Plastics Engineering and Technology Minor

Minor Advisor

Mary Ann Donato, Academic Advisor
585‑475‑7603, madast@rit.edu

Offered within the
Department of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology

Overview

The plastics engineering and technology minor provides students with a foundation in the professional study of plastic materials and their applications. This minor provides a broad perspective in plastics and polymer engineering/technology including the preparation of polymeric materials and polymer composites, their characterization, and the design and processing of these materials into useful products. The minor also includes a plastics characterization laboratory experience.

Notes about this minor:

Posting of the minor on the student's academic transcript requires a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the minor.
Notations may appear in the curriculum chart below outlining pre-requisites, co-requisites, and other curriculum requirements (see footnotes).

Curriculum

Course
Required Courses
CHMG-131	General Chemistry for Engineers* This rigorous course is primarily for, but not limited to, engineering students. Topics include an introduction to some basic concepts in chemistry, stoichiometry, First Law of Thermodynamics, thermochemistry, electronic theory of composition and structure, and chemical bonding. The lecture is supported by workshop-style problem sessions. Offered in traditional and online format.
MCET-210	Foundations of Non-Metallic Materials This course will cover the process of selecting a best material for a given design application with a focus on polymeric materials. To support this process material families, strengthening mechanisms, and degradation mechanisms and prevention will be studied. The materials selection process will include economic, ecological, and ethical considerations. An emphasis is placed on the interrelationship of structure, process, and properties. This class expands upon concepts presented in MCET-110.
MCET-211	Foundations of Non-Metallic Materials Lab This course will consist of laboratory experiences which focus on property characterization of the properties of polymeric materials.
MCET-580	Plastics Manufacturing Technology The course introduces fundamentals in plastic materials and processing technology to manufacture various plastic products in plastics industry. The course emphasizes new materials and process selections for engineering applications and design.
MCET-583	Plastics Product Design The study of design guidelines for plastic products based on the interrelationships between design, the material selected, the manufacturing process selected, and the tooling to be used.
Electives
Choose one of the following composite materials courses
MCET-574/MCET-575	Plastics and Composites Materials/Plastics and Composites Materials Laboratory
MECE-544	Introduction to Composite Materials This course is an introductory course to the fundamentals and applications of composite materials. Topics covered include constituents of composite materials, fabrication techniques, micromechanical analysis, macromechanical analysis, and the use of composites in design. Some laboratory work is to be performed, and a design project is required.

* General and Analytical Chemistry I (CHMG-141) may be used as an equivalent course.