Qualifying Examination
The student must pass a Qualifying Examination before the Dissertation
Director, the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee, and the courses
for the Plan of Study are selected. The objective of the Qualifying
Examination is to determine if the student has sufficient engineering
background to qualify for doctoral studies. The Qualifying Examination
must be taken by all first year graduate students. It is given in
the spring semester of each academic year and consists of three examinations
in Mathematics and six examinations in Mechanical Engineering (or
in an area that is closely related to the candidate's field of study).
If the student fails the Qualifying Examination, the student may
petition the Qualifying Examination Committee for a re-examination.
One re-examination is permitted. If the student fails the second
Qualifying Examination, the Dean of the College of Engineering shall
forward the results of the Qualifying Examination along with the
recommendation that the Dean of the Graduate School dismiss the student
from the doctoral program in the College of Engineering.
Dissertation Director
After passing the Qualifying Examination, the student selects a
Dissertation Director. Any graduate student who does not select a
Dissertation Director in the first year of doctoral study may be
dismissed from the doctoral program and, if on assistantship, shall
not receive further assistantship support.
Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee
After choosing the Dissertation Director, an Interdisciplinary Doctoral
Committee is formed. The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee shall
consist of a minimum of five full-time faculty members with a minimum
of three from the College of Engineering and at least one from outside
the College of Engineering. Of the three members from the College
of Engineering, one must be from a department different from that
of the Dissertation Director and all three must have attained that
graduate faculty status, as specified by the Graduate School, which
permits the direction of doctoral students. The member from outside
the College of Engineering must also have a status on the graduate
faculty which allows him/her to direct doctoral dissertations. This
member is selected so as to be maximally beneficial to the student
in the design and conduct of the research, providing a perspective
from a related discipline.
Any graduate student who does not form an Interdisciplinary Doctoral
Committee in the first year of doctoral study may be dismissed from
the doctoral program and, if on an assistantship, shall not receive
further assistantship support.
Plan of Study
After consultation with the Dissertation Director, the doctoral
student shall formally present a Plan of Study to the Interdisciplinary
Doctoral Committee for recommendations and acceptance. The courses
listed on the Plan of Study constitute the individualized curriculum
that the doctoral student must satisfy to meet the course requirements
for the doctoral degree. Since the Plan of Study is individualized,
it may contain more credits than the minimum specified in the doctoral
degree requirements.
Any graduate student who does not have an approved Plan of Study
in the first year of doctoral study may be dismissed from the doctoral
program and, if on an assistantship, shall not receive further assistantship
support.
Credit Requirements
The Plan of Study must have at least 42 credits at the 600 and 700
level. The minimum total credit hours for the doctoral program is
96 credit hours.
Language Requirement
The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee may require the student
to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language.
Demonstration of competence in appropriate research skills may serve
as a substitute for the foreign language requirement.
Candidacy Examination
A Candidacy Examination is prepared and administered by the Interdisciplinary
Doctoral Committee. The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee may
combine the Candidacy Examination and the Dissertation Proposal as
it sees fit.
If the doctoral student fails the Candidacy Examination, the doctoral
student may submit a written petition to the Interdisciplinary Doctoral
Committee for a re-examination. If the Committee concurs with the
student’s petition, then one re-examination is permitted within
the time period specified by the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee.
If the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee rejects the petition
for re-examination, or the student fails the re-examination, then
the Dissertation Director shall notify the Dean of Engineering, in
writing, that the student has failed the Candidacy Examination. The
Dean of Engineering shall recommend to the Dean of the Graduate School
that the student be dismissed from the doctoral program in engineering.
Dissertation Proposal
The Dissertation Proposal is a written description of the proposed
research and should include a review of the previous work in this
area, the significance of the investigation, the objectives, the
methodology, and the expected results. The Interdisciplinary Doctoral
Committee will also evaluate the doctoral student’s ability
to communicate the results of the investigations. The Interdisciplinary
Doctoral Committee will give written recommendations on the dissertation
proposal to the doctoral candidate.
Dissertation and Oral Defense
The dissertation and oral examination must be approved by the Interdisciplinary
Doctoral Committee before the dissertation can be submitted to the
Graduate School.
The doctoral candidate distributes complete, but preliminary, copies
of the dissertation to each member of the Interdisciplinary Doctoral
Committee at least two weeks prior to the Dissertation Defense. The
doctoral candidate then makes an oral presentation of the dissertation.
The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee evaluates the presentation,
and examines the candidate to determine that the investigations meet
scholarly standards that are appropriate for the doctorate degree.
At the end of the final defense, all committee members are polled
for their vote on the defense and the dissertation. No fail votes
are allowed for the student to pass. A form is sent to the Graduate
School indicating that the defense has been held and that the student
has passed or failed.
The doctoral candidate incorporates any recommendations and corrections
of the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee into the dissertation
and prepares the final draft of the dissertation. Five copies of
the completed and signed dissertation are required; two for the Graduate
School, one for the department, one for the Dissertation Director,
and one for the doctoral candidate. The five required copies of the
dissertation are submitted to the College of Engineering for approval
by the Dean of the College of Engineering.
