Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering
The Doctor of Philosophy in mechanical engineering (Ph.D.) is designed for students who are interested in engineering careers that require education beyond the Master of Science degree. Examples of those include engineers performing industrial research, research at national laboratories, or careers in engineering academics.
Admission
All applicants accepted into the Mechanical Engineering (ME) doctoral program must have received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering or closely related fields. The GRE exam is required of all applicants.
Credit Hours
The program requirements include a minimum of seventy-six (76) semester hours of approved course work and research hours. A maximum of thirty (30) semester hours of approved graduate coursework from a master’s in Mechanical Engineering or closely related field may be transferred to the Ph.D. program. Broad latitude is granted in the selection of courses, but all courses must be approved by the student’s graduate committee. The semester hours for the Ph.D. must meet the following criteria:
- At least forty-eight (48) semester hours of course work, subject to the following criteria:
- a minimum of twenty-four (24) semester hours of 5000 or 6000 graduate level course work within ME
- a minimum of six (6) semester hours of 5000 or 6000 graduate level course work outside of ME*
- a maximum of six (6) semester hours of 4000 level course work
- a minimum of three (3) semester hours of course work in Ethics, Religion, Philosophy, or related area**
- Doctoral Research hours:
- a minimum of twelve (12) semester hours of ME Doctoral Research 6V99
taken after the preliminary exam - a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours of Engineering Research 6V97
taken prior to the preliminary exam
*Engineering is inherently cross-disciplinary, and oftentimes students may benefit from courses in non-ME disciplines to broaden their understanding of particular applications or knowledge domains. Supportive graduate course hours outside of ME can be selected from areas that include, but are not limited to: electrical and computer engineering, biomedical engineering, computer science, mathematics, statistics, the physical sciences, the social sciences, education or business.
**Engineering is a values-based discipline that benefits from Christian worldview and faith perspectives. Therefore, students are required to take select supportive course in areas that touch on these perspectives. Among the courses accepted for this requirement are one-credit-hour seminars taught by ME faculty on Research Ethics, or on Technology and Society.