The educational objectives of the engineering program of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Arkansas Tech University are:

1. To produce graduates who use the engineering skills and technical ability gained through the program to embark upon successful careers in mechanical engineering.
2. To produce graduates who engage in life-long learning.
3. To produce graduates who employ engineering analysis, experimental methods, and design techniques to solve engineering problems.
4. To produce graduates who demonstrate skills pertinent to the design process including the ability to formulate problems, to think creatively, to communicate effectively, to synthesize information and to work collaboratively.
5. To produce graduates who understand their professional and ethical responsibilities.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering offers degrees at the Associate, Bachelors and Masters levels.

The Associate of Science in Nuclear Technology is a two-year program designed to allow the student to obtain the knowledge base and training necessary to work in one of the many areas in the nuclear field. Unlike many two-year associate degree programs, the ASNT program is a rigorous set of courses designed to fulfill the requirements of the first two years of a nuclear engineering bachelors program and the course requirements fit well with the BSME program at Arkansas Tech.

The program leading to the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The program is designed to help satisfy the engineering manpower needs of industry in Arkansas and the mid-south region. The required courses provide a basic foundation in mechanical engineering with a significant cross-disciplinary component. Elective courses allow students to concentrate their studies during their Junior and Senior year in one of four areas: mechanical/machine design, thermal systems, nuclear systems, or materials/metallurgy.

The Masters of Mechanical Engineering program is designed to allow students to further their engineering expertise in a focus research area. Currectly, the department conducts research in the areas of Soft Robotics, Combustion, Renewable Energies, Machine Learning, Computational Solid Mechanics and Advanced Fuel Systems.