Graduate Certificates

Why obtain a graduate certificate from the University of Colorado Boulder's Department of Mechanical Engineering?

  • Working professionals can obtain a credential in a focused area of interest by taking only three or four graduate courses.
  • You'll receive customized guidance on curriculum selection from the professors who built these certificates.
  • You can leverage your newly gained network and credential when seeking career growth opportunities.

Applying for a Certificate

Application deadlines
  • Fall deadline: August 1
  • Spring deadline: December 1

If you are not a degree-seeking student at the university, you may apply for a graduate certificate by submitting a . To be eligible, you must hold an undergraduate degree in engineering, sciences, or mathematics from an institution accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. You will be asked to submit: 1) a one-page personal statement, 2) resume/CV, and 3) unofficial undergraduate transcript. International applicants must submit language scores. Our preferred minimum GPA is 3.0.

Internal applicants who are currently-enrolled graduate students or BAM students in graduate standing at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder in engineering, sciences, or mathematics and have a 3.0 CGPA or higher are eligible to apply. Please complete the . We accept applications on a rolling basis.

Completing a Certificate

In the semester that you plan to complete your certificate requirements, please email megrad@colorado.edu with the list of courses that you would like to be applied to your certificate. After graduation, you will receive a certificate at the address on your account.

Certificate Options

Advanced Mechanics & Failure Analysis

¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ the Program

The certificate provides training in engineering mechanics that goes beyond the typical undergraduate curriculum in several aspects.

  • Students who complete this certificate will have the necessary knowledge and skills for a broad range of industrial sectors that involve structural design and reliability assessment.
  • Students will have the opportunity to establish systematic fundamental knowledge in advanced engineering mechanics through the courses on solid mechanics, finite element analysis and continuum mechanics.
  • Students will be able to learn specialized methods in failure analysis, composite materials, soft materials, and vibration to address challenging problems in engineering design. 

Contact

If you have questions about certificate admission, completion or administration, please email megrad@colorado.edu.

If you have questions about coursework, please email faculty director Franck Vernerey at franck.vernerey@colorado.edu.

Coursework

Nine graduate credits (3 graduate courses) are required to complete the certificate program with grades of at least a B in each course. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required to remain in good academic standing. Courses offered each semester will depend on the availability of faculty. At least one relevant course will be offered each fall and spring semester to ensure that students are able to make progress toward completion of the certificate.

Required Courses

Students must take two of the following courses:

Treats the nonlinear mechanical response of a variety of engineering, biological and bio-inspired materials. The course will start by redefining key concepts of solid mechanics in the context of finite deformation and further explore the response of elastic and inelastic solids. The relationship between the micromechanics occurring at the level of a material’s structure and the emerging mechanical response during elasticity, viscoelasticity, plasticity, damage and fracture. Topics include: sources of nonlinearity in solid mechanics (material and geometric), hyperelasticity, damage and fracture, inelasticity, physical processes, and nonlinear constitutive relations.
Introduces stress, strain and motion of a continuous system. Discusses material derivative; fundamental laws of mass, momentum, energy and entropy; constitutive equations and applications to elasticand plastic materials.
Introduces the theory behind and applications of the finite element method as a general and powerful tool to model a variety of phenomena in mechanical engineering. Applications include structural mechanics, mechanics of elastic continua and heat conduction.

Electives

Examines the fundamental concepts regarding the failure of engineering materials. Case studies are used to integrate a basic understanding of material failure mechanisms with analysis techniques and tools. Topics include the elastic properties (isotropic and anisotropic materials) and the origin of elastic behavior, viscoelasticity, plasticity (dislocation mechanisms, yielding criteria, strengthening mechanisms), creep, fracture and fatigue.
Introduces various kinds of composite materials, composite fabrication techniques, the physical and mechanical behavior of composites, and analytical and experimental methodologies.
Introduces the dynamics of discrete and continuous mechanical systems, and will focus on the description of their response to a variety of excitation sources, including impulsive, harmonic and periodic. The dynamic response will be described in terms of modal properties, which include natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping factors. The concept of resonance will be introduced in the context of forced response and will be illustrated through practical examples and numerical simulations. Application case studies will be presented to describe vibration isolation, and vibration-based structural design concepts.
Introduces fundamental concepts, analytical approaches, and experimental methods to characterize the fracture of solid materials. Topics include: linear elastic analysis of 2D cracks, energy flows and criteria for elastic fracture, experimental methods for elastic fracture, application of fracture mechanics in adhesion, introduction to elastic plastic fracture, and nonlinear fracture mechanics of soft materials.
Provides a general overview of fundamental concepts behind the mechanical behavior of soft matter. The term soft matter (which includes polymers, colloids, liquid crystals and surfactants, to name a few) is typically used to describe classes of materials whose structural unit is much larger than atoms, making their response more complex and often richer that of traditional solids. The objective of this class is to understand how chemical and mechanical forces between these small units yield macroscopic behaviors that one can observe in everyday life. Key engineering applications will also be discussed.

Other electives may be considered in consultation of the certificate director, Franck Vernerey.

¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ the Program

The Biomedical Engineering Certificate trains next-generation professional engineers to interface engineering and medicine with design and problem solving to improve human health.

  • Apply knowledge and skills to a broad range of biomedical fields, from the establishment of disruptive imaging technologies or fabrication of new biomimetic tissue replacements to conception of innovative medical devices
  • Engage with clinical, veterinary and entrepreneurial partners at cutting edge institutions along the Front Range such as ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Anschutz, Colorado State University for veterinary medicine and local companies, such as Allosource, Medtronic and Terumo, among others
  • Gain unique experience in translational and applied medicine

Contact

If you have questions about certificate admission, completion or administration, please email megrad@colorado.edu.

If you have questions about coursework, please email faculty director Maureen Lynch at Maureen.Lynch@Colorado.EDU.

Coursework

Nine graduate credits (3 graduate courses) are required to complete the certificate program with grades of at least a B in each course. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required to remain in good academic standing.

