facilities
Department Labs and Spaces
Location: 192-135
Courses Associated with Lab: ME 161, ME 328, ME 410, ME 412, ME 428/429/430, ME 599
Purpose of Lab: Support composites, experimental mechanics, design courses, and senior design project courses in addition to applied research in structures and composites. The lab also supports student team and club design efforts for both testing and fabrication.
Students per Section: 12-15.
Floor Space: 1198 sq. ft.
ME 161 Introduction to Composite Materials Manufacturing
Introduce students to safety rules, how to operate composite manufacturing equipment, and associated machinery. Also, introduce students to composite materials with different manufacturing processes for various composite materials and testing.
ME 328 Design for Strength and Stiffness
Support testing for a design validation with theoretical analysis done in their classes.
ME 412 Composite Materials Analysis and Design
Introduce students to manufacturing and testing of composites through application. Reinforce analysis and design learned in lecture. Learn and apply basic ASTM material characterization tests.
ME 410 Experimental Methods in Mechanical Design I
Introduce students to bonded strain gage preparation, installation, and applications. Test photoelastic specimens in torsion and tensile test machines.
ME 428, 429, 430 Senior Design Project
Support testing of senior projects that involve material characterization, structural proof, and fatigue testing. Support fabrication efforts for senior projects that require use of advanced composite materials.
ME 599 Design Projects (thesis)
Support graduate research in the area of composites and structures. Multidisciplinary Team Lab Facilities Supermileage Vehicle, Formula SAE, SAE MiniBaja, SAMPE, GSSM, Hyperloop, Prove Lab and ASCE steel Bridge teams have all utilized this lab in their competition efforts with testing materials of structure and molding of composite structure.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
2’x4’ Autoclave, 6’x8’x6’ walk in curing oven, two tensile testers, torsion tester, low-velocity impact tester, composites diamond saw, freezers for composite material storage, strong floor for testing structures, actuators/weights for structural loading, load cells, displacement transducers, strain and photo-elastic instrumentation, and data acquisition systems
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
LabView, Excel, Matlab, Cure Software
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
Test machines, manufacturing equipment, also includes automated data acquisition. Advanced materials and processing techniques. Current computational tools are composite processing or cure software for automated autoclave, curing oven, and LabView for test data acquisition.
Location: 13-102, 13-103
Course Associated with Lab: ME-419 (Advanced Control Systems) and ME-418 (Implementation of Mechanical Controls).
Purpose of Lab: This laboratory is an integral part of the Mechanical Control Systems course in which students apply the theory learned in the classroom to the modeling and control of real physical systems. The systems are similar to, and use many of the same components as, the systems with which students will be working after graduation.
Students per Section: 16
Number of Student Stations: 8 electro-mechanical systems, 4 electro-pneumatic/electro-hydraulic systems, 4 tank level systems
Floor Space: 943 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
- Hydraulic and pneumatic position control systems,
- Electromechanical servo control hardware systems,
- Fluid level control systems,
- LDS Focus multi-channel dynamic signal analyzers,
- Agilent 54622A digital oscilloscopes,
- 14 PCs with National Instruments Data Acquisition Cards, LabVIEW and Matlab/Simulink with Real-
- Time Windows Target, and
- DSpace ACE Kit real-time rapid prototype system for advanced control and algorithm development.
- motor DC motor control units with STM32 Nucleo microcontrollers
- pendulum control units with with STM32 Nucleo microcontrollers
- Rigol Power supplies
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
Matlab/Simulink, LabVIEW, Thonny, Jupyter Notebook, Microsoft Office
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
Students start with a two-week exercise in modeling using Simulink/Matlab which they continue to use throughout the course. All of the remaining physical labs have the same basic purpose: understand the interconnection of complex multidomain systems, develop physically based dynamic models, measure the system response and design a controller to improve the closed-loop performance. Students use a combination of classical analytical control design methods and modern numerical methods to model systems and design controllers. Students learn to use an oscilloscope, volt meters and signal analyzers. Significant instruction is devoted in the lab to the practical aspects of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control such as saturation and noise. The PID controller is important because most undergraduate students working in this field will most likely use a PID controller for industrial applications.
