Engineering students struggling through tough courses, or who just have an interest in learning, have a brand-new resource thanks to the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Faculty members from the department have launched a new website called ME Online, which hosts a library of video tutorials that explain a myriad of engineering topics.

“We made this website in hopes that students who need help can review these video tutorials as many times as needed,” Mechanical Engineering Professor Paul Nissenson says. “Sometimes students miss something important discussed class, or they’ll be sick for an entire week. So we created ME Online to complement what teachers are doing in class.”

The website already has over 200 videos, which are categorized under their respective courses. These courses include several bottleneck classes (high demand courses), such as vector statics, fluid mechanics, and intermediate dynamics.

More than half of the ME department faculty have become involved in creating content for the website. The professors film videos in a variety of formats. Some utilize animated power points, while others prefer being in front of a white board explaining the concepts. There are also several videos that have captured complete lectures for students to watch.

“Students will come up to me and say, ‘Thank you for making those videos, because it helped me get through that class,’” Nissenson says. “I’ve had several students randomly come up to me in the hall whom I’ve never taught or spoken to before.”

Nissenson says that the long-term goal for ME Online would be to have a set of videos for every course. While the website can benefit current students, it also can be used by past and future students as well.

“One of reasons we created ME Online is to help the mechanical engineering department remain relevant to our students long after they graduate,” Nissenson says. “If a student needs to learn about a certain concept for their job, they can visit ME Online to refresh their memory. Additionally, incoming freshman and transfer students can use ME Online to preview courses. The students can be confident that the material has been vetted by experienced faculty and is accurate.”

To learn more, visit the ME Online website.