The emphasis is on both development and sustained operation of manufacturing systems, including computer-aided methods, automation, design for manufacture, production tooling, and material handling, as well as the processes and ancillary support systems of modern manufacturing.

In the required senior design project, students demonstrate their understanding of engineering knowledge and their ability to apply that knowledge creatively to practical problems.

Graduates typically work more directly with the manufacturing processes than do industrial engineers.

Emphasis is placed upon application of the basic sciences and engineering fundamentals. Knowledge of basic processes, tool design, automation, and computer-aided manufacturing are applied directly to the problems of development and sustained operation of manufacturing systems.