Location: 13-126
Course Associated with Lab: ME 444
Purpose of Lab: Internal combustion engine design and performance analysis laboratory course (tech elective), graduate and undergraduate research
Students per Section: 16
Number of Student Stations: 6 labs
Floor Space: 1865 sq. ft. (shared)
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
12 engines, 3 electric/motoring dynamometers, 2 Eddy Current dynamometers, electrospinning setup, self-folding of shape memory polymer setup
Engines available: 6.0 Perkins diesel, Hatz diesel, CFR gas, Glass gas (x2), Honda GX690 gas (x2),
Kohler gas (x2), TDI alcohol, TDI HCCI, and JFS gas turbine
Dynos available: Magtrol eddy current, Test Cell eddy current, G.E. DC, CFR AC, and Glass DC
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
AVL Indimeter, WinTEC3, AutoGas Emissions Analyzer, Hypercell, Ricardo Wave
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
Students take data and analyze the data to present in lab reports. Analysis closely matches the analytical derivation in class. By matching analytical performance derivation with experimental performance results, the students have the opportunity to understand specific aspects of the design of internal combustion engines. Graduate and undergraduate researchers investigate the applications of multifunctional materials, focusing on shape memory polymers and electro spun advanced polymers.
Location: 192-102
Course Associated with Lab: Fluid Mechanics II (ME 347)
Purpose of Lab: Reinforce concepts learned in Fluid Mechanics I (ME 341) and 347
Students per Section: 16
Number of Student Stations: 8
Floor Space: 3653 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
The lab, with a footprint of 3653 ft2, is divided into four separate rooms. The main room is the open lab space that is divided between the liquid systems, the gas systems, and the student preparation/work area. It is the primary location for student work related to the ME 347 laboratory course. In one corner of the lab is the equipment/storage room. The other corner contains a project room for student and faculty research projects. In the back of the project room is a smaller storage and setup room. Here is a list of the equipment in the lab space:
Liquid Systems
- A Pipe Loss Measurement Lab, developed at Cal Poly, to demonstrate laminar and turbulent pipe flow.
- A 1,000 gallon freestanding water tank for submersible and other studies.
- A 10,000 gallon L-shaped underground pool, to supply nearly constant-temperature water to the liquid systems (currently unfilled).
- A 1,200 gallon overhead tank, to supply 15 feet of water head for turbines and cavitation experiments (currently unfilled).
- An Armfield 2.2 hp Francis-type hydraulic turbine (currently inoperable).
- An Armfield multi-pump test rig to allow students to measure pump performance curves for centrifugal and axial machines. Two centrifugal pumps allow for series and parallel configurations (currently on order to be delivered Summer/Fall 2025).
- Metrology instruments for fluid property measurements that include: a cone-and-plate rheometer (for viscosity measurements of Newtonian liquids and viscoelastic measurements of non-Newtonian liquids), a Wilhelmy plate tensiometer (for surface tension measurement), and a goniometer (for contact angle measurement).
Gas Systems
- An open-circuit, indraft-type variable-speed wind tunnel with a 2-ft square test section capable of 110 mph used for vehicle aerodynamic design, lift/drag studies on objects, and student team projects like the Human Powered Vehicle, Wind Power, and SAE BAJA.
- An open-circuit, indraft-type, variable-speed wind tunnel with a 1-ft square test section capable of 110 mph used for small model studies.
- A Tecquipment (TQ) Air Flow Bench study of boundary layer flows and flow around a rectangular bend at low air velocities (includes a manometer board).
- A 3-inch air flowmeter test rig, developed at Cal Poly.
- An axial fan and industrial ventilation system to study fan performance and real HVAC systems, developed at Cal Poly.
- An Armfield compressible flow experiment to demonstrate the performance characteristics of compressible converging-diverging nozzles and pipe flow.
- An optical table with two Schlieren systems to visualize variable-density flows.
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
The lab is currently set up as a ‘bring your own device’ lab for general student work. Through the university they have access to software including MS Office (Word, Excel), FLUENT, Matlab, and EES. Several computers are equipment specific and have specialized software for the operation of those instruments.
Opportunities for students to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
In the laboratory accompanying the course ME 347 Fluids II, students perform experiments in the areas of fluid mechanics which reinforce the basic principles learned in the two required fluid mechanics lecture courses. Several techniques for measuring fluid velocity and volumetric flowrates are used. Basic wind tunnel testing is performed that incorporates several techniques for measuring drag. In addition, fundamental concepts including incompressible pipe flow and compressible flow in a converging-diverging nozzle are explored. Two Schlieren systems are available to visualize variable-density flows. Finally, experiments that obtain performance curves for turbo-machinery are included. The Mechanical Engineering Fluid Mechanics Laboratory opened in January 2007. The department took this opportunity to upgrade experiments and modernize the undergraduate lab experience. The facility is regularly used by undergraduate and graduate students for both project work (senior projects, club projects, MS thesis projects) and course work beyond the ME 347 class. These include:
- Undergraduate Fluid Mechanics
- Turbomachinery, a technical elective
- Wind Energy, a technical elective
- Graduate Fluid Mechanics
In addition, the laboratory facility has hosted numerous sponsored industrial projects that involve both students and faculty and has frequently been used as part of students’ MS thesis work. Hence, this laboratory not only serves the students, but also fosters collaboration between Cal Poly, the engineering community, and industry.
Location: 13-124
Courses Associated with Lab:
- ME 359 Fundamentals of HVAC Systems
- ME 455 Introduction to Building Energy Modeling
- ME 456 HVAC Air and Water Distribution System Design
- ME 457 Refrigeration Principles and Design
- ME 458 Building Heating and Cooling Loads
- ME 459/460 HVAC Senior Design Project I/II
Purpose of Lab: To teach engineering principles related to heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R).
Students per Section: Approximately 20 (varies)
Number of Student Stations: Varies
Floor Space: 3895 sq. ft. (shared)
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
- Hot water distribution system, including condensing boiler (150,000 Btu/hr), buffer tank, secondary hot water pump, expansion tank.
- Chilled water distribution system, including air-cooled chiller (10 tons), primary chilled water pump with variable speed drive, buffer tank.
- Air handling unit (2000 cfm), including hot water coil (90,000 Btu/hr), chilled water coil (60,000 Btu/hr), supply and return fans with variable speed drives, economizer.
- Fume hood exhaust system (650 cfm)
- Ductless split system (18,000 Btu/hr cooling)
- Packaged rooftop heat pump (24,000 Btu/hr cooling, 800 cfm)
- Condensing gas fired furnace (37,000 Btu/hr)
- Non-condensing gas fired furnace (35,000 Btu/hr) with cooling coil (24,000 Btu/hr)
The lab utilizes a Siemens Building Automation System that controls and/or monitors the following equipment from the list above: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8.
ME 457 utilizes the lab to design and construct refrigeration/freezer units. Students design and build the evaporator section and throttling device and integrate with existing condensing unit. The apparatus is tested to determine whether it meets the design specifications. Students are introduced to fabrication techniques and refrigerant charging procedures.
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
Students can access the following software on their own devices: Microsoft Office, HVAKR, AutoCAD, DesignBuilder, Engineering Equation Solver (EES), Desigo (Siemens Building Automation Software)
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
The lab has been remodeled in 2011 and all of the equipment listed above is from 2011. Computer software is latest versions, commonly used in industry.
Location: 192-132
Course Associated with Lab: ME 236
Purpose of Lab: Students per Section: 18
Number of Student Stations: 11
Floor Space: 1004 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
Tables, chairs, white board and instructor workstation connected to video projector, doc cam, and web cam for distance teaching.
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
ME 236 is a required sophomore-level course in the mechanical engineering program. The experiments performed in the laboratory cover basic techniques for measuring common physical quantities such as temperature, pressure, and strain. These measurements are used for data analysis such as estimating uncertainty and regression analysis for calibration. Students are also taught how to present their data through effective design of graphs and tables, and describe their experiments and results in proper laboratory report format.
Location: 192-116
Courses Associated with Lab: ME 305 plus ME 326 and ME 428, 429, 430, and 599 (Simulation of Mechanisms Laboratory, Senior projects, and graduate thesis projects)
Purpose of Lab: Hands-on exposure to mechatronics hardware
Students per Section: 20
Number of Student Stations: 20
Floor Space: 900 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
Digital oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, computers and an integrated software development environment. In summer 2026, all 22 computers were replaced with new Dell PCs to support the appropriate software.
