Systems Engineering, Ph.D.

Admission

Admission of applicants into the program is based on a thorough evaluation of student capabilities measured via a variety of metrics inclusive of the GRE Exam (Graduate Record Exam), TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), written essays, reference documentation, and evaluation of transcripts from previous educational programs.

For Post-B.S. or direct admission (B.S. to Ph.D.) into the program, the students must hold a B.S. from a recognized engineering discipline and have at least a 3.0 Cumulative GPA within the last 70 hours of engineering coursework from their B.S. program. For the GRE General Test taken prior to August 2011, a Success Evaluation Score should be in excess of 1,150. The Success Evaluation Score (SES) is computed as detailed below:

ES = GRE Quantitative Score + (GRE Analytical Score x 100)

Note that the maximum GRE Quantitative score is 800 and the maximum GRE Analytical score (often referred to as the “Written Portion”) is 6.0. For the GRE General Test taken August 2011 or after, please refer to the department for the SES minimum. All other criteria for the proposed program must follow the graduate admission policy of the university. Students without an engineering degree will not be allowed to directly enter the Ph.D. program; they will be required to obtain a M.S. (or B.S.) in an engineering field prior to acceptance. The M.S. in Engineering program at UL Lafayette does allow admission of students without an engineering degree provided that the student takes a series of leveling courses.

Post-M.S. students must have at least one of their two degrees being an engineering degree and have a M.S. cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. Note that students with a M.S. in engineering that do not have a B.S. in engineering may be required to take “leveling” courses within their concentration area (civil, chemical, electrical, computer, mechanical, or petroleum). It is the goal of the UL Lafayette College of Engineering that all of its graduates can successfully sit for the Professional Engineering licensure exam; hence, the need for fully discipline-leveled graduates. The extent of leveling courses required will be determined on a case-by-case basis within each department.

General Requirements

A minimum of 72 hours above the bachelor’s degree is required. At least 48 of these hours must be in coursework including 24 hours from a General Systems Engineering Program Core and 24 hours from a Specialty Core from their selected concentration (either chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, or petroleum engineering). The Specialization Core content will be designed by the student and major professor as part of the student’s program of study (see more details below on program development).

Special Requirements

The UL Lafayette College of Engineering offers an innovative leadership development program entitled “Designing Leaders” that is offered once a year during the spring semester. Leadership is often listed as a key targeted characteristic for Systems Engineers. Therefore, since the graduates of the Systems Engineering Ph.D. degree program must have strong leadership skills, it is required that all students in the Systems Engineering Ph.D. program enroll in and successfully complete Designing Leaders program prior to graduation.

General Comprehensive Examination

A comprehensive examination will be administered after all required courses are completed. This exam focuses on the student’s use of the content obtained from the courses taken within the program and how it was used to structure a research proposal, implementation plans, and commercialization concept. The comprehensive exam requires a written component that presents a research proposal on a topic not closely aligned with the student’s dissertation topic. This written proposal requires the student to prepare his/her proposal following the current National Science Foundation (NSF) proposal format. A second component of the comprehensive exam is a verbal presentation of the proposal to the graduate committee. The topic of the comprehensive exam must be agreed upon by the student’s graduate committee prior to the initiation of the exam. The student will be granted one semester to prepare the exam materials and the defense (both component tests administered the following semester). The student must work independently and not utilize advice from faculty (they can utilize advice from student colleagues). Both components are pass/fail with a majority vote of the graduate committee on the outcomes required. The student will be allowed two attempts at each component.

Dissertation

A comprehensive, written dissertation that summarizes all aspects of the original research performed by the candidate is required. To accomplish this, a minimum of 24 dissertation hours must be completed. To enhance the experience of the candidate and to address the intent of a strong appeal to industry, each committee will include an industry member to provide a strong industrial perspective (this committee member will not serve as a voting member, but as an advisor from an industry perspective throughout the entire process). To further entrench the learning of current state-of-the-art product development methodology, the dissertation research to be performed by the candidates must follow a generalized Six Sigma format. Additionally, each dissertation must have a significant “Commercialization” chapter that details how the discoveries and associated technology developments may be brought into the engineering marketplace.

Final Examination

The final examination will be a dissertation defense administered after the dissertation is completed and reviewed by the student’s dissertation committee. With this exam, a thorough review of the dissertation by the graduate committee along with a stand-up defense is required.