EE and ME – Together Again

An unfortunate premise is that neither the undergraduate Electrical Engineering (EE) nor the Mechanical Engineering (ME) degree programs can accommodate within their curriculum substantive ME or EE courses. This appears to be so because both the EE and ME disciplines are rigid within their threads and prerequisites. Yet there is a natural intersection between EE and ME for professional opportunities in the 21 st century. To break this seeming impasse an interdisciplinary program of study between EE and ME has been initiated as one aspect of a General Engineering (BSE) degree with plans of study for Electromechanical Engineering and Energy and Power Engineering. These initiatives for interdisciplinary study between EE and ME have been introduced before but seem to have not been pervasive. Described here is the path that can be taken in the development and the pitfalls to be avoided in establishing such an interdisciplinary Engineering program garnered from the experience.