Software Available to students in the lab:
Standard compliers and assemblers and an integrated development environment including debuggers, as well as Matlab and Simulink.
Opportunities for students to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
Students program microcontrollers interfaced to a variety of electrical and electromechanical devices to meet real-time performance objectives. In doing so, students learn real-time programming and multiple techniques for interfacing microcontrollers to a variety of sensors and actuators that are typical of modern products. The microcontrollers used are representative of modern microcontrollers, and the techniques learned are extremely important to modern product design.
To design, implement, test, and debug their programs:
1. Students must be proficient with assembly language and the associated development tools in order to design, write and debug real-time software.
2. Students must be able to use multimeters and oscilloscopes to test their programs, all of which involve measurement and control of physical systems.
3. Students must be sufficiently skilled with documentation to write clear and concise engineering reports.
In ME 326 Intermediate Dynamics, instructors use the twenty computers in this room for office hours and for tutoring students. In Senior project (ME 428, 429, and 430) and graduate thesis (ME 599) courses, students are encouraged to make use of the facilities of this laboratory to implement and test their projects.
Location: 192-118
Courses Associated with Lab: ME 405, ME 507, and ME 410 plus ME 428, 429, 430, and 599 (Senior and
graduate projects)
Purpose of Lab: Allow students to build, program, and test mechatronic systems
Students per Section: 18
Number of Student Stations: 20
Floor Space: 900 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
Digital storage oscilloscopes, power supplies, multimeters, and soldering stations.
Software Available to students in the lab:
Embedded development toolset, including Python and C/C++ development environments and downloaders. Standard web and office software is also provided as well as numerical analysis software (Jupyter and Matlab).
Identify the opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
In ME 405 and ME 507 students design, build, program, and test systems which include embedded microcontrollers. Because the students build functioning systems in these courses, they gain proficiency with the tools in order to successfully complete their projects:
- Students must be proficient with Python (ME 405) and C/C++ (ME 507) development tools to write and debug software
- Students must be able to use voltmeters and oscilloscopes to test their projects, all of which involve measurement and control of physical systems
- Students use printed circuit CAD software to design hardware in ME 507
- Students must be sufficiently skilled with documentation and presentation skills to write reports and deliver presentations
In Senior project (ME 428, 429, and 430) and graduate thesis (ME 599) courses, students are encouraged to make use of the facilities of this laboratory to implement and test their projects. In Experimental Stress Analysis (ME 410), students use the laboratory equipment to connect and test strain gauges, accelerometers, IMU’s and other sensors as part of the course laboratory component.
Location: 192-116 (shared with Mechatronics Laboratory)
Course Associated with Lab: ME 423 Robotics: Fundamentals and Applications
Purpose of Lab: Hands-on experimentation with robotic-related equipment
Students per Section: 15
Number of Student Stations: 5 stations during each lab, 10 different experiments.
Floor Space: 900 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
6 Quanser Q-Arm educational 4 DoF robot arms, stereoscopic vision systems
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
MATLAB, Simulink, Python, ROS
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
Students use robots and vision systems. Students also use machine-learning-based vision packages for object identification and localization. All these are modern engineering tools. Students use these tools to do design their own robotic systems.
Location: 13-203
Courses Associated with Lab: Heat Transfer Laboratory (ME 343)
Purpose of Lab: Instruction in measurement, data analysis, thermodynamics, and heat transfer
Students per Section: 16
Number of Student Stations: 5+
Floor Space: 1920 sq. ft. (shared)
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
Polytropic expansion experiments, boiling experiment, refrigeration systems, heat exchangers, evaporative cooling experiment, data acquisition systems, bomb calorimeters, evaporative cooler, instrumentation (thermocouples, pressure transducers, Pitot-static probes) strain gauge apparatus.
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
Excel, Word, LabView, Personal DaqView, Tracer DAQ, EES, and additional general-purpose software such as Adobe Acrobat
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
ME 343 is a required, junior-level course in the mechanical engineering program. The experiments performed in the laboratory cover both thermodynamics and heat transfer. Additionally, they include to some degree the closely related field of fluid mechanics. Thus, the prerequisites are Thermodynamics I (ME 302) and Fluid Mechanics I (ME 341). This laboratory provides an opportunity for students to rediscover, integrate, and apply the material they have learned in these courses. Initial experiments concentrate on basic techniques for investigating thermodynamic processes and measuring material properties. The remaining experiments concentrate on applications relating to energy conversion, heat sinks, and heat exchangers.
