Mar 29, 2024  
2022-2023 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog 
    
2022-2023 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Engineering, MSE, Mechanical Engineering Concentration


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All specialty aspects of mechanical engineering that align with the UL Lafayette Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty's areas of expertise can serve as potential specialization areas for both course selection and thesis topics. Example areas of particular emphasis by the department include alternative energy, manufacturing, systems vibration, metal forming, computational fluid dynamics, machine science, process modeling and optimization, computer aided design, and automotive engineering.

Course Requirements


Degree candidates must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0, after the first 12 credit hours, to remain in the program. All students are required to complete the following:

College of Engineering Core (6 credit hours)


Mechanical Engineering Core (6 credit hours)


Two MCHE core courses as approved by the Graduate Coordinator upon acceptance into the program.

Thesis Option


Students pursuing the thesis option must complete 24 credit hours of coursework and six thesis research hours. Of the 24 credit hours of coursework, 12 credit hours are College of Engineering and MCHE departmental core courses. The remaining 12 credit hours consist of additional MCHE graduate courses or approved graduate courses from the College of Sciences or other engineering departments. A maximum of 3 credit hours may be applied from graduate independent study courses. No more than 9 graduate credit hours may be courses below the 500-level. All graduate courses must be approved by both the committee chairperson and the department graduate coordinator.

Non-thesis Option


Students pursuing the non-thesis option must complete 33 credit hours of coursework and three credit hours of non-thesis research. Of the 33 credit hours of coursework, 12 credit hours are College of Engineering and MCHE departmental core courses. The remaining 21 credit hours consist of additional MCHE graduate courses or approved graduate courses from mathematics or other engineering departments. A maximum of 3 credit hours may be applied from graduate independent study courses. No more than 12 graduate credit hours may be courses below the 500-level. All graduate courses must be approved by both the committee chairperson and the department graduate coordinator. Non-thesis students are also required to pass an oral exam.

Graduate Assistantships


Graduate assistantships are available on a competitive basis and may take the form of tuition waivers or stipends and tuition waivers. Students receiving a tuition waiver only are required to put in 10 hours a week of service to the department (grading, assisting in laboratories, monitoring computer laboratories, etc.). Students receiving stipends and tuition waivers are required to put in 20 hours of service to the department. Graduate students supported by individual faculty members on research grants are expected to work on the funded project.

Students with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) who are accepted into the graduate program are automatically considered for graduate assistantships. Students entering the program without a BSME must complete three-quarters of the leveling courses (listed below) before being considered for graduate assistantships. Students interested in specific research areas are encouraged to contact professors doing work in that area.

Leveling Courses


Students admitted to the program without a BSME must complete the following leveling courses with a C or better. Any deviations from this list must be approved by the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Affairs Committee. Three quarters of this coursework must be completed before a student is eligible for a graduate assistantship.

Calculus I Statics Instrumentation Laboratory
Calculus II Dynamics Heat Transfer
Differential Equations Mechanics of Solids Machine Design I
Physics I - Mechanics Engineering Fluids Controls
  Thermo I  

 

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