Virginia Tech® home

ABET information

Stack of books

Accreditation (ABET)

The Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) degree program at Virginia Tech is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org, under the commission’s General Criteria and the Program Criteria for Mechanical and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.

Program Educational Objectives

Within a few years after graduating from the Mechanical Engineering Department at Virginia Tech, the graduates will attain:

  • Positions where they utilize fundamental technical knowledge and skills in mathematics, science, and engineering to analyze and solve problems, and apply these abilities to generate new knowledge, ideas or products in academia, industry or government.
  • Practical experience and organizational skills, enabling them to interact and communicate effectively (written and/or oral) with others (e.g., supervisor, client and/or team) with regard to the diversity of the stakeholders involved in their work.
  • Roles of increasing responsibility leading to leadership positions that benefit themselves, their employers and society.
  • Skills in life-long learning through: (a) self-study, (b) continuing education/short courses or workshops, and/or (c) formal graduate level education, as well as skills to motivate and encourage co-workers to also pursue lifelong learning.
  • Roles in professional and personal life where they demonstrate professional and ethical responsibilities toward peers, employers, and society and follow these precepts in their daily lives.

Student Learning Outcomes

We expect our students to have the following skills, knowledge, and behaviors by the time of their graduation. We want our students to obtain:

  1. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
  2. An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
  3. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
  4. An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
  5. An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
  6. An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
  7. An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.