Location: 13-101
Course Associated with Lab: ME 318, ME 517, ME 518
Purpose of Lab: Analytical/Software Simulation analysis and Experimental measurements and corroboration of Structural and Machinery Vibrations.
Students per Section: 16
Number of Student Stations: Varies with experiment. For all except one lab (where there are four students per group), the group size can be kept to two in ME 318, ME 517 and ME518 courses.
Floor Space: 1476 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
4 Bently 3701/44 ADAPT Aeroderivative Monitors, 4 Cantilever Beam models. 4 Boeing 747 Aircraft Wing models, 4 Saturn V Rocket models, 2 B-2 Spirit aircraft models, 2 Taipei-101 Tuned Mass Damper models, 6 Spectrum analyzers, 5 Small capacity Electrodynamic shake tables, 4 modal hammers, 4 rotor kits, 17 PC’s, 2 Large Capacity Electrodynamic shake tables (One in Vertical configuration and the other in Horizontal configuration as a slip table), 1 Hydraulic Shake table, 1 Data acquisition Shaker Controller, multiple proximity probes, accelerometers, load cells, 8 digital oscilloscopes with in-built function generator functionality.
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
Bently System1, ADAMS, Excel, Microsoft Office, Matlab, Adre, Solidworks, Abaqus, Crystal Instruments Shaker Controller Suite, Internet.
Opportunities for students to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
The ongoing support from Bently Nevada and Solar Turbines has been crucial in fostering a dynamic academic environment. The lab’s state-of-the-art hardware and software closely mirror real-world applications. Notably, Bently’s System1 is widely used in industrial data acquisitions for rotating machinery. The lab experience comprises of Analytical/Software Simulation work done in the pre-labs and connecting it with the Experimental work done in the labs. Students are trained to be able to set up and use all of the equipment above. Students are also taken through the experience of analyzing the results and connecting the Analytical/Software Simulation results with Experimental results. Students use several different DAQ equipment such as; accelerometers, shakers, oscilloscopes, and spectrum analyzers nearly every week to perform lab experiments. A lab practical final at the end of the course ensures students proficiency with Theory as well as the lab equipment.
Location: 192-120
Courses Associated with Lab: ME 129, ME 328, ME 329
Purpose of Lab: Lab has tables and chairs suitable for drafting and group design work. The lab is used predominantly for non-computer intensive design and drafting classes, as well as lecture activities.
Students per Section: 24
Number of Student Computer Stations: 4 dell loaner laptops.
Floor Space: Approximately 1353 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
Soft-top (Borco) tables, chairs, instructor workstation, video projector, doc cam
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
Students must bring their own devices to this lab space. In this case, students have access to all university-licensed software, either through their VPN or downloaded to their computers.
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
In ME 129, Introduction to Mechanical Engineering II, the students learn how to produce engineering drawings concentrating on manual techniques. In ME 328, students learn how to use different solid modeling techniques in a range of engineering scenarios.
Location: 192-131
Course Associated with Lab: ME 328, ME 329, ME 130, ME 251, ME 440, ME 228, ME 428/ME 429/ME 430
Purpose of Lab: This lab has convertible tables where the computer monitor/tabletop flips up or down depending on the class needs. The computer workstations have CAD and computational software. The lab is used predominantly for design and CAD classes with varying degrees of computer usage.
Students per Section: 30
Number of Student Stations: 30
Floor Space: 1404 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
30 convertible computer tables, computers, Chairs, Color Laser Printer, abundant white boards and instructor workstation with video projector, doc camera and web cam for distance teaching.
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
Adobe Acrobat Professional, AutoCAD Revit, Abaqus, Adams, Basic Stamp, CostWorks, Design Builder, EES, Fusion 360, Maple, Mathcad, Matlab, Minitab, Microsoft Office with Project and Visio, TAP 32, Trace 700, True Grid, SolidWorks, Workbench.
