Curriculum in General Engineering
For the Degree of Bachelor of Science in General Engineering
With an emphasis on understanding engineering's impact on business, a General Engineer is a technical person who can lead people and manage budgets and projects. General Engineering is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program emphasizing real-world problem solving through a unique orientation toward partnerships with industry. It brings together basic sciences, engineering sciences, and engineering design. The curriculum offers flexibility through the Secondary Field of Concentration, while providing a broad background in mechanics and structures, control systems, and decision making that support a systems approach to engineering.
General Engineers understand how to apply business fundamentals to promote utilization of new technology, engage in entrepreneurship, and succeed in engineering and nonengineering careers. The curriculum emphasizes the integration of engineering and business principles, preparing students to apply both functions to bring a product from invention to market.
Design experience and project management are emphasized and integrated across the core with a focus on establishing critical problem-solving skills applied across disciplines, strong communication skills, and the ability to work effectively and get results in a team environment. Students begin project work in teams in their freshman introductory course designing a motorized BEAM robotics-based mechatronic device, and they work as part of a team to develop a concept solution to an open-ended design problem that includes building or creating a 3D model of the solution. Sophomores learn about topics such as customer needs, costs, profits, and prices. As part of student teams, they develop the concept and business plan for a new product of their own choosing. Juniors design, build, and test balsa wood structures.
The capstone experience for General Engineering undergraduates is the Senior Design Project Course. Students work collaboratively with industry and a team of faculty members on a real-world problem during their final semester. The results are documented in a final written report and a formal presentation at the end of the semester to the company so that the student recommendations may be implemented. General Engineering Senior Design Project teams consistently win numerous national awards. Their hands-on work on real problems with engineers in the field from industry provides them with valuable, practical experience to complement their strong technical background. Industry partners note that General Engineering students stand out for their global, team, and business orientation, their communication skills, and their problem-solving skills. They are described as creative, visionary, versatile, and pragmatic.
One of the most frequent reasons students choose General Engineering is that it provides the opportunity to achieve individual educational and career goals by selecting or customizing a technical or nontechnical secondary field of concentration. These concentrations include diverse and progressive areas such as business systems integration and consulting, communication and computer systems, engineering marketing, pre-law, human factors, international business, nondestructive testing and evaluation, engineering administration, and control systems. (See complete list on following pages.) Additionally, General Engineering students may pursue all University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus and college minors, as well as dual majors and dual degrees, with a minimum of extra course work by counting that work toward course credits for a secondary field of concentration.
The educational objectives of the General Engineering curriculum, reflected in the Department of Industrial and Systems Enterprise Engineering mission statement, are to:
- Prepare students with the innovative engineering, design, problem-solving, and business skills needed to develop and bring to market competitive products and services for the benefit of society;
- Develop the character, self-reliance, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills of its students through a high degree of choice, involvement, and responsibility for their education;
- Engage in leading-edge, interdisciplinary research, and service to industry, the state, and the country, and
- Provide high-quality, state-of-the-art courses of service to the college, the university, and the community at large.
The educational outcomes associated with meeting the objectives of the program are listed in the College of Engineering description.
The curriculum requires 131 hours for graduation. The Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering web site contains detailed information about all aspects of the curriculum and opportunities within the department.
Suggested Sequence
First year
| Hours | First Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | CHEM 102—General Chemistry I |
| 1 | CHEM 103—General Chemistry Lab I |
| 0 | ENG 100—Engineering Lecture |
| 1 | GE 100—Intro to General Engineering |
| 3-4 | GE 101—Engineering
Graphics & Design or RHET 105–Principles of Composition 1 |
| 4 | MATH 221—Calculus I2 |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities3 |
| 15-16 | Total |
| Hours | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| 4 | ECE 110—Intro Elec & Comp Engrg |
| 2 | MATH 225—Introductory Matrix Theory |
| 3 | MATH 231—Calculus II |
| 4 | PHYS 211—Univ Physics, Mechanics |
| 3-4 | RHET 105—Principles
of Composition or GE 101–Engineering Graphics & Design1 |
| 16-17 | Total |
Second year
| Hours | First Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | CS 101—Intro to Computing, Eng & Sci |
| 1 | GE 161—Intro to Business Side of Eng |
| 4 | MATH 241—Calculus III |
| 4 | PHYS 212—Univ Physics, Elec & Mag |
| 3 | TAM 211—Statics |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities3 |
| 18 | Total |
| Hours | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | GE 330—OR Meth for Profit & Value Eng |
| 3 | MATH 385—Intro Differential Equations |
| 2 | PHYS 214—Univ Physics, Quantum Phys |
| 3 | TAM 212—Introductory Dynamics |
| 3 | TAM 251—Introductory Solid Mechanics |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities3 |
| 17 | Total |
Third year
| Hours | First Semester |
|---|---|
| 2 | ECE 211—Topics Analog Ckts & Systems |
| 3 | GE 310—Intro to General Eng Design |
| 4 | GE 320—Introductory Control Systems |
| 3 | Secondary field of concentration elective4 |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities3 |
| 15 | Total |
| Hours | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | GE 311—Engineering Design Analysis |
| 1 | GE 312—Instrumentation and Test Lab |
| 3 | GE 331—Analyt Methods for Uncertainty |
| 3 | GE 424—State Space Desgn Meth in Cntl |
| 3 | Secondary field of concentration elective4 |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities3 |
| 16 | Total |
Fourth year
| Hours | First Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | GE 400—Engineering Law5 |
| 4 | TAM 335—Introductory Fluid Mechanics |
| 3 | Design elective6 |
| 3 | Engineering science elective7 |
| 3 | Secondary field of concentration elective4 |
| 16 | Total |
| Hours | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| 0 | GE 490—General Engineering Seminar |
| 3 | GE 494—Project Design, I |
| 2 | GE 495—Project Design, II |
| 3 | Secondary field of concentration elective4 |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities3 |
