An Integrated Thermal And Fluids Curriculum

This paper presents the efforts made in our department in implementing an integrated Mechanical Engineering core curriculum, in particular, our first-year experience in the teaching of the integrated thermal and fluids courses. In the traditional curriculum, the study of thermal sciences is categorized into three major subject areas: thermodynamics, heat transfer and fluid mechanics, where they are usually taught as separate entities over three or more semesters. This approach is pedagogically convenient but not necessarily effective since it creates the false impression among the students that the analysis of a thermal system is simply a combination of several loosely related disciplines. The newly designed thermal course-sequence is designed to correct this deficiency by integrating these subjects into a single two-semester course sequence to provide students with a coherent understanding of a complete thermal system. A parallel effort is also underway to combine the traditional thermal and fluid laboratory course into the integrated thermal course. In addition to the emphasis on the introduction of experimental techniques, data analysis methods and enhancement of oral and written communication skills, the new laboratory course will be taught at the same time with the thermal fluids course thus providing the “just-in-time” hands-on experience for students. In summary, our endeavor experience with this wholesale curriculum renovation, including difficulties encountered and suggestions for future improvements, will be discussed in detail.