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
In the design labs (ME 328, ME 329, ME 428) we make use of computational software (Excel, Matlab, EES, Abacus) as a design tool. Also, when the lab is doing group design activities or conceptualization, the computer monitors fold down into the desk, providing clear tabletops for student work. Introduction to Mechanical Engineering III (ME 130) and Introduction to Detailed Design with Solid Modeling (ME 251) instruct the students on how to produce good engineering drawings and create solid model layouts using SolidWorks.
Location: 192-134
Course Associated with Lab (in order of preference): ME 440, ME 130, ME 251, ME 328, ME 329, ME 456, ME 458, ME 428/ME 429/ME 430, ME 404, ME 228
Purpose of Lab: Lab has computer workstations with CAD and computational software. The lab is used predominantly for design and CAD classes.
Students per Section: 32
Number of Student Stations: 32
Floor Space: 1296 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
Computers, Chair, Tables, instructor workstation with video projector, web cam and doc camera for distance teaching.
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
Adobe Acrobat Professional, AutoCAD Revit, Abaqus, Adams, Basic Stamp, CostWorks, Design Builder, EES, Fusion 360, Maple, Mathcad, Matlab, Minitab, Microsoft Office with Project and Visio, Trace 700, True Grid, SolidWorks, and Workbench.
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
In the design labs (ME 328, ME 329, ME 440) we make use of computational software (Excel, Matlab, EES, Abacus) as a design tool. Introduction to Mechanical Engineering III, ME 130, and Introduction to Detailed Design with Solid Modeling, ME 251, instruct the students on how to produce good engineering drawings and create solid model layouts using Solidworks.
Location: 13-106, 13-107, 13-108
Course Associated with Lab: ME 129, ME 428, 429, 430
Purpose of Lab: To provide group design space
Students per Section: 17
Number of Student Stations: 17+1 instructor’s computer connected to video projector.
Floor Space: each approximately 680 sq. ft.
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
This lab space is available for use as a lecture space, or as group design space. Students have the use of tables and whiteboards, to collaborate and discuss design ideas in Senior Design Project classes and Introduction to Mechanical Engineering.
Machine Shops
Visit machineshops.calpoly.edu for more information.
Location: 04-100
Courses Associated with Lab: ME 128, 129, 134, 264, 234, 328, 329, 405, 410, 428, 429, 430, 441, 481,
507, 509, 559, IME 101, BMED 212, 455, MATE 110 and others upon request.
Purpose of Lab: Interdisciplinary Fabrication facility to support student projects in various classes and club
instructionally related activities and available to all majors.
Students per Section: Capability of up to ~1200 students qualified to use the facility.
Number of Student Stations: ~60 (student capacity is limited to 100 persons at a time).
Floor Space: 17,000 sq. ft.
Primary Laboratory Equipment:
Machine Shop:
Manual Digital Readout Mills, Manual Digital Readout Lathes, CNC Mills, CNC Lathe, Bandsaws (horizontal and vertical), Cold Saw, Surface Grinder, Drill Presses, Hardness Tester, Granite Surface Plate, Compressed Air, Parts Washer, Arbor Press, Hydraulic Press.
Grinding Shop:
Grinders, Polishers, Wire Wheels, Sanders (disc and belt), Abrasive Tubing Notcher, Cutoff Saws.
Weld Shop:
Welders (Oxy-acetylene, spot welder, stud welder, MIG and TIG welders), Optical Jig, Plasma Cutter, Tubing Bender, Sand blaster, Bead blaster, Heat-Treating Oven, Professional Bicycle Frame CNC Large Bed Routing Machine, Sanders, Commercial Dust Collector, Saw-StopTable Saw, Band Saw, Compound Miter Saw, Table Router, Scroll Saw, Sanders (disc and belt).
Composites Shop:
Large Paint Booth, Vacuum Pumps, Tile Saw.
Sheet Metal Shop:
Shears, Brakes, Hole Punch, Corner Punch, Metal Roller, Flanging/Beading Tool.
Tool Crib:
Extensive Hand and Power Tools, Precision Measuring tools, Extensive Safety Equipment, Haz-Mat Area, SDS Program, Lock-Out/Tag-Out Program, Flammables Storage Lockers, Computer for logging students in and tracking user statistics and inventory.
