Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Advising

Prof. Kimberly Turner

Welcome to the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Advising website. The Undergraduate Faculty Advisor for 2005-06 is Prof. Kimberly Turner. If you have any concerns over your academic progress, want career or academic advice, are having trouble keeping on track with the MEE curriculum, or have any general questions (regardless of whether you're a current or prospective MEE student) feel free to make an appointment with her.
Office: ENGR II, Room 2326
Tel: (805) 893-5106 \ E-mail: turner@engineering.ucsb.edu

Suzi See is our Staff Undergraduate Advisor, and works closely with Prof. Turner to make sure your degree progress goes as smoothly as possible. If you have specific administrative needs, e.g., filing petitions, adding or dropping courses, or are concerned about pre-requisites or the availability of classes, please speak with Suzi.
Office: ENGR II, Room 2355C
Tel: (805) 893-8198 \ E-mail: ssee@engineering.ucsb.edu

Freshmen:

A-L Prof. Pennathur sumita@engineering.ucsb.edu 893-5510
M-Z Prof. McLean mclean@engineering.ucsb.edu 893-4573

Sophomores:

A-L Prof. Bennett bennett@engineering.ucsb.edu 893-8115
M-Z Prof. Paden paden@engineering.ucsb.edu 893-8165

Juniors:

A-L Prof. Bamieh bamieh@engineering.ucsb.edu 893-4490
M-Z Prof. Kedward 893-3381

Seniors:

A-L Prof. Evans agevans@engineering.ucsb.edu 893-7839
M-Z Prof. Meinhart meinhart@engineering.ucsb.edu 893-4563

If you have questions regarding the ME program of study, advice on schedules, electives, summer opportunities, undergraduate research, etc., please contact your appropriate advisor.

Q: What is an Upper Division Elective form?
A: This is a form which MUST be filled out during the senior year. Each student is required to take 15 units of upper division ME electives. Information on these courses is found on the ME website. Each student needs to choose 15 units of elective courses and record them on this form, which is approved by Dr. Turner, Vice-Chair for Undergraduate Affairs. The forms can be obtained from Suzi See (ME Undergraduate Affairs Assistant) in the ME office, or on the ME website.
Undergraduate Departmental Electives for 2007-2008 [PDF]
Department Elective Form [PDF]

Q: I took an upper division ME course which was different from those on my filed elective sheet. What do I do?
A: You MUST update your elective sheet. You can do this by going to the ME office and speaking with Suzi See.

Q: I am a new ME student and I don’t know what courses to take. What do I do?
A: You should do the best you can to follow the GRID of courses as published in the College of Engineering Announcement. The announcement can be downloaded from the COE website (www.engr.ucsb.edu) if you do not have a copy. If you are ahead in math or physics courses, and have some openings in your schedule, please consult your faculty advisors as specified above for more personalized information. It is important not to get behind on the grid, because most of the ME courses have prerequisite science and math courses which are very important.

Q: I am not an ME major, but want to transfer in. How do I get into the ME courses?
A: The Mechanical engineering major is very competitive. Before petitioning for a change of major to mechanical engineering, six (6) of the following core courses or their equivalents must be completed: Math 3A-B-C; Math 5A-B-C; Physics 1-2; ME 14-15 (at least one of the 6 courses must include ME 14 or ME 15). Acceptance into the major will be based on UC grade point averages and applicable courses completed. Please see Suzi See for more information.

Q: I am interested in undergraduate research. How do I find a position?
A: You should browse the ME website to look at faculty research interests and determine who you are interested in working with. You should then contact that professor directly to determine if he/she has any openings.

Q: How do I find a summer job?
A: Take advantage of the services provided by Counseling and Career Services! Don Lubach, who works in Career services, will be happy to talk to you about options. In addition, there are workshops on resume writing, job hunting, and career fairs to help you as well.
Don Lubach can be reached at: lubach-d@sa.ucsb.edu, or at 893-4411.

Q: I am doing badly in my courses and the drop deadline is nearing. I feel like in order to succeed in some of them, I should drop one. Which one should I drop?
A: In this case, it is ESSENTIAL that you speak with a faculty advisor. If you cannot find your faculty advisor, speak with Suzi See, or send Professor Turner (turner@engr.ucsb.edu) an email. Dropping courses which are prerequisites to other courses can set you back a whole year. Discussions should be made with an advisor before any schedule changes are made.

Q: I don’t have the prerequisites for a course, and if I don’t take it, it will add a year to my graduation. How can I get in the course?
A: These requests are not taken lightly. You can file a request for an approval code with Luke in the ME office. However, these requests are only granted under extreme circumstances (and adding a year to graduation, especially if your GPA is low or borderline probation level is NOT considered an extreme circumstance). Prerequisites are in place for a reason, and allowing you to take courses for which you don’t have prerequisites is not in your best interest.

Lastly, the ME department wishes to provide you with every opportunity to succeed. If you have questions, please direct them to Suzi See (ssee@engineering.ucsb.edu), Professor Kimberly Turner (turner@engineering.ucsb.edu), or your faculty advisors listed above. In addition, we also welcome your comments/feedback as well! Feedback can be directed to the same individuals.

Have a Happy and Productive Year!

Download Undergraduate Petitions and Forms