Degrees Offered
- Masters of Science, Mechanical Engineering (M.S.M.E.)
- Doctor of Philosophy, Mechanical Engineering (Ph.D.)
Educational Objectives of the Departmental Graduate-Level Programs:
- To provide high quality advanced master-level and Ph.D. level education to graduate engineering students to enable successful careers in technology development, innovation and research, with depth and breadth in one or several areas of the mechanical engineering discipline.
- To develop the capacity of graduates to conduct independent research and/or technology development and innovation, through original contributions to the mechanical engineering discipline and to disseminate the results of their scholarly work.
- To instill in graduates the drive for leadership in technology development, innovation and research and to contribute to the advancement of the profession in a societal and economic context.
The outcomes of the graduate programs in Mechanical Engineering are as follows:
- Holders of graduate degrees will have an expert-level understanding of the advanced principles of mechanical engineering, which include mechanical systems design, system dynamics, solid mechanics, energy systems, engineering materials, automatic controls, mechatronics, and computational mechanics.
- Holders of graduate degrees will hold paramount the highest standards of ethical and professional responsibility in the practice of their profession to contribute to the well being of society and to the advancement of the mechanical engineering profession.
- Holders of Ph.D. degrees will have furthered original research contributions to the state of the art in their specific areas of expertise and will be able to develop innovative research in order to advance the frontiers of knowledge, secure sponsored research, and disseminate its findings through scholarly publications.
Thesis Based Master's Degrees
All the requirements for thesis based master's degrees (M.S.A.E., M.S.M.E. and M.S.M.S.&E.) in the MAE Department must be completed within eight years preceding the student's graduation. All students in these programs are required to engage in research, complete and successfully defend a master's thesis. They must identify a subject for their thesis research, form a three-member advisory and examining committee (AEC), and file a plan of study by the end of their second semester of enrollment in the graduate program. A minimum of twenty-four credit hours of coursework with a minimum overall GPA of 3.0/4.0 and six credit hours of M.S. thesis research are required for the thesis based master's degrees. Students must pass a final examination administered by their advisory and examining committee before being certified for the degree. All thesis based master's degree students have to comply with core requirements by selecting a "core area" taking two of the courses listed in that area, and in addition they have to comply with the mathematics requirements by taking two courses from an approved list. Four additional courses can be selected from a list of technical electives, or from the core and mathematics lists to complete the coursework requirements, with no more than three courses at the 400 level.
Ph.D. Degrees
The MAE Department offers Ph.D. Programs in Aerospace Engineering, in Mechanical Engineering, and in Materials Science and Engineering. These programs require a minimum of eighteen credit hours of graduate level coursework plus a minimum of twenty-four credit hours of research. Students in the Ph.D. program must take and pass the Ph.D. Qualifier examination by the second semester of the program with a second attempt no later than the third semester in the program if necessary. After the qualifier examination, students are expected to produce a dissertation proposal and defend it before a five-member advising and examining committee (AEC). Subsequent to the successful proposal defense, students must comply with the journal paper publication (or patent disclosure) requirement in order to attain Ph.D. Candidacy. Finally, Ph.D. candidates must successfully defend a Ph.D. dissertation and submit it to WVU library through the ETD protocol to fulfill all the requirements for the degree.