Explores human physiological function from an engineering, specifically mechanical engineering, viewpoint. Provides an introduction to human anatomy and physiology with a focus on learning fundamental concepts and applying engineering (mass transfer,fluid dynamics, mechanics, modeling) analysis.
Covers the design of ultrasound and contrast agent systems for medical imaging and therapy, including the physics of mechanical wave propagation, transducers, acoustic lenses, pulse-echo imaging and cavitation dynamics. The course will include lectures on theory; a laboratory on wave propagation; and in-class team presentations on current primary literature in biomedical ultrasound.
Cancer is considered to be an organ or an ecosystem, in which a critical component of the tumor microenvironment is mechanical forces. This course will cover the role of mechanics in cancer and cancer-related processes, with a focus on solid mechanics and fluid mechanics. In this course, you will apply engineering principles to come away with an appreciation of how mechanics influences cancer and its etiology as well as the development of future treatments.
Focuses on developing an understanding of the fundamental mechanical principles that govern the response of hard and soft biological tissue to mechanical loading. Specifically, covers mechanical behavior of biological materials/tissues, classical biomechanics problems in various tissues, the relationship between molecular, cellular and physiological processes and tissue biomechanics and critical analysis of related journal articles.
Graduate level course that deals with how mechanical forces modulate the morphological and structural fitness of biological tissues. Current molecular mechanisms by which cells convert mechanical stimulus into chemical activity and the literature supporting them will be discussed. Students will acquire an understanding and expertise from the analysis of primary literature and completion of a synthesis project. This course will serve as the focal point of discourse for doctoral students with research requiring an in-depth understanding of the interface of mechanics and molecular and cellular biology.
Human movement analysis is used in physical rehabilitation, sport training, human-robot interaction, animation, and more. Course provides a systematic overview of human movement on multiple levels of analysis, with an emphasis on the phenomenology amenable to computational modeling. Covers muscle physiology, movement-related brain areas, musculoskeletal mechanics, forward and inverse dynamics, optimal control and Bayesian inference, learning and adaptation. Inspires students to see and appreciate the complexities of movement control in all aspects of daily life.
Bioinspired design views the process of how we learn from nature as an innovation strategy translating principles of function, performance, and aesthetics, from biology to human technology. The creative design process is driven by interdisciplinary exchange among engineering, biology, medicine, art, architecture and business. Diverse teams of students will collaborate on, create, and present original bioinspired design projects in the ITLL.
This course will provide an introduction to structure-property-function relationships in biological materials such as wood, bone, shells, spider silk, connective tissue, blood vessels and gecko feet. We will cover topics including but not limited to biosynthesis and assembly, biomineralization, hierarchical organization, adhesion and contact, functionally graded interfaces, and others. As part of this course, we will learn some fundamentals of tissue engineering, with relation to biomimetic design, and explore cutting edge methods in biofabrication. No prior knowledge of biology is required to take this course.
A formal introduction to principles of biofluid mechanics that underlie physiological processes within the human body. Explores the use of engineering principles of fluid flows and fluid-solid interactions to study physiological flow phenomena in various organ systems including the heart, brain, and the lungs. Includes discussions of physiological processes in healthy and diseased states. Explores latest advances in medical imaging and image-based flow analysis such as 4D flow MR imaging, and ultrasound-based flow measurement.
This class will provide a general overview of the fundamental concepts behind the mechanical behavior of soft matter. The term soft matter (which includes polymers, colloids, liquid crystals and surfactants, to name a few) is typically used to describe classes of materials whose structural unit is much larger than atoms, making their response more complex and often richer that of traditional solids. The objective of this class is to understand how chemical and mechanical forces between these small units yield macroscopic behaviors that one can observe in the everyday life. Key engineering applications will also be discussed.
Microfluidics deals with the behavior of fluids in small scale. It is a highly multidisciplinary field at the intersection of engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, nanotechnology, and biotechnology. This course is designed for a wide audience in Engineering and Science. It covers the fundamentals and fabrication of microfluidic devices, and their applications, particularly in Lab on a Chip. It includes lectures, team presentations, and possibly one laboratory on microfluidic devices. Mastery will enhance your understanding of Microfluidic technologies and their broad applications.
The main objective of this multidisciplinary course is to provide students with a broad survey of biomaterials and their use in medical devices for restoring or replacing the functions of injured, diseased, or aged human tissues and organs. The topics to be covered include: biomaterials evolution in the medical device industry, a broad introduction to the materials used in medicine and their chemical, physical, and biological properties, different properties of synthetic and biological materials, materials interaction with the human body, basic mechanisms of wound healing, biocompatibility issues, testing methods and techniques in accordance with standards and relevant regulations, biofunctionalities required for specific applications, as well as the state-of-the-art approaches for the development of new regenerative materials targeting cellular mechanisms.
This highly multidisciplinary course covers the fundamentals of microfluidics and their applications, including the design and fabrication of microfluidic devices, applications in biomedicine, and their basic working mechanisms. The course includes lectures, team presentations, and possibly one laboratory on microfluidic device.

¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ the Program

This certificate introduces students to the local food industry in Colorado and potential career opportunities in the food industry. Students will learn key scientific concepts and engineering principles of food products. The certificate focuses on the science and engineering of foods like specialty coffee and chocolate. Students will receive both a broad overview and in-depth content on food engineering and food product design, in addition to learning about food sustainability.

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

  • Be introduced to potential career opportunities in the food industry.
  • Be introduced to the local food industry in Colorado.
  • Learn the key scientific concepts and engineering principles of food products.
  • Focus on the science and engineering of specialty coffee, food engineering and food product design.
  • Understand the role of food at the intersection of science, engineering and culture.

Contact

If you have questions about certificate admission, completion, or administration, please email megrad@colorado.edu.

