Department of Mechanical Engineering
Engineering leaders for tomorrow at NAU
Prepare for a rewarding, challenging, high-paying career by studying to become a mechanical engineer in a personalized, student-centered environment. You’ll learn professional design techniques and strategies and have the chance to implement them through research, projects, and internship opportunities.
Our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and industry partners work synergistically to improve the state of Arizona and society at large, through mechanical engineering research, education, and service.
Mechanical Engineering (ME) is one of the broadest engineering disciplines. A mechanical engineering degree provides an excellent background for a broad range of engineering careers and for careers that require a strong technical background. The Mechanical Engineering Department at NAU offers programs leading to bachelor of science, master of science, master of engineering, and doctor of philosophy degrees in mechanical engineering.
Prospective students
If you’re considering one of our programs, you can find more information for prospective graduate students or prospective undergraduate students.
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By the numbers
663
Students15
Faculty$5.7M
Grant awardsVisit NAU today
You are cordially invited to pay us a visit either via our Daily Campus Visit program or our Discover NAU open houses throughout the year.
News from NAU Mechanical Engineering
The VISible and Infrared ObservatioN System (VISIONS) is Northern Arizona University’s (NAU) student-led, low-cost, dual-wavelength imager for planetary science applications that is planned to be integrated on to the twin ESCAPADE Mars orbiters. The goal of this project is to demonstrate how commercial off-the-shelf components can be ruggedly integrated and tested to withstand the space environment, for supplementary mission data, using a ‘do-no-harm’ design philosophy. The VISIONS instrument contains a three band Bayer pattern RGB visible sensor and a broadband thermal infrared VOx microbolometer. Although the electrical subsystems were designed and fabricated by Lucint systems under the guidance of the NAU design team, the mechanical assembly was wholly designed and fabricated by a team of NAU mechanical engineering students. At only 91.0 x 98.0 x 75.3 mm with a final mass of 603 g, the scale of VISIONS made it possible for the student design team to move from blank paper to delivered flight instruments in approximately one year while earning credit and applied engineering experience. After passing through their environmental testing this spring, the twin VISIONS instruments will be delivered for integration on the ESCAPADE orbiters in the summer of 2023.
Latest student awards
The 2022 Collegiate Wind Competition team placed 2nd overall for their offshore wind turbine design, out of 12 teams.
Latest research
SCI Talks – Engineering Carbon Removal
How NAU faculty are advancing technology to remove greenhouse gas from the air
Making walking easier for children with cerebral palsy
NAU mechanical engineers develop new high-performance artificial muscle technology
NAU engineer developing innovative biomaterial for improved treatment of cerebral aneurysms
Latest faculty awards
NAU’s award for Most Significant Innovation in Tech Transfer