Mechanical Engineering MS

The Mechanical Engineering Department offers the MS degree in mechanical engineering. Course offerings and faculty interests span the entire range of the mechanical engineering field. The MS program provides advanced education enabling students to solve complex engineering problems.

The program also offers an option in industrial and systems engineering, in which you will learn the critical tools of optimization, modeling, and quality assurance—allowing you to refine your management skills and support the business objectives of your organization.

Through the master’s level studies, the following will be gained:

an advanced level of understanding in the general areas of mechanical engineering
depth of knowledge and an understanding of advanced topics in your chosen area of specialization

Students will have the ability to:

identify and formulate complex engineering problems
develop solutions to complex engineering problems
communicate technical material effectively both orally and through technical reports and publications

Each candidate for the Master of Science Degree must obtain a minimum of 31 (with 1 credit for attending seminars) graduate credits (Thesis or Project tracks) or 34 graduate credits (Course Work track), maintaining a grade point average of at least 3.0 out of a 4.0 grading scale in course work with no more than two course grades below ‘B-’ before the degree is awarded. The MNE MS program only allows credits at the 500-level or above (graduate) courses.

Requirements

Required Core Courses: 10 credits

EAS 501 - Advanced Mathematical Methods Credits: 3
EAS 502 - Numerical Methods Credits: 3
MNE 500 - Mechanical Engineering Seminar Credits: 0.5
Take two seminar courses for a total of 1 credit.
MNE 503 - Continuum Mechanics Credits: 3

Additional requirements: 15 credits

May be selected from any advisor-approved graduate level courses. No more than six of these credits may be in graduate courses offered outside the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Additional Requirements - Thesis, Project, or Course Work tracks: 6 or 9 credits

Thesis Option

MNE 580 - Masters Thesis Credits: variable; 1.00 to 6.00

Project Option

MNE 590 - Masters Project Credits: variable; .00 to 6.00

Coursework Option

additional elective courses - 9 credits

Oral Exam

(all options)

Admission Requirements

Admission to the MS program is competitive. Students possessing a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a recognized institution and a strong academic background in mechanical engineering or a similar discipline are encouraged to apply for admission. Typically, MS applicants with an undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 grading scale for all engineering, math and physics courses will be considered.

Applicants to the ISE option must satisfy the following:
• Bachelor’s or an equivalent degree.
• Applicants with non-engineering undergraduate degrees will be considered for the ISE option and may be required to take some foundational courses.

Applicants for the MS in Mechanical Engineering and ISE option must submit the required application materials to the Graduate Office

Resources

The Mechanical Engineering Department maintains research laboratories in the areas of multi-scale medical robotics, advanced materials for the preparation and characterization of multi-functional composites, computational multiphase flow, biomaterial interactions and fluid structure interactions which includes a recirculating water tunnel and a subsonic wind tunnel.

In addition, the Laboratory for Marine Science, Environment and Technology; the Center for Scientific Computing and Data Science Research, the hub for computational scientific activity at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE)—described elsewhere in this catalog—are especially important for advanced students in engineering.

Graduate Financial Assistance

Inquiries regarding graduate student financial assistance should be made to the Director of the Graduate Program. For information about loans or other assistance, please consult the chapter on “Expenses and Financial Assistance.”

Many employers will assist employees in furthering their professional education; contact the personnel office at your place of work.

Course Availability and Offerings

Graduate courses are offered mostly in the evenings if possible to accommodate both full-time and part-time students.