Individual and Club Project Areas:
Lockable Storage and Work Areas, Large and Small Assembly/work Tables, Chassis-Building Table, Scrap and Raw Materials Storage.
Software Available to Students in the Lab:
3 computers available for design and on-site modifications of CAD and CAM programs during construction, CATIA, SolidWorks, CAMWorks, Fusion360, MS Office, Internet access for product research, Extensive Book, Tape, CD and DVD Library.
Opportunities students have to learn the use of modern engineering tools:
Metalworking Equipment – Students learn to choose appropriate manufacturing processes and equipment, do actual set-up, dimensioning, manufacturing tolerances, determine sequential manufacturing processes, fabrication techniques, process and design problem solving in a real-world, real time situation. Interfacing CAD drawings with the manufacturing of actual parts via CAM programs, redesign on the fly, limitations and advantages of CAD/CAM with actual fabrication processes in producing a functional finished product. Interfacing with other labs possessing CNC machinery, rapid prototyping and testing equipment.
Location: 197-114
In 2008, through the ME department, John and Connie Nielsen generously donated $240,000 to fund the creation of a new machine shop for student use. Combining that with the Haas Entrustment Program, the Mustang ’60 Shop was born. The shop itself is around 7000 square feet of project-use equipment and tooling. There is a fully stocked tool crib, wood shop, and metal shop, as well as three Haas CNC machines, a large Flow Mach 2 waterjet, welding area, and a myriad of sheet metal working and finishing equipment. This includes painting, powder coating and heat treating. The shop is specifically set up to perform light to medium duty machining as well as basic to medium level woodworking.
This facility caters to any student’s fabrication needs and ideas while also providing a low barrier to entry. The Shop fulfills these requirements while also providing the state of the art in safety equipment and training. The Mustang ’60 Shop utilizes the same safety program, training system and Student Shop tech Staff that the Aero Hangar Shop provides to its users.
Other Facilities:
Accompanying the Shop work space, the building also contains short-term student-use space. There are currently two individual rooms that have been equipped with storage and 13 workspaces for student project groups to check out. These spaces are primarily for a project that has an end date and not for permanent residency by clubs or groups. There are also several hundred standard lockers, large cages and a large breezeway in which students can store project items. All of these spaces are available to the groups free of charge. Our success at sponsorship has also allowed many technological improvements over the years, including the donation and purchasing of new equipment like the Haas machines. The shops also are an active IRA organization and have additionally added a new makerspace, the Mustang Makerspace under its ownership umbrella. The Mustang Makerspace will cater to the majority of 3D printing in the college and beyond. There are 48 3D printers for both walk-in use as well as email submissions for printing. this facility also houses 4 CO2 laser cutters, 5 sewing machines and an embroidery machine. All access will be free of charge and supported by IRA and sponsorship.
Self-Sustaining Attributes:
Not only was the initial Shop outfitting paid for by a donation, but a year later, the Nielsens also donated $1 million in the form of an endowment to employ the full time staff (FTS) position required to run the Shop. Not only has the FTS position been endowed, but several other companies have stepped up and either created endowments or sponsorships to pay for most of the student technicians who help other students accomplish their project goals. There is also an endowment in place to help fund shop purchasing, such as consumables and equipment. Due to these sponsorships and CENG support, the shops have also been able to add another new FTS technician to help oversee the operations of Mustang ’60 as well as the Mustang Makerspace facilities.
Haas Automation:
From the beginning, Haas Automation has been a generous partner in the Mustang ’60 Machine Shop. In the beginning, there were three entrusted Haas machines in the shop, one CNC Lathe and two CNC Milling machines. The entrustment program allows the shop to operate and train students on Haas machinery and then roughly every three years, those machines are traded up for the newer models. Since the Entrustment program began, the shops have been able to buy a TL1 Lathe, a Super Mini Mill 2 for the Hangar. a VF2SS, a VF3SS and a VF4SS model Milling Machines at a generous discount from Haas, using mostly donated funds with some additional support from the ME Department and the Dean’s office. Currently there is a brand new entrusted UMC 350 at the Hangar and Mustang ’60 is completely full of purchased machines. The VF4 is the largest Machine Haas has ever placed in entrustment to date. Between Mustang ’60 and the Hangar, there are six Haas Mills and two Haas Lathes for the students to use.