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From first principles to engineering decisions

University of Arizona · Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

Courses connect governing equations with physical insight, computational tools, and real engineering systems—from thermal processes to safe, intelligent energy storage.

Teaching philosophy

Students learn to move fluently between governing equations, physical interpretation, computational analysis, and engineering decisions.

Fundamentals are developed carefully, then applied to real thermal, mechanical, and energy-storage systems so mathematical tools become a practical language for design and control.

Cutaway piston and turbine illustrating heat-engine thermodynamics

AME 230 — Thermodynamics

Builds the foundations of macroscopic thermodynamics through the laws of energy and entropy, equations of state, and reversible and irreversible processes.

Engineering applications connect properties, processes, and cycles to real thermal systems.

  • Energy and entropy balances
  • Properties and equations of state
  • Reversible and irreversible processes
  • Power and refrigeration cycles
Computational vector fields, wave surfaces, and matrix geometry around a mechanical component

AME 301 — Engineering Analysis

Develops the mathematical tools used to model and interpret engineering systems.

Students connect analytical methods to mechanical, thermal, and dynamical problems involving ordinary and partial differential equations.

  • Linear algebra and eigenvalue problems
  • Fourier series and eigenfunctions
  • Laplace and Fourier transforms
  • Ordinary and partial differential equations
Engineering heat-transfer scene showing conduction, convection, and thermal radiation

AME 432 — Heat Transfer

Examines conduction, convection, and thermal radiation through governing principles, physical interpretation, and engineering design.

Students learn to predict temperature fields and heat-transfer rates, then use those results to evaluate practical thermal systems.

  • Steady and transient conduction
  • Forced and natural convection
  • Thermal radiation
  • Thermal-system design
Battery module with thermal sensors, management electronics, and feedback-control signals

AME 457/557 — Battery Systems and Control

Connects rechargeable-battery operation with the electrochemical, thermal, and control principles that govern cells, modules, and packs.

Undergraduate and graduate students analyze battery models, management strategies, safety limits, and data-informed methods for transportation and energy applications.

  • Cell and module behavior
  • Equivalent-circuit models and state estimation
  • Thermal management and safety
  • Battery-management and feedback control

Research-integrated education

Coursework is strengthened by battery data, computational modeling, laboratory demonstrations, and high-performance computing drawn from active research.

Students see how foundational thermodynamics, engineering analysis, heat transfer, and feedback control converge in real energy-storage systems—and how those connections turn equations into defensible engineering decisions.