Revised on January 5, 2023

The Energy and Environment (EAE) focus area (FA) provides advanced education in the increasingly important area of energy production, utilization, and its environmental impact, with particular attention to emerging technologies. The FA also provides a solid foundation in transport process modeling and an introduction to environmental engineering. Engineers working in this area must possess not only the fluid dynamics and heat and mass transport modeling abilities typical of mechanical engineers, but also a level of understanding of sustainability of engineered systems.

Required Courses
SemesterCourseSessionSHPre-/Co-Requisites
4 (Spring)Elective 3 
6 (Spring)Elective 3 
6 (Spring)Elective 3 
7 (Fall)ME:5145 Intermediate Heat Transfer
OR
ME:5160 Intermediate Mechanics of Fluids
F

F
3

3
ME:3045

ENGR:2510
7 (Fall)Elective 3 
8 (Spring)Elective 3 
8 (Spring)Elective 3 
Energy and Environment Electives (minimum of 2 required)
CourseSessionSHPre-/Co-Requisites
CEE:4107 Sustainable SystemsS3 
ME:4111 Scientific Computing and Machine Learning F, S3MATH:2560
ME:4160 Engines and Power PlantsS3ENGR:2130
ME:5145 Intermediate Heat TransferF3ME:3045
ME:5149 Propulsion EngineeringF3ENGR:2130
ME:5160 Intermediate Mechanics of FluidsF3ENG:2510
General Electives
CourseSessionSHPre-/Co-Requisites
ME:4024 Product Design and Realization S3ME:2200 or ME:2300/ENGR:2750
ME:4125 Biomimetic Fluid DynamicsS23ENGR:2510
ME:4175 Computational Naval Hydrodynamics S13ENGR:2510
ME:4186 Enhanced Design ExperienceS3ME:40862
ME:5143 Computational Fluid and Thermal EngineeringF3ME:3045
ME:5210 Intermediate Thermodynamics F 2 3 F23ENGR:2130
CBE:3405 Green Chemical and Energy Technology S*3CHEM:1070 or CHEM:1110
CBE:5415 Satellite Image Processing and Remote Sensing of AtmosphereS*3 
CBE:5417 Physical Meteorology and Atmospheric Radiative TransferS*3 
CEE:3371 Principles of Hydraulics and Hydrology S3ENGR:2510
CEE:4102 GroundwaterF3 
CEE:4159 Air Pollution Control TechnologyS3 
CEE:5380 Fluid Flows in Environmental SystemsF3 
ECE:5620 Electric Power Systems and Renewable EnergyS23ENGR:2120, MATH:2560, PHYS:1611
SEES:1080 Introduction to Environmental Science
OR
SEES:1290 Energy and the Environment
F, S

F
3

3
 
ISE:2500 Engineering EconomyS3STAT:2020
Flexible Elective3Any3 

1 Offered even years only
2 Offered odd years only

3 Choose at most one course from:

  • engineering courses that are required in another (non-ME) program,
  • engineering courses at an upper level (e.g., ME courses numbered 4100 and above) mathematics, physics or chemistry courses at a more advanced level than those required in the ME curriculum (note: MATH:3800 is not approved as Flexible Elective if ME:4111 is taken as any of the Energy & Environment Focus Area courses),
  • independent investigation in a mechanical engineering subject area, or
  • courses that appear on a list of approved courses found at  https://engineering.uiowa.edu/mechanical-engineering-undergraduate-program/focus-areas

* Irregular offerings, check schedule for specific semester

Substitutions are discouraged and will only be approved under exceptional circumstances requiring the approval of the advisor, FA coordinator, and DEO.


For further information, please contact: Professor A. Ratner (albert-ratner@uiowa.edu), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242.