Mechanical & Materials Engineering Postbaccalaureate Pathways

The MME Department prides ourselves on our non-traditional student population, which includes a large number of postbaccalaureate and transfer students. Review the information below, as well as the following links for further information.

Transfer Credits

Transfer and post-bac students do not need a transfer evaluation conducted by the MME Department for courses completed at the following community colleges:

  • Chemeketa Community College
  • Clackamas Community College
  • Clark College
  • Mt. Hood Community College
  • Portland Community College

The transfer guide for these colleges can be found here: Local Community College Transfer Guide.

Students who plan to transfer credits from other institutions will need to request a transfer evaluation for all applicable courses in order to establish equivalencies. This can be done by emailing mmedept@pdx.edu or scheduling an advising appointment with the MME Undergraduate Advisor, Dr. Tretheway, via tretdc.youcanbook.me. Students will need to provide syllabi for all courses that will be reviewed.

BSME Seeking Postbacs

Post-bac students do not need to complete general education requirements/university studies (FRINQ/SINQ/Junior Cluster) with the following exceptions:

  • WR 327: Technical Report Writing (unless taken as a part of a prior degree program).
  • BA 306U: Essentials of Finance for Non-Business Majors or EC 314U: Public Private Investment
  • Capstone (ME 491-493)

Students must complete a minimum of 90 credit hours at PSU.

Please note, PSU does not automatically run a transfer analysis on transcripts.  Departmental staff will need to request this action specifically. Postbac course plans are highly individualized and it is possible that some coursework from your initial degree can be applied to the BSME program. Students who completed a degree in a field closely related to mechanical engineering should schedule an appointment with the MME Undergraduate Advisor, Dr. Trethway, to discuss course plan options. Appointments can be scheduled via tretdc.youcanbook.me. Students who have completed a degree in a field that is not closely related to mechanical engineering should schedule an appointment with the Pathway Advisors in MCECS Student Services. Appointments for Pathway Advising can be made via ecsmpadvising.youcanbook.me.

Master's Seeking Post-Bacs

Students interested in taking classes as postbac to prepare for the Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME) or Master of Science in Materials Science Engineering (MSMSE) will need to apply for admission to PSU through Undergraduate Admissions. Once accepted, students will need to send a copy of all unofficial transcripts to the MME Department along with a list of requested classes. This information can be sent to mmedept@pdx.edu. All non-degree seeking postbac students require instructor approval for class registration. Approval will be based on prior coursework and seat availability.

Post-bac students can apply up to 16 credit hours of graduate-level pre-admission coursework to a master's degree if admitted to the graduate program. Pre-admission credits must be approved by the Department and the student must earn a B- or better in the course for it to be considered. Pre-admission coursework does not guarantee admission into the graduate program.

Registration Troubleshooting

It is common for transfer students to receive error messages when attempting to register for classes. The PSU registration system, does not always recognize transferred courses when performing prerequisite checks. If this occurs, please complete the MME Course Override Request Form. Our staff reviews requests with frequency and will be in touch shortly with a response. Be sure to login to your PDX Gmail account to access this form.

Program Prerequisites

  • Experience with scripting languages, particularly Python and C. Students may self-study these topics (See the self-study guide here) or take ECE 102 Engineering Computation and ECE 103 Engineering Programming
  • Current math ability should be at least at Calculus level. Self-study is only an option for review if a student has completed Calculus 1 and 2 in the past. You must take a math placement assessment so we can determine your math level and get registration approval from the Math Department.

Focus Area-specific Bridge Courses

You are required to complete one of the minimum undergraduate-level, focus area-specific bridge courses to be eligible for admission to the Electrical & Computer Engineering Master of Science program.

Bridge Focus Areas

Details about each focus area are listed below.

  • Analog, RF, and Microwave Circuits
  • Computer Architecture and Embedded Systems Engineering
  • Digital IC Design
  • Power Engineering
  • Signal Processing and Machine Learning

Bridge Focus Areas

Potential careers for students focusing on this track: Analog/RF/Microwave Design Engineer, Analog/RF/Microwave Test Engineer, Analog/RF/Microwave Applications Engineer, EDA RF Simulation Applications Engineer
 
Analog Track bridge courses:  

Students who follow this Bridge focus area will be prepared for the Computer Architecture & Design, Design Verification & Validation, or Embedded Systems ECE MS tracks.

Potential careers for students focusing on this track: Computer Design Engineer, Microarchitecture Design Engineer, System Validation Engineer, CPU Verification Engineer, SOC Design Engineer, Embedded System Engineer, Hardware Engineer, Firmware Engineer, Real-time Operating System Developer, IoT Engineer, Design Component Engineer, Pre-silicon Verification Engineer, Post-silicon Validation Engineer, Formal Verification Engineer

Computer Architecture and Embedded Systems bridge courses:

Computer Architecture and Embedded Systems bridge courses:

Bridge Courses for Students with a Computer Science Bachelors:

  • MTH 261
  • ECE 221 or Physics 211, 212
  • ECE 171*, 371, 372
  • ECE 373 recommended but not required

    *ECE 171 required on case-by-case basis

Students who follow this Bridge focus area will be prepared for the Digital IC Design ECE MS track.

Potential careers for students focusing on this track: Circuit Validation Engineers, Circuit Debug Engineers, ASIC Designers, FPGA Designers, Microprocessor Designers

Digital IC Design bridge courses:

Students who follow this Bridge focus area will be prepared for the Power Engineering ECE MS track.

Potential careers for students focusing on this track: Power Systems Engineer, Protection Engineer, Substation Design Engineer, Distribution Engineer, Transmission Planning Engineer, Smart Grid Engineer, Grid Edge Engineer

Power Engineering bridge courses:

Students who follow this Bridge focus area will be prepared for the Signal Processing ECE MS track.

Potential careers for students focusing on this track: Signal Processing Engineer, DSP Engineer, Algorithm Engineer, Image Processing Engineer, Computer Vision Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer

Signal Processing and Machine Learning bridge courses: