Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Degree
The Department of Mechanical Engineering offers a dissertation option for a Doctor of Philosophy degree. A minimum of 72 credit hours of graduate credit beyond the Bachelor's degree is required for a PhD. For students with a 30-credit hour Master's degree, a minimum of 42 credt hours of graduate credit is required.
Mission
The broad discipline of mechanical engineering enables students to have productive and rewarding careers, and to develop and improve new technologies in both traditional and emerging fields. Mechanical engineers apply fundamental principles to develop, design, manufacture, and test machines and other mechanical devices. Such devices include, but are not limited to power-producing machines, as well as power-consuming machines. Mechanical engineers are employed in diverse areas, including but not limited to the energy and power industries, the automotive and aerospace industries, and industrial manufacturing. Mechanical Engineering graduates also have careers in medicine and medical device development, patent law, engineering and corporate management, forensic engineering, and engineering sales.
The mission of the Mechanical Engineering Department is to provide our students with a high-quality education, to generate and apply knowledge, and to serve both society and the engineering profession.
Graduates holding the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering will be able to:
- An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
- An ability to develop and conduct appropriate physical and/or numerical experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
- An ability to read, analyze, and critically assess scientific literature.
- An ability to effectively communicate advanced mechanical engineering concepts in writing and orally at a professional level and an ability to articulate and address critical issues in their field of study.
- An ability to independently acquire new information, learn new concepts, and build new skills.
- An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities.
Standard Admission Requirements for all Graduate Programs
- All applicants must meet the requirements outlined in the Admission to Graduate Study policy.
- Bachelor’s degree: A copy of official transcripts showing proof of a bachelor's degree (and any post-bachelor’s coursework or degrees) from a regionally accredited institution, or a foreign university with equivalent bachelor's degree requirements is required.
- English proficiency: Proof of English proficiency for non-native or non-native-like English speakers is required. There are two bands of English proficiency, including Admission and Full proficiency. For applicants to online programs, Full proficiency is required.
Admission Requirements
To qualify for graduate study in any of the graduate programs in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, a student generally must have earned a baccalaureate degree from an accredited mechanical engineering program. However, a student with good preparation in some other engineering discipline or a related program, such as physics, may qualify by taking appropriate undergraduate courses specified by the Mechanical Engineering Department Graduate Admissions Committee. Application information can be found at the graduate admissions website.
Minimum English Proficiency Requirements
These guidelines are subject to change by official action of the appropriate Graduate School governance bodies. Visit the full English Proficiency Requirements for Admission to Graduate Study policy for the current requirements.
GTA and GRA Eligibility
Graduate teaching and research assistant eligibility requirements are distinct from admission requirements. Additional information on eligibility for graduate teaching assistants and graduate research assistants may be found in the GTA, GRA, and GA Appointments: General Guidelines and Eligibility.
Contact Information
Please contact the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Program Coordinator at kume@ku.edu or +1 (785) 864-3181, to schedule a visit or with questions about the application process.
The University of Kansas
Mechanical Engineering Graduate Program
3138 Learned Hall
1530 W. 15th Street
Lawrence, KS 66045
Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering Degree Requirements
A dissertation is required of each doctoral candidate. The Ph.D. dissertation presents the results of the student's research investigation. It is expected to make an original contribution to technical knowledge of sufficient quality to merit publication(s) in refereed journals. A candidate for a doctoral degree must satisfy all Office of Graduate & Postdoctoral Affairs policy requirements for the degree and must submit to the major professor a paper or papers, based on the dissertation, suitable for publication in a refereed journal.
Coursework Requirements
Coursework must be completed by the end of the semester of the oral comprehensive exam. Additional requirements for the degree, including enrollment in dissertation hours for doctoral candidacy