| 6 | Free electives |
| 17 | Total |
1. RHET 105 may be taken in the first or second semester of the first year as authorized. The alternative is GE 101.
2. MATH 220—Calculus may be substituted, with four of the five credit hours applying toward the degree. MATH 220 is appropriate for students with no background in calculus.
3. Each student must satisfy the 18-hour social sciences and humanities requirements of the College of Engineering, including ECON 102 or 103, and satisfy the campus general education requirements for social sciences and humanities. It is highly recommended that ECON 102 or 103 be taken before the fourth semester.
4. To be selected from lists established by the department or by petition to the department.
5. Satisfies the General Education Advanced Composition requirement.
6. To be selected from the list of Design Electives established by the department.
7. To be selected from the list of Engineering Science Electives established by the department.
Secondary Fields of Concentration for the Undergraduate Curriculum in General Engineering
The secondary field requires a minimum of 12 hours of coursework. Secondary fields of concentration are of two types: preapproved and customized. Preapproved fields have designated titles and a specified list of courses, from which several may be selected. Approval for the substitution of a course for one on the specified list may be requested via a petition form submitted to the department. Customized secondary fields of concentration may be created to achieve goals in areas not provided by preapproved fields. To do this, a suitable title and all the courses must be petitioned for acceptance by the department. Petition approval is based on the merit of the secondary field and the coherence of the courses within it relative to the student's goals.
Pursuit of campus or college minors or completion of James Scholar contracts may be integrated with customized secondary fields of concentration in the General Engineering curriculum. Courses taken may be applied to both the minor or contract and to the secondary field. This may also be done for coursework applying to a second major in engineering or a dual degree in another college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
For an explanation of procedures to declare secondary fields of concentration and petitions associated with them, consult the chief advisor of the department or the department web site.
Preapproved Secondary Fields of Concentration
Preapproved secondary fields are listed below. This list is subject to change. For the most up-to-date version and the courses specified within each secondary field, consult the department web site.
In several instances below, the following course substitutions may be used interchangeably to comply with prerequisites of specified courses:
- CEE 202, ECE 413, GE 331, IE 300, STAT 400/MATH 463
- CEE 201, GE 330, IE 310
- MSE 406/ME 330, TAM 324/CEE 300
- ECE 486, GE 320, ME 340
Students may petition to the department for inclusion of a course in the secondary fields listed below. The most likely classes to be accepted are nonpermanent and experimental offerings relevant to the various fields. See a current list of these.
- Automotive Engineering
- Bioengineering1
- Business Systems Integration and Consulting
- Civil Engineering Structures
- Communications and Computer Systems
- Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM)
- Computer Science 1
- Construction
- Control Systems
- Engineering Administration
- Engineering Marketing
- Environmental Quality
- Manufacturing Engineering 1
- Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation
- Operations Research
- Quality Control
- Rehabilitation Engineering
- Robotics
- Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
1. Students fulfilling the corresponding College of Engineering Minor may simultaneously complete the requirements of this General Engineering secondary field of concentration.
Customized Secondary Fields
The following list contains examples of titles for additional secondary fields of concentration that have been approved as customized fields. The most up-to-date list of titles used in customized secondary fields of concentration may be found at the department web site. Additional titles beyond those listed may be proposed.
Customized secondary fields differ from preapproved ones in that no sets of specified courses to choose from have been predefined. For all customized secondary fields of concentration, a course list must be constructed and submitted for approval by the department.
- Accountancy
- Acoustics
- Agricultural Engineering (or other engineering discipline)
- Agronomy
- Animal Science
- Applied Mathematics
- Applied Statistics
- Astronomy
- Audio Engineering
- Aviation
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Cinematography
- Circuit Analysis and Design
- Economics
- Energy
- Entrepreneurship
- Finance
- Finite Element Analysis
- Fluid Dynamics
- Food Science
- Geography
- Heat Transfer
- History of Engineering, Science, and Technology
- Human Factors
- Industrial Design
- Industrial Psychology and Organizational Behavior
- Insurance and Actuarial Science
- Integrated Engineering and Industrial Design
- International Business
- Japanese (or any other language)
- Landscape Architecture
- Machine Design
- Mechatronics
- Meteorology
- Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)
- Mining and Geological Engineering
- Philosophy
- Political Science
- Power Systems
- Pre-Dentistry
- Pre-Law
- Pre-Medicine
- Pre-Veterinary Science
- Railroad Engineering
- Solar Energy
- Technical Journalism
- Technology and Management
- Telecommunications
- Thermal Science
- Thermodynamics
- Vehicle Dynamics