Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering

Graduate Degree Requirements - AY 2019-2020 & Earlier

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

Students pursuing an MSME degree must complete a minimum of 45 credit hours of advisor-approved* graduate level coursework. For students pursuing the project or thesis option, this includes ME 501 Research or ME 503 Thesis credits.

Thesis Option - AY 2016-2020

Required Coursework  
ME 551 Engineering Analysis 4 credit hours
ME 507 Seminar 1 credit hour
ME 503 Thesis* 9 credit hours
MTH 5XX Approved MTH Course* 3 credits hours
ME 5XX Graduate Electives* 28 credit hours
  Total 45 credit hours

Project Option - AY 2016-2020

Required Coursework  
ME 551 Engineering Analysis 4 credit hours
ME 507 Seminar 1 credit hour
ME 501 Research* 6-9 credit hours
MTH 5XX Approved MTH Course* 3 credits hours
ME 5XX Graduate Electives* 28-31 credit hours
  Total 45 credit hours

Coursework-Only Option - AY 2016-2020

Required Coursework  
ME 551 Engineering Analysis 4 credit hours
ME 507 Seminar 1 credit hour
MTH 5XX Approved MTH or STAT Course* 3-4 credits hours
ME 5XX Graduate Electives* 36-37 credit hours
  Total 45 credit hours

Students can take up to eight credit hours of coursework outside of ME. Courses outside of ME must be approved by the student's advisor and the graduate committee chair beforehand. Students can also apply two credit hour of ME 507 Seminar toward their degree.

Only courses with a grade of B- or higher will be applied to the degree. The MME Department does not accept ME 502 Independent Study credits. A maximum of 17 credit hours of 501 Research, 503 Thesis, 505 Reading and Conference, and 506 Project credits can be applied to an MSME degree.

*Must be approved by student's advisor and the graduate program chair.

Master of Science in Materials Science Engineering (MSMSE)

Students pursuing an MSMSE degree must complete a minimum of 45 credit hours of advisor-approved* graduate level coursework, which includes at least three MSMSE core courses for the project or thesis option, and five core courses for the coursework-only option. For students pursuing the project or thesis option, this also includes ME 501 Research or ME 503 Thesis credits.

Thesis Option - AY 2016-2020

Required Coursework  
ME 507 Seminar 1 credit hour
ME/MSE 5XX MSMSE Core Courses 12 credit hours
ME 503 Thesis* 6-9 credit hours
ME/MSE 5XX Graduate Electives* 23-26 credit hours
  Total 45 credit hours

Project Option - AY 2016-2020

Required Coursework  
ME 507 Seminar 1 credit hour
ME/MSE 5XX MSMSE Core Courses 12 credit hours
ME 501 Research* 6-9 credit hours
ME/MSE 5XX Graduate Electives* 23-26 credit hours
  Total 45 credit hours

Coursework-Only Option - AY 2016-2020

Required Coursework  
ME 507 Seminar 1 credit hour
ME/MSE 5XX MSMSE Core Courses 20 credit hours
ME/MSE 5XX Graduate Electives* 24 credit hours
  Total 45 credit hours

MSMSE Core Courses

MSMSE Core Courses
Core Courses
ME 513 Engineering Materials Science 4 credit hours
ME 527 Phase Transformations and Kinetics in Materials 4 credit hours
ME 528 Scanning Electron Microscopy for Materials and Device Characterization 4 credit hours
ME 529 Transmission Electron Microscopy and Chemical Analysis of Materials 4 credit hours
ME 576 Materials Failure Analysis 4 credit hours
ME 578 Introduction to Electronic Packaging 4 credit hours
MSE 513 Engineering Design for Materials 4 credit hours
MSE 515 Materials Testing Methods 4 credit hours
MSE 547 Diffusion 4 credit hours
Required Core Course
ME 507 Seminar 1 credit hour

Only courses with a grade of B- or higher will be applied to the degree. The MME Department does not accept ME/MSE 502 Independent Study credits. Students can also apply two credit hour of ME 507 Seminar toward their degree.

*Must be approved by student's advisor, program committee, and the graduate program chair. Graduate electives may contain courses outside of ME/MSE depending on student's individualized course plan.

PhD Degree Requirements

Students pursuing an ME PhD degree must complete 81 credit hours of graduate level coursework. This can include credit hours from a master's degree*. In addition, students must take and pass a comprehensive examination, a prospectus defense, and final dissertation defense.

PhD Requirements - AY 2016-2020

Required Coursework  
ME 603 Dissertation 27 credit hours
ME 6XX 600 Level ME Courses 8 credit hours
ME 5XX/6XX 500 or 600 Level ME Courses 19 credit hours
ME 5XX/6XX ME Graduate Electives* 27 credit hours
  Total 81 credit hours

PhD Requirements - AY 2015-2016 and earlier

Required Coursework  
ME 603 Dissertation 27 credit hours
ME 6XX 600 Level ME Courses 16 credit hours
ME 5XX/6XX 500 or 600 Level ME Courses 11 credit hours
ME 5XX/6XX ME Graduate Electives* 27 credit hours
  Total 81 credit hours


Only courses with a grade of B- or higher will be applied to the degree. The MME Department does not accept ME 502 Independent Study credits.Students can apply up to three credit hours ME 607 Seminar toward their degree.

Students admitted in AY 2015-2016 or earlier can update their catalog to AY 2016-2017.

*ME graduate electives can include graduate credits earned while completing a master's degree. Students should review their Degree Audit Report (DARS) with their advisor to see how many credits of electives are needed.