Mechanical Engineering
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Program Description
The Department of Mechanical Engineering offers graduate programs leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Graduate work may be concentrated in a variety of areas including engineering mechanics, fatigue and fracture, biomechanics and biomaterials, thermal systems, fluid mechanics, energy, controls and mechatronics, or engineering materials with an emphasis on plastics, composite materials and nanomaterials. Students with a B.S. degree in physics or mathematics may pursue a special graduate program of study and earn an M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Admission to the ME program is granted in a competitive process that is based upon consideration of the student’s undergraduate GPA, test scores, and area of interest. Students who have graduated from an accredited institution in the United States with a baccalaureate degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field must possess a GPA of 3.0 or greater for consideration of admission at full standing. International students must also provide both the TOEFL (or IELTS) and GRE general test scores before their applications will be considered. Minimum requirements for consideration of admission are 79 on the TOEFL ibT or 6.5 on the IELTS, and 300 on the GRE (combined quantitative and verbal) with a minimum quantitative score of 155.
Financial Assistance
Research and/or teaching assistantships may be available to qualified students. Applicants are considered on the basis of scholarship, potential to undertake advanced study and research, and financial need. The availability of research and teaching assistantships is contingent upon current funding levels.
Mechanical Engineering - M.S.
The minimum total semester credits required for the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering is 30. The M.S. degree can be earned with either of two options: the thesis option or the comprehensive study option.
With the thesis option, a student must complete 21-24 credits of graduate courses in mechanical engineering and a master's thesis of 6 to 9 credits of ME 798 Master's Thesis. At the conclusion of the graduate program, the student will be examined orally on the thesis and course work.
With the comprehensive study option, a student must complete 27 credits of graduate courses in mechanical engineering and a master's paper of no more than 3 credits of ME 797 Master's Paper. At the conclusion of the graduate program, the student must pass a comprehensive oral examination on the master's paper and course work.
For more detailed information on the requirements for the M.S. degree, contact the department.
Mechanical Engineering - Ph.D.
The Ph.D. program requires the completion of 90 credit hours of graduate study beyond the baccalaureate degree (60 credits beyond the M.S. degree). In addition to the credit requirements for the M.S. degree, the Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 24 course credits and a minimum of 24 credits of research-based dissertation. The remaining 12 credits may consist of any approved graduate level credits.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| M.S. Degree | 30 | |
| Minimum of 24 course credits | 24 | |
| Minimum of 24 credits of research-based dissertion | 24 | |
| Any approved graduate level credits | 12 | |
| Total Credits | 90 | |
After the majority of course work has been completed, each student is required to pass a series of written qualifying exams on core subjects. After passing the written exams, an oral preliminary exam will be administered focusing on the student's proposal for the dissertation research. At the conclusion of the Ph.D. program, each student is required to pass a comprehensive oral final examination primarily focused on the dissertation. This exam may also cover material from course work, particularly courses fundamental to the dissertation. For more detailed information on the requirements for the Ph.D. degree, contact the department.
Fardad Azarmi, Ph.D.
University of Toronto, 2008
Research Interests: Thermal Spray Coatings, Thin Film, Multiscale Engineering Analysis, Finite Element Analysis, Failure in Materials, Corrosion, Materials Characterization, High Temperature Materials, Composite Structures, Metal Foams, Functionally Graded Materials
Jordi Estevadeordal, Ph.D.
University of Houston, 1996
Research Interests: Advanced Laser Techniques, Thermo-Fluid and Spray Diagnostics, 3D particle Image Velocimetry, Phosphorescence, Infrared Thermography, Filtered Rayleigh Scattering, Bio-Fluid Measurements
Adam Gladen, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota, 2014
Research Interests: Renewable Energy, Solar Thermal Energy, Energy Storage - in particular Thermochemical Energy Storage, Thermodynamics,
Solar Thermochemistry, Heat transfer, Radiative Transfer in Participating Media, Solar Reactor Design
Alan R. Kallmeyer, Ph.D.
University of Iowa, 1995
Research Interests: Theoretical, Computational, and Experimental Solid Mechanics, Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials, Composite Materials
Ghodrat Karami, Ph.D.
Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, 1984
Research Interests: Multiscale Computational Solid Mechanics, Biomechanics, Cellular Mechanics, Micromechanics Characterization of Composites, Continuum Mechanics, Structural Mechanics, Nonlinear and Large Deformation and Analysis, Thermoelastic Analysis
Sumathy Krishnan, Ph.D.
Indian Institute of Technology, 1995
Research Interests: Solar Heating and Cooling, Concentrated Solar Power, Renewable Energy Integrated Systems
Robert V. Pieri, Ph.D.
Carnegie-Mellon University, 1987
Research Interests: Design, Materials and Nanomaterials Characterization, Instructional Pedagogy, Fracture Mechanics, Measurements, Alternative Energy, and Industrial Support
Majura Selekwa, Ph.D.
Florida A&M University, 2001
Research Interests: Robotics, Machine Intelligence, Soft computing Applications, Numerical Methods and Numerical Optimization, Optimal and Robust Control, Smart Actuation Control Systems, Real-Time Control in Mechatronics
Yildirim Bora Suzen, Ph.D.
Wichita State University, 1998
Research Interests: Computational Fluid Dynamics, Aerodynamics, Modeling of Industrial Transport Processes, Transition and Turbulence Modeling, Active/Adaptive Flow Control, Turbo machinery, Multiprocessor CFD
Annie X.W. Tangpong, Ph.D.
Carnegie Mellon University, 2006
Research Interests: Vibrations and Dynamics, Tribology, Friction Damping in Rotating Structures, Friction Damping in Nano- and Bio-materials
Chad A. Ulven, Ph.D.
University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2005
Research Interests: Advanced Composites Materials Development, Environmentally Friendly Materials Processing, Nondestructive Evaluation, Impact/High Strain Rate Characterization of Advanced Materials
Jessica L. Vold, Ph.D
North Dakota State University, 2012
Research Interests: Additive Manufacturing Materials, Polymer Matrix Composites, Torrefaction of Lignocellulosic Materials, Bio-Based Composite Materials, Mechanical Testing, Material Characterization
Xinnan Wang, Ph.D.
University of South Carolina, 2008
Research Interests: Experimental Biomechanics, Synthesis of Nanomaterials, Nanomechanical Characterization, Nanomanipulation
Yechun Wang, Ph.D.
University of Maryland, 2007
Research Interests: Microfluidics, Biofluid Mechanics, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Numerical Analysis, and Characterization of Organic Coatings
Xiangfa Wu, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2003
Beijing Institute of Technology, 1998
Research Interests: Nanofabrication and Nanomaterials, Advanced Composites, Fracture and Impact Mechanics
Yan Zhang, Ph.D.
Iowa State University, 2013
Research Interests: Experimental Fluid Dynamics, Advanced Flow Diagnostic Techniques, Wind Engineering and Wind Hazard Mitigation, Bio-Fluid Mechanics and Cariovascular Hemodynamics Modeling