Manufacturing Engineering Undergraduate Program

General Information

Increasingly broad education requirements of engineers leaded the Faculty to offer a new undergraduate program under the name of “Manufacturing Engineering” in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The graduates of Manufacturing Engineering Program will have the following basic characteristics besides the principal and genel qualifications of an engineer:

Designing and managing skills for manufacturing systems and processes,
Knowledge of materials science and materials processing, 
Analytical skills to solve technical problems of manufacturing engineering..

The educational objectives and program outcomes were determined considering all the advices and recommendations made by the industrial partners, advisory board members, alumni and faculty as well as ABET criteria. First enrollment to Manufacturing Engineering Program was realized in the fall term of 2003/2004 academic year with 25 students.

The curriculum was built to cover manufacturing processes, automation and control and management disciplines through a basic mechanical background. During the first implementation of the program, the fulfillment of 154 credits hours for eight semesters was required. The ratio of basic science credits in total credits of the program was 23 %, basic engineering credits was 20 % and engineering design credits was 39 %. Approximately 18 % of the curriculum was devoted to genel education, social and humanities courses. The elective/compulsory course credits percentage of the program was nearly 27 % and almost 31 % of the total credits were gained by the courses offered in English.

The curriculum was built to cover manufacturing processes, automation and control and management disciplines through a basic mechanical background. During the first implementation of the program, the fulfillment of 154 credits hours for eight semesters was required. The ratio of basic science credits in total credits of the program was 23 %, basic engineering credits was 20 % and engineering design credits was 39 %. Approximately 18 % of the curriculum was devoted to genel education, social and humanities courses. The elective/compulsory course credits percentage of the program was nearly 27 % and almost 31 % of the total credits were gained by the courses offered in English.

Program Objectives

In conformity with the mission of Mechanical Engineering Department, the objectives of Manufacturing Engineering Program are to graduate professionals who can;

  1. Perform design and integration of materials transformations, manufacturing processes and systems,
  2. Play leadership roles by improving collaboration between engineers, scientists and professionals,
  3. Involve positively in the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises,
  4. Aim to reach knowledge and professional growth for their successful careers in industry, research or academia,
  5. Contribute to the society as professionally, ethically and globally aware members.

Student Outcomes

  1. An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering on manufacturing engineering problems,
  2. An ability to design and conduct experiments as well as to analyze and interpret data and use modern tools and equipment,
  3. An ability to select develop and/or design a system, component or process to meet desired performance manufacturing capabilities and economic requirements,
  4. An ability to function on and/or develop leadership in multi-disciplinary teams,
  5. An ability to identify, formulate and solve manufacturing engineering problems,
  6. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility,
  7. An ability for effective written and oral communication in Turkish and English,
  8. An ability to understand and comment on the impact of manufacturing engineering solutions in a national and global context,
  9. A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning,
  10. A knowledge of contemporary issues in manufacturing engineering,
  11. An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools, such as computer programs, necessary for engineering design and analysis and use modern information systems.

Program Criteria (ABET)

These program criteria apply to engineering programs that include "manufacturing" and similar modifiers in their titles.

Curriculum: The program must demonstrate that graduates have proficiency in:

  1. Materials and manufacturing processes: understanding the behavior and properties of materials as they are altered and influenced by processing in manufacturing;
  2. Process, assembly and product engineering: understanding the design of products and the equipment, tooling, and environment necessary for their manufacture;
  3. Manufacturing competitiveness: understanding the creation of competitive advantage through manufacturing planning, strategy, and control;
  4. Manufacturing systems design: understanding the analysis, synthesis, and control of manufacturing operations using statistical and calculus based methods, simulation and information technology;
  5. Laboratory experience: graduates must be able to measure manufacturing process variables in a manufacturing laboratory and make technical inferences about the process.

Faculty: The program must demonstrate that faculty members maintain currency in manufacturing engineering practice.

Program Constituents

The constituents play an important role in establishing and developing the educational objectives of the program. In the constituents loop the four primary constituents (faculty, alumni, industry and students) are brought together to review the program objectives and outcomes and to make recommendations for modifications. By benchmarking with our academic peers, the Department can also find out what it must do to improve its competitive position. The key constituents of the undergraduate program of mechanical

Students: Students are one of the five primary constituents of the education process. At ITU most of the students come directly from high school; the teaching process has been developed to facilitate and improve the transformation from a student to a graduate for this student profile. They can supply valuable information and make proposals for corrective actions about the program they are in. Elected “Class Representatives” are the members of the “University Students Representatives Board”. Each class (from freshmen tor senior) elects a representative. These representatives elect a “Faculty Student Representative (FSR)” in turn. FSR joins the Administrative and Academic Committees of the Faculty and when the student problems are discussed. The FSR also is a member of the “Student Representatives Board” of the University.

Faculty: The Department of Mechanical Engineering has 86 full-time faculty.  The faculty have the responsibility of defining what must be taught in each course (the learning outcomes); deciding how this desired learning can be accomplished (lectures, labs, class activities, etc.), and finally assessing how well the learning was accomplished (homework, quizzes, surveys, etc.).  But they also have the broader responsibility of periodically reviewing the program to see if there are ways to improve the learning.

Alumni: Graduates are one of the five primary constituents of the education process. Our graduates get jobs where they employ the skills and attitudes that were accumulated during their attendance in the programs. The sense of how well the education process prepared the alumni for their work is an important component of program improvement. Alumni are be polled via surveys at least once per year.

Industry/Employers: Industry is another primary constituent of the education process. Industry employs our graduates and hence has valuable information about their quality. Industry surveys are one of the tools in which they are asked periodically about their expectations from the graduates. This information is valuable and provides a great assistance to the Department to review and revise Mechanical Engineering Program objectives and outcomes.

Advisory Board: Industry is also represented by the Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) established in 1993. This group of 30 individuals is composed of distinguished people of industry, alumni of the faculty, academic leaders of mechanical engineering programs of selected universities in Turkey and ex-deans of Mechanical Engineering Faculty. The advisory board meets annually.

Other constituents are:

  • Government
  • Higher Education Council (YOK)
  • University and Faculty Administration
  • National and International Engineering Societies
  • Prospective students and their families
  • Graduate Schools
  • Accreditation Boards

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ITU Manufacturing Engineering Undergraduate Program: Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET. www.abet.org

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