The efficient matrix structure of the Technical-Scientific Center (CTC) at PUC-Rio leads each Department to work on different undergraduate courses. All CTC engineering courses are divided into two stages: the Basic Cycle and the Professional Cycle, which are interrelated. The Basic Cycle is the first stage within the curricular structure of the undergraduate courses at the Scientific Technical Center, concentrating the subjects common to all its Undergraduate courses. In the Basic Cycle, the student receives broad scientific training in the areas of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and TI, with intense laboratory practice, experience in engineering projects and humanistic training. Four project disciplines belong to the common curriculum, with a hands-on approach, that is, learning from concrete problems, providing students with the opportunity to work as a team around a common problem. The option for an initial common core system means that the choice of course can be made later, thus allowing the student to have better knowledge of the career they wish to pursue. The Professional Cycle of the Mechanical Engineering course at PUC-Rio has a very flexible curriculum and does not have an emphasis option. The course is formally structured into four areas:
- Mechanic project
- Manufacturing and Materials
- Dynamics and Control
- Thermosciences and Energy
At the end of the course there are project subjects, allowing the knowledge acquired in the four areas has to be integrated and evaluated. Some elective and optional subjects allow the student to direct their training towards areas of greater interest. It is also possible to simultaneously obtain two qualifications, for example, in Mechanical Engineering and Control and Automation Engineering or Mechanical Engineering and Production Engineering. It is important to highlight that this flexibility allows for great integration between the courses of the various CTC departments.
In addition to the Mechanical Engineering course, the department also offers the Control and Automation Engineering course, jointly with the Department of Electrical Engineering. He also participates in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering courses (with the Civil Engineering and Materials and Chemical Engineering departments). In order to ensure the smooth progress of teaching, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at PUC-Rio has the support of an infrastructure made up of workshops and well-equipped Teaching and Research Laboratories, which promote a modern environment for carrying out practical experiments and simulations. numerical-computational. The Graduate Program has the highest CAPES qualification among Mechanical Engineering departments in the country. In addition to the laboratories, students have at their disposal the entire infrastructure of PUC-Rio, such as libraries, internet network available at hundreds of connection points, agreements with several foreign universities. The academic excellence of the course is also due to the profile of the teaching staff, made up of 15 full-time professors, all with doctoral degrees, obtained from renowned universities in Brazil and abroad. Some hourly teachers also complement the teaching staff.