If you have questions about coursework, please email faculty director Carmen Pacheco at Carmen.Pacheco@Colorado.EDU.

Coursework

Nine graduate credits (3 graduate courses) are required to complete the certificate program with grades of at least a B in each course. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required to remain in good academic standing. Courses offered each semester will depend on the availability of faculty. However, at least one relevant course will be offered each fall and spring semester to ensure that students are able to make progress toward completion of the certificate. 

Required Courses

Students must take two of the following three courses:

Serves as an introduction to how engineers use their disciplinary training to approach and solve problems outside of the traditional confines of their discipline, as illustrated by the roasting and brewing of coffee. In addition to focusing on the science, engineering and craftsmanship of making a cup of coffee from bean to cup, we will also study the global sourcing and sustainability aspects of coffee.
Serves as an introduction to how engineers use their disciplinary training to approach and solve problems outside of the traditional confines of their discipline, as illustrated by the roasting, winnowing, grinding, conching and tempering culminating in chocolate bars.   In addition to focusing on the science and craftsmanship of making a bar of chocolate from cured cacao beans, we will also study the global sourcing of cacao beans. We will examine cacao bean suppliers to the U.S. and farming and sustainable practices to grow  cacao trees.  The course will offer hands-on experimental laboratories to demonstrate key engineering principles in subject areas such as heat transfer, mass transfer, thermodynamics, materials science, sustainability,  and device design evaluation. This class culminates in an engineering design competition where students design the best tasting chocolate value added products without additives.

Strongly Recommended Electives

What does it mean to talk about food systems and sustainably for industries that are international in scope? What are the logistical challenges, the ethical, economic, and environmental conundrums, and the roles and responsibilities of consumers and industry insiders in markets such as coffee, chocolate, beer or wine? The course will examine the systems of these industries in depth, from R&D and agricultural production through post-harvest processing, logistics, warehousing, transportation, packaging, and retail/wholesale services. Drawing from engineering and the social sciences, students will be asked to think critically about sustainability and the many trade-offs and decision points involved in any food system. We will ask what it means to think about these industries as a system and where there might be room for improvement and innovation in policy, economics, manufacturing, ecology, and social justice. This will be a research-focused course in which students will read scholarly articles and books and interview practitioners on the Front Range and abroad to better understand the structural and systemic factors at play.
The powerful connections between media and food include the billions of dollars spent annually on food advertising; reality-TV cooking competitions; food travel shows; documentary and narrative films about food; the vast book and magazine industry segments that focus on food; and the social media outlets that serve the interests of foodies, food industry professionals and food activists. This seminar stresses how cultural identities, activism and political-economic power shape and are shaped by political discourses about food, including: 1) arguments for the public’s need and right to know about food safety, nutrition and risk; 2) efforts to counter the fetishizing of food commodities through the promotion of public knowledge about labor and environmental conditions of food production; 3) the biopolitics of food as it applies to malnutrition, obesity, eating disorders, health and body image; 4) cultural and environmental impacts of transnational food trade and supply chains; 5) the centrality of race and class in discourses about food localism, veganism, cultural capital and the politics of who in society is entitled to pleasure; 6) food sovereignty movements as forces for decolonization, focused on land theft and displacement, the cultural appropriation of culinary traditions, open-source seed-saving as an expression of cultural resilience, and culturally appropriate food as a human right. Students can pursue case study research that connects media, culture and politics to something so vital to our identities and needs as the food we eat.
Focuses on physical properties of gases and liquids, and kinematics of flow fields. Analyzes stress; viscous, heat-conducting Newtonian fluids; and capillary effects and surface-tension-driven flow. Other topics include vorticity and circulation, ideal fluid flow theory in two and three dimensions, Schwartz-Christoffel transformations, free streamline theory, and internal and free-surface waves.
*Recommended only for students with an engineering/math/physics undergraduate degree.
Studies development of equations governing transport of heat by conduction, convection, and radiation, and their solution. Includes analytical and numerical solution of initial and boundary value problems representative of heat conduction in solids. Describes heat transfer in free and forced convection, including laminar and turbulent flow. Also involves radiation properties of solids, liquids, and gases and transport of heat by radiation.

Electives

Cooking, heating and lighting in the developing world often involves inefficient and incomplete combustion of solid or liquid fuels. The Global Burden of Disease Study in 2010, ranked this combustion as the 4th largest risk factor, causing 4 million premature deaths per year. There is a strong societal need to tackle this problem. Students leaving this course will be able to meet this need as they will have the skills to assess existing and new technology used in the developing world for cooking, heating and lighting. The course will cover (1) food conversion chemistry with the focus on increasing useable calories, (2) combustion and heat transfer as related to cooking, heating and lighting, and (3) combustion emissions and stove use assessment. There will be case studies interlaced throughout the content and the bulk of the workload will be homeworks and projects.
First and second laws of thermodynamics. Entropy and availability. Cycle analysis. Thermodynamic properties of pure substances and mixtures. Property relations. Chemical reactions and chemical availability. Energy systems analysis.
Explores human physiological function from an engineering, specifically mechanical engineering, viewpoint. Provides an introduction to human anatomy and physiology with a focus on learning fundamental concepts and applying engineering (mass transfer, fluid dynamics, mechanics, modeling) analysis.
Mass Transport Phenomena for Materials & Membranes: Fundamentals of mass transport with particular attention to design problems associated with materials science (reactive 3d printing), electrochemistry and energy systems (fuel cells & batteries), environmental concerns (CO2 capture), and general separations (water desalination). The principles of transport phenomena in material systems, involving multiple components, phases, chemical reaction, and simultaneous momentum, heat and mass transport will be discussed.
Explores the evidence and ideas underlying some of the most important contemporary food system debates. We will ask: in enhancing the environmental sustainability of food systems, what do the data tell us about the roles that can be played by genetically engineered food, organic agriculture, local food systems, changes to animal agriculture, and reductions in food waste? Students will draw on peer-reviewed research to address the science, policy, and ethical dimensions of these topics.

¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ the Program

This certificate provides training in mechanical design and product development. Students will build on methods from across the field of design to create learning experiences that will directly influence their potential career path in product design and development. Students will be challenged throughout the certificate coursework with complex, ambiguous design problems with solutions that are uncertain, and they will be challenged to solve those issues creatively and communicate those solutions to others effectively. Students who complete this certificate will have the necessary knowledge and skills for a broad range of industrial sectors that involve product design and development.

Learning Outcomes

Educational and scholarly goals of the certificate:

  • To introduce students to potential career opportunities in the mechanical design and product development industry.
  • To introduce students to industry tools and expectations for product development.
  • To teach students the key concepts and engineering principles of mechanical design and product development.
  • To understand the role of engineering design at the intersection of science, engineering, and culture.

Contact

If you have questions about certificate admission, completion or administration, please email megrad@colorado.edu.

If you have questions about coursework, please email faculty director Dan Riffell at Daniel.Riffell@Colorado.EDU.

Coursework

Twelve graduate credits (4 graduate courses) are required to complete the certificate program with grades of at least a B in each course. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required to remain in good academic standing. Courses offered each semester will depend on the availability of faculty. At least one relevant course will be offered each fall and spring semester to ensure that students are able to make progress toward completion of the certificate. 

Required Courses

Introduces engineering design and development of consumer products. Includes learning sketching, brainstorming, idea generation, design thinking, user-centered design, product requirements and specifications, product constraints, human factors, aesthetics, industrial design, intellectual property, concept prototyping, idea selection, tolerancing, cost estimating, design for assembly, and materials selection. Entails a semester-long team re-design of a consumer product.
Topics include general design guidelines for manufacturability; aspects of manufacturing processes that affect design decisions; design rules to maximize manufacturability; economic considerations; value engineering and design for assembly. Presents case studies of successful products exhibiting DFMA principles.

Elective Option 1

First part of a two-course graduate product design experience in mechanical engineering. Covers problem definition and specifications, determining design requirements, user feedback, alternative design concepts, engineering analysis, concept prototypes and CAD drawings. Students make several oral design reviews, a final design presentation and prepare a written report. Entails a team product design, fabrication and testing cycle of sponsored project.
Second part of two-course graduate product design experience in mechanical engineering. Includes refinement of prototype, design optimization, fabrication, testing, and evaluation. Students orally present the final design and prepare a written report and operation manual for the product. Entails a team product design, fabrication, and testing cycle of a sponsored project, leading to a fully-functional product.

Elective Option 2

Choose any two:

Focuses on aesthetic aspects of design via hands-on design-build experiences. Students individually create dynamic artifacts of their own choice with the assistance of teammates. Content includes major design movements since 1900, constructive critique practice, hand sketching techniques and other selected industrial design topics. Students publish their design work on an archival public blog which provides a professional portfolio element.
This course introduces computational approaches to automatically generate complex multi-material mechanical designs that satisfy predefined specifications. Multi-material mechanical design is formulated as a constrained non-convex multi-objective optimization problem, and various algorithms to solve these optimization problems are discussed. Topics include: review of the expert-driven design process; computational analysis tools based on mechanical simulation (finite element methods, mesh-free methods); topological optimization; compositional design; multi-objective optimization; evolutionary design; design for manufacturing with additive manufacturing (FDM, SLA, Inkjet). Students will use the methods presented to automatically design a mechanical part that satisfies specifications, and fabricate it using advanced manufacturing (3D printing, laser cutting, CNC, etc.) tools.
Are robots racist? Are algorithms oppressive? How do we end up with technologies that are optimized for some users, but scarcely meet the needs of others? In this era of upheaval and inequity, how should we be thinking about who benefits or who is harmed by a product? How can we as ethical engineers even begin to answer these questions? The Design For Inclusion (DFI) course will examine the ways modern inventions like apps, products, public infrastructures and educational systems are biased, and what we as socially conscious engineers and designers can and should do about it. Design approaches including universal design, participatory action research, and culturally responsive design will be explored through multiple hands-on projects with the goal of equipping all to become more capable designers for inclusion rather than exclusion. The DFI course will prepare students to analyze innovations and seek opportunities for change, reframing the way we think about technological advancement and the communities we serve with our designs.
This course provides an in-depth introduction to design science research, focusing on the scientific study of how people/teams develop new products, systems, and services. Students will develop skills to systematically and critically analyze and improve the processes of innovation and creation. The course is organized into three main sections: 1) Overview of design theory and methods, 2) Design Research Special Topics (such as analogy, cognition, creativity, sustainability, co-design), and 3) Design Research Methodology (experimental, ethnographic, phenomenological, and research through design). Students will research a design topic of their choice for the course's main project (applicable for both academic and industry career goals).
Product Development introduces contemporary methods like design thinking and sustainability for the circular economy to identify and create products and services that address verified customer needs and problems. By focusing on solutions and benefits offered, the course takes a project-based approach from ideation, concept development, and prototyping to customer validation, pricing, and productization. Students learn how to present their product concepts to senior management or potential investors and showcase their prototypes in a tradeshow-like setting.
Student teams will learn how to develop and deploy solutions for the DoD/IC. Each week teams are expected to interview six or more potential project beneficiaries (typically military and government end users), produce and update a Business Model Canvas, produce and update a Minimal Viable Prototype. At the conclusion of the course students will have been challenged to 1) Solve complex real-world problems, 2) Rapidly iterate technology solutions while searching for product-market fit, 3) Understand all the stakeholders, deployment issues, costs, resources, and ultimate mission value, 4) Deliver Minimum Viable Prototypes that match customer needs, and 5) Produce a repeatable model that can be used to launch other potential technology solutions.