engineering Student Services[email protected]
(555) 555-0195 -
Pathway
Transfer pathway
Finish calculus, physics and chemistry at a community college and enter as a junior.
Advisor
Engineering Student Services[email protected]
(555) 555-0195
Courses you might take
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ME 210
Design and Fabrication
Draw it, machine it, and find out why it failed.
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ME 330
Fluid Mechanics and Pumps
Pipe flow, pump curves and a field visit to an irrigation district pumping plant.
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ME 495
Senior Design
Two semesters on a problem a valley company brings in.
Careers and outcomes
Graduates design, build and keep running the equipment of farms, plants and utilities.
Jobs graduates hold
- Design engineer
- Manufacturing engineer
- Test engineer
- Energy systems engineer
- Agricultural equipment engineer
- Project engineer
Where students intern
- Farm equipment manufacturers
- Food processing plants
- Irrigation districts and water utilities
- Solar and energy contractors
Pay and job growth for mechanical engineers: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook. Sample outcome for this fictional program: 91 percent of 2025 graduates had an engineering job or a graduate offer at commencement. The figure is invented for the concept.
$7,960
Cost for a year
Tuition and fees, full-time, state resident, 2026–27. Engineering adds a $90 lab fee per term and about $300 for tools and safety gear in the first year. Illustrative figures for a fictional university.
How to apply to this major
The major fills each year, so apply by the priority date and finish calculus early.
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First-year
In high school, or finished with under 12 college units.
- Apply to Dunmere and choose Mechanical Engineering.
- Finish precalculus or calculus, physics and chemistry in high school.
- Take the math placement in the spring before you start.
Priority date: Dec. 1, 2026
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Transfer
60 or more transferable units with the engineering core.
- Complete calculus through differential equations, calculus-based physics and chemistry.
- Apply and choose Mechanical Engineering.
- Meet an engineering advisor before you register.
Priority date: Dec. 1, 2026
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Already at Dunmere
You are enrolled and want to change your major.
- Finish Calculus I and Physics I with a C or better.
- Meet Engineering Student Services to plan your courses.
- Submit the change of major form.
Accepted: any term