Mechanical Engineering

Admission

Students seeking admission to the graduate program in mechanical engineering must meet the admission standards set by the Graduate School and have a bachelor's degree in engineering or its equivalent. A student whose undergraduate training is deficient may be required to take coursework without graduate
credit.

This program requires a nonrefundable $65 application fee that must be submitted with the application for Admissions to Graduate Study in Mechanical Engineering. Applicants must pay this fee by credit card. Admission is also based on the following factors: grade point average of 3.00 or higher on a scale of 4.00 on the entire last undergraduate GPA earned at the time of application, class ranking, and faculty recommendation letters. GRE scores are required for admission. The minimum TOEFL score requirement for international applicants is 550 (paper-based) or 80 (computer-based).

Requirements

Each student majoring in mechanical engineering will develop a program of study with a graduate advisor and establish a graduate committee of at least three members at the earliest possible date. A student may, with the approval of a graduate faculty committee and the School Director, also take courses in other branches of engineering, or in areas of science and business, such as physics, geology, chemistry, mathematics, life science, administrative sciences, or computer science. A thesis committee of at least three members will approve the thesis and the comprehensive oral exam.

For a student who wishes to complete the requirements of the M.S. in Mechanical Engineering degree with a thesis, a minimum of thirty hours of acceptable graduate credit is required. Of this total, eighteen credit hours must be earned in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering. A minimum of 15 credit hours of coursework at the 500-level (excluding thesis) is required. Each candidate is also required to pass a comprehensive oral examination covering all of the student's graduate work, including thesis.

If a student prefers the non-thesis option, a minimum of thirty-six hours of acceptable graduate credit is required. The student is expected to take at least twenty-one credit hours within the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering, including no more than three credit hours of the appropriate 592 course to be devoted to the preparation of a research paper. A minimum of 15 credit hours of coursework at the 500-level (excluding thesis) is required. In addition, each candidate is required to pass a written comprehensive examination. An oral presentation of the paper may be required.

Each non-thesis M.S. in Mechanical Engineering student will select a minimum of three engineering graduate faculty members to serve as a graduate committee, subject to the approval of the School Director. The committee must include at least one member from one of the other engineering programs and will:

approve the student’s program of study,
approve the student’s research paper topic,
approve the completed research paper, and
administer and approve the written comprehensive examination.

Teaching or research assistantships and fellowships are available for qualified applicants. Additional information about the program, courses, assistantships, and fellowships may be obtained from the College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics or the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering.

Master of Science (M.S.) in Mechanical Engineering

Graduate work leading to the Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering is offered by the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering. The program is designed to provide advanced study in air pollution control, mechanical system dynamics and vibration, acoustics and signal processing, mass and heat transfer, coal conversion, electrochemical processes, thermal science, thermal systems design, solar systems design, chemical and biochemical processes, biomechanics, mechanical systems, computer-aided design, composite materials and ceramics, and tribology.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Mechanical Engineering

The School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering within the College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics at SIUC offers a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering. It is designed for students who desire positions requiring advanced preparation at the highest level with emphasis on theories of curriculum and instruction and in-depth preparation in research.

The Ph.D. program is supported by cutting-edge research projects conducted by nationally and internationally recognized mechanical engineering faculty members. The School has well equipped laboratories and computer facilities that are housed in a modern Engineering Complex that houses research laboratories, including facilities for advanced manufacturing, advanced friction studies, mechanics, thermal/fluid experimental setup, fluidized bed combustion, composite materials synthesis and analysis, low temperature and high temperature reactive and non- reactive processes, imaging and nondestructive analysis, and unconventional gas recovery and processing.

The Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering is available for six fields of study that correlate with the School’s core expertise. The areas of concentration are as follows:

Mechanical Systems and Design, including dynamics and vibrations, mechanical systems control, computational modeling and simulations
Advanced Manufacturing
Energy and Fluid/Thermal Systems, including fluid mechanics, thermal science, thermal systems design, combustion, transportation power systems, mass and heat transfer, computational modeling and simulations, and energy utilization and management
Material and Chemical Systems, including thermo-mechanical materials processing, composite materials and ceramics, tribology, micro-and nano-technology electrochemical processes, catalysis, chemical and biochemical processes and energy conversion systems, computational modeling and simulations
Biomechanics
Aerospace Engineering

Admission

Apply online to SIUC and mail original application materials to: Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics, SIUC, Carbondale, IL 62901. There is a $65 application fee.

Admission to the program requires a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field with a GPA of 3.25/4.00 or higher on the entire last undergraduate GPA earned at the time of application. Applications for admission must include the following: M.S. thesis abstract, a statement of interest, bachelor's and master's degree transcripts, GRE scores, and three letters of recommendation. International applicants should also include a photocopy of the page(s) of your passport showing your name, date of birth, and country of citizenship and a TOEFL score of 550 (paper score) or an IBT score of 80 or an IELTS score of 6.5. Admission to the program is made by the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Committee.

For accelerated entry into the Ph.D. program, a student must complete at least two semesters in residence in an M.S. program in a mechanical engineering-related field and complete a minimum of 18 hours of approved coursework with a minimum GPA of 3.75. Such entry is permitted only to superior students who have exhibited evidence that they are prepared to begin the research activities of doctoral-level study. In addition, the student must have GRE scores that are at or above the 50th percentile for both verbal component and analytical essay component and 80th percentile for the quantitative component, or a combined total percentile score of 180 or higher. In the case of a domestic student, an undergraduate GPA of 3.5 or higher is also a requirement. For an international student, a TOEFL score of 550 (paper score) or an IBT score of 80 or an IELTS score of 6.5 is an additional requirement. In exceptional cases, to substitute for the above-mentioned GRE and TOEFL score requirements, the student’s current faculty advisor, with the approval of the school director, may submit a letter of recommendation for his/her student’s accelerated entry into the Ph.D. program. The student, having an accelerated entry into the Ph.D. program may not write an M.S. Thesis. In addition, 6 credit hours of course work of 500 level completed prior to his/her entry into the Ph.D. program may be counted toward the Ph.D. course requirement. In the rare event that the student getting an accelerated entry into the Ph.D. Program fails to pass the Ph.D. qualifying exam in two attempts, he/she will be allowed to complete an M.S. degree. Admission to the program is made by the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Committee.

Admission to the doctoral program also requires the identification of an initial graduate advisor for each student. This advisor will be responsible with the student for planning the student’s course work according to the field of study within Mechanical Engineering described later.

Retention

Any prospective doctoral candidate with a grade point average of less than 3.25 and 20 semester hours of doctoral work will not be allowed to continue in the program and will not be re-admitted at a later date. Students must accumulate an overall grade point average of 3.50 for all doctoral work to qualify to take the qualifying examination.

Prior to the completion of 30 semester hours of course work, students meet with their major professors to determine whether or not to continue as doctoral students. Such matters as grade point average, progress in the program, course completion, motivation, general academic scholarship, and skills in writing and research are considered. A report is then made to the graduate committee and the school director. Students who are not making satisfactory progress or who violate the regulations of the school, college, or university may be dropped from the program.

Curriculum

A minimum of 26 semester hours of course work (including 2 hours of seminar) and 24 semester hours of dissertation research are required. The course work must be completed in 2 areas: field of study and program core. The student must complete a minimum of 15 hours of course work relevant to their field of study. The course work in the field of study is intended to provide depth in the student’s area of research. The program core consists of 11 hours of course work. A dissertation must be completed in the student’s area of research interest with the approval of the dissertation committee.

Program Core

The program core consists of 11 hours of course work: 6 hours in math, 3 hours in engineering or science, and 2 hours of seminar. The math courses to choose from: are all 500, except MATH 511, 512A-G, 513A-I, and 516A and 516B. The engineering courses to choose from are: ENGR 530—Engineering Data Acquisition: Theory and Practice, ENGR 540—Design of Engineering Experiments, ENGR 545—Advanced Numerical Methods in Engineering, ENGR 521—Probability and Stochastic Processes for Engineers. The science course could be any 500-level courses in Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, or Geology, as approved by the student’s advisor. The seminar course, ME 580, must be taken in two separate semesters, each time as a one-hour course. It is recommended that the seminar classes be taken after the initiation of doctoral research or after candidacy is granted.

Guide for Core and Field of Study Courses

Special Investigation course can be taken under ME 593 - Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering or ENGR - 590 Special Investigations in Engineering Science, and only 3 hours can be counted towards the minimum required 26 semester hours of course work.
Students with an M.S. degree in Physics must take at least 9 hours of ME courses, one of which can be ENGR 590 or ME 593.
Students with an M.S. degree in Physics from SIUC can substitute PHYS 500A and 500B - Mathematical Methods in Physics for six hours of math requirement in program core.
Transfer credit will normally be given for some of the graduate level courses suitable to the program upon review by the Graduate Committee. Proficiency examinations may be authorized by the committee for areas in which questions of transfer credit arise. No credit will be given for industrial experience. A maximum of six hours of course work can be transferred in all cases due to residency requirement, which states that every student must complete at least 24 semester hours of approved course work at SIUC prior to taking the candidacy examination. Of the 24 hours, only 6 hours can be dissertation (ME 600) hours before candidacy.
A student transferring credits from a master’s program must have earned those credits over and above the required course work to obtain the M.S. degree in his/her institution. Credit cannot be transferred from master's degrees obtained from international institutions.

Qualifying Examinations

Upon completion of the field of study and core courses, the student may take the qualifying examination which has two components: written exam and oral exam. The examination in the field of study is organized and administered by at least three Mechanical Engineering faculty members (examining committee) including the student’s advisor. The committee has to be approved by the program director before it conducts the examination. Normally, the examination can be conducted at any time during the year when classes are in session. In the written examination, the student is tested in at least two major topics of the field of study with an appropriate number of questions prepared by the members of the student’s candidacy examination committee. Each student must score at least 70% in each major topic test in order to pass the written part of the candidacy examination. The oral exam, conducted by the examining committee, is held within two weeks of the written exam. In the oral examination, the student is tested again in the field of study by at least three candidacy examination committee members. If not successful, the committee may allow the student to repeat the whole or part of the examination one more time. The qualifying examination, in whole or in part, cannot be taken more than two times.

Candidacy

A Ph.D. student must satisfy all Graduate School requirements to become a candidate. Admission to candidacy requires: (a) successful completion of the qualifying examination (which satisfies the research tool requirement of the Graduate School) and (b) successful completion of twenty-four hours of credit (which satisfies the residency requirement of the Graduate School).

Acceptance to Ph.D. candidacy is contingent upon the completion of all courses with A or B grades and successful completion of a written exam and an oral exam in the student’s field of study.

After the completion of the qualifying examination, copies of the graded tests, along with signoff sheets for both the written and oral examinations are submitted to the director of the Ph.D. program, who is also the Director of the School.

Dissertation

A dissertation must be written under the direction or co-direction of a MAME faculty member and approved by a dissertation committee consisting of at least five members (one outside the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering). The dissertation advisor must be chosen by the end of the student’s first academic year. The dissertation committee should be formed after successful completion of the candidacy examination. The members of this committee need not be the same as the members of the candidacy examination committee. A dissertation research proposal must be approved by the dissertation committee. Candidates will be required to present an acceptable dissertation describing original research performed with minimal supervision. Dissertation approval is based on a successful oral defense of the dissertation research and approval of the dissertation. This requires approval of at least 80 percent of the dissertation committee.

Following the admission to candidacy and upon completion of all required coursework, the candidate will prepare and submit a formal written dissertation proposal, defining the proposed research and the proposed line of inquiry. The candidate subsequently must make an oral presentation of the dissertation proposal to the members of the dissertation committee in an open forum. A public announcement of this event must be made at least five business days in advance.

In the framework of the oral presentation of the dissertation proposal, the candidate is expected to address and respond to any question (by the members of the committee) related to material covered by all the courses taken during his/her doctoral studies or to the background necessary for the specific area of the proposed research. In addition, the candidate is expected to defend the research methodology and the proposed line of inquiry.

The dissertation must be prepared in accordance with the “Guidelines for Dissertations, Theses, and Research Papers” of the SIUC Graduate School. Dissertation approval is based on successful defense of the research performed in terms of originality, relevance, and presentation (written and oral). This requires approval by at least 80% of the members of the dissertation committee.

Upon completion of the dissertation, which must demonstrate the ability of the candidate to conduct independent research, the committee will administer the final oral examination. The objective of the final oral examination, conducted in an open forum, will be the defense of the dissertation. Upon satisfactory completion of the dissertation and the final oral examination the committee will recommend the candidate for the doctoral degree.

Graduation Timeline

Although the time to completion of the doctoral program changes from individual to individual, the average completion time is about four years. The following outline shows the steps for completing the program, with links to various forms needed to show completion of the various stages of the program. Forms shown in italics are required by the Graduate School. The other forms are required by the College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics.

Admission to the program.
Students complete the core and concentration.
A candidacy (qualifying) exam committee, comprised of at least three faculty members and chaired by the advisor, is formed (Candidacy Committee Form).
Student takes the candidacy (qualifying) exam: first the written exam and within two weeks the oral exam. Advisor reports the exam results to the Director (Candidacy Exam Results Form). The advisor sends the form to the Director along with copies of the graded written exam. A candidacy request form is then sent to the Graduate School to request candidacy status for the student. The advisor, the student, and the Director sign this form (Admit to Candidacy Form).
A Ph.D. Committee, comprised of at least five faculty members (one of whom is from outside of MAME), and chaired by the advisor, is formed to guide the student in his/her dissertation research. (Graduate Faculty Committee Approval Form).
Student defends dissertation. The advisor sends the form to the Director along with a copy of the proposal (Dissertation Proposal Approval Form ).
Student defends dissertation (Oral Defense Form). The Dissertation Approval Form is to be completed and deposited at the Graduate School (Dissertation Approval Form) to be printed on 25% cotton paper). A copy of this form must be filed at the School Office. The dissertation is to be submitted to the Graduate School electronically in pdf. For spring, summer, and winter graduation dates and deadlines, check the Graduate School website.

Suggested Coursework for the Different Fields of Study

The Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering is available for six fields of study that correlate with the School’s core expertise. The fields of study are as follows:

Mechanical Design and Systems, including dynamics and vibrations, mechanical systems control, computational modeling and simulations
Advanced Manufacturing
Energy and Thermal/Fluid Systems, including fluid mechanics, thermal science, thermal systems design, combustion, transportation power systems, mass and heat transfer, computational modeling and simulations and energy utilization and management
Material and Chemical Systems, including thermo-mechanical materials processing, composite materials and ceramics, tribology, micro- and nano-technology electrochemical processes, catalysis, chemical and biochemical processes and energy conversion systems, computational modeling and simulations
Biomechanics
Aerospace Engineering

The selection of field of study courses is listed below.

Mechanical Design and Systems

Recommended Courses:

ME 505-3 Vehicle Dynamics
ME 535-3 Computer Aided Analysis of Mechanical Systems I
ME 537-3 Nonlinear Vibrations
ME 538-3 Applied Optimal Design and Control of Dynamic Systems
ME 545-3 Intelligent Control
ME 550-3 Contact Mechanics
ME 551-3 Advanced Vibration
ME 565-3 Finite Element Analysis (same as CE 551)
ME 566-3 Advanced Mechanics of Materials (same as CE 557)
ME 581-3 Microrobotics

Suggested Alternatives:

ME 549-3 Wave Propagation, Impact and Explosions
ME 569-3 Non-Destructive Evaluation
ME 593-3 Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering

Suggested Electives:

ME 582-1 Experimental Research Tools
ME 593-3 Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering
ENGR 522-3 Intellectual Property and Commercialization