Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Curriculum

The courses in the MAE department are categorized into the following three areas: analytical math, numerical, and topical.  With the approval of their advisor and the Department, graduate students must take a minimum number of classes from each area that form the graduate student’s “Core Courses”. 

The Core Courses are:

• Analytical Math

o Engineering Math I (6410)

o Engineering Math II (6420)

o Statistics for Engineers and Scientists (6430)

• Numerical

o Multibody Mechanical Systems (6250)

o Finite Element Analysis (6710)

o Computational Fluid Dynamics I (6720)

• Topical

o Any 6000-level MAE course, including Special Topics courses. This does not include Independent Study courses. All topical courses that fulfill the core requirements must be approved by both the advisor and the advisory committee.

Mechanics Track

• MAE 6020 - Continuum Mechanics with Applications Credits: 3  
• MAE 6210 - Analytical Dynamics Credits : 3  

    or

• MAE 6250 - Multibody Mechanical Systems Credits: 3  
• MAE 6410 - Engineering Mathematics I Credits: 3  
• MAE 6100 - Thermomechanics Credits: 3  

               or

• MAE 6310 - Fluid Mechanics I Credits: 3  
• MAE 6710 - Finite Element Analysis Credits: 3  

Thermofluids Track

• MAE 6100 - Thermomechanics Credits: 3  
• MAE 6310 - Fluid Mechanics I Credits: 3  
• MAE 6410 - Engineering Mathematics I Credits: 3  
• MAE 6020 - Continuum Mechanics with Applications Credits: 3  

                or

• MAE 6210 - Analytical Dynamics Credits: 3  

                or

• MAE 6250 - Multibody Mechanical Systems Credits: 3  
• MAE 6720 - Computational Fluid Dynamics I Credits: 3  

Graduation Requirements

The graduation requirements also include completion (satisfactory grade) of

• At least two semesters of MAE 7510 for an MS degree
• At least six semesters of MAE 8591 or MAE 7510 for a PhD degree (seminar series courses taken towards an MS degree can satisfy this requirement).

Doctor of Philosophy Degree Requirements

PhD students must obtain the agreement of an Advisor to supervise a PhD dissertation.

Master’s Degree Requirements

The department offers two Master’s degrees: a Master of Science (MS), which requires a thesis, and a Master of Engineering (ME), which is a course-based masters degree requiring no research. Masters students enrolled in the MS program must obtain the agreement of an Advisor to supervise an MS thesis. ME students are assigned an Advisor to aid in course selection.

Master of Engineering - Course Requirements

• 30 credits of graduate coursework
• 18 credits from Mechanical and Aerospace (MAE) graduate classes
• No more than 9 credits from 5000 level classes
• No more than 6 credits from 5000 level MAE classes
• No courses below 5000 level may be counted

Master of Science - Course Requirements

• 24 credits of graduate coursework (9 hours of graduate course work beyond the core)
• At least 6 hours of MAE 8999 Master’s Thesis Research
• Completion of core courses described above
• No more than 9 credits from 5000 level classes
• No more than 6 credits from 5000 level MAE classes
• No courses below 5000 level may be counted

Publications

All MS and PhD students are expected to complete publishable original research. Regular publication and presentation of scholarly work is an expected part of any graduate level research program.