Teaching

Thermodynamic equilibrium, thermodynamic properties and equations of state. First and second laws of thermodynamics and their applications to engineering systems. Availability and irreversibility and their application to second law analysis. Three credit hours. Prerequisites: CHEM 1215, CHEM 1215L, MATH 2531, and PHYS 1320. Taught Spring 2024.

Principles and engineering applications of heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation. Laboratory experiments and demonstrations of fundamental heat transfer concepts. Four credit hours. Prerequisites: ME 301, ME 317L, and MATH 316. Taught Spring 2025 and Spring 2026.

The course introduces students to the fundamentals of space propulsion concepts, analysis, and design, and provides the necessary background of the physical processes that form the basis of different propulsion methods. Three credit hours. Prerequisites: ME 301 and ME 317L. Offered to both undergraduate (438) and graduate (538) students. Taught Fall 2024, Fall 2025, and Fall 2026.

An introduction to the science of fire and its dynamics, from ignition and flame spread through compartment fires and fire resistance. The course is team-taught: Prof. Koutsakis coordinates the course and serves as instructor of record, with co-instructors from UNM Mechanical Engineering, UNM Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the CNM Fire Academy leading sessions in their areas of expertise. Coursework combines problem sets drawn from Drysdale’s An Introduction to Fire Dynamics with a term project applying fire-dynamics analysis to a wildland–urban interface, compartment-fire, or fire-safety problem. Three credit hours. Prerequisites: ME 301 and ME 320L, or consent of instructor. Taught Fall 2026.

Independent research experience in the Koutsakis Lab, carried out under the direct supervision of Prof. Koutsakis on an active project. Per the UNM catalog: “A project of an original nature carried out under faculty supervision” (451, undergraduate); “Individual research into an area proposed by the student and conducted under the direction of a faculty member” (551, graduate). One to three credit hours, to a maximum of six. Prerequisites: admission to the B.S.M.E. program and senior standing (451), or consent of instructor (551). For undergraduates, ME 451/452 is also the standard first step toward Mechanical Engineering Departmental Honors: per the ME Undergraduate Handbook (Section 16, “Departmental Honors,” pp. 13–14), one or more semesters of ME 451/452 provide the individual-study research on which an ME 463 Undergraduate Honors Thesis is later based. Taught Fall.

Independent research experience in the Koutsakis Lab, carried out under the direct supervision of Prof. Koutsakis on an active project. Per the UNM catalog: “A project of an original nature carried out under faculty supervision” (452, undergraduate); “Individual research into an area proposed by the student and conducted under the direction of a faculty member” (552, graduate). One to three credit hours, to a maximum of six. Prerequisites: admission to the B.S.M.E. program and senior standing (452), or consent of instructor (552). For undergraduates, ME 451/452 is also the standard first step toward Mechanical Engineering Departmental Honors: per the ME Undergraduate Handbook (Section 16, “Departmental Honors,” pp. 13–14), one or more semesters of ME 451/452 provide the individual-study research on which an ME 463 Undergraduate Honors Thesis is later based. Taught Spring and Summer.

The capstone course for Mechanical Engineering Departmental Honors, completed under Prof. Koutsakis’s supervision by students who have finished one or more semesters of ME 451/452 in the lab. Per the UNM catalog: “Independent project of an original nature carried out under faculty supervision, in partial fulfillment of Departmental Honors designation.” Three credit hours. Restriction: admission to the School of Engineering and instructor permission required. Per the ME Undergraduate Handbook (Section 16, “Departmental Honors,” pp. 13–14), the honors thesis is “a scholarly work based upon the research performed in the individual study course(s)” — i.e., the ME 451/452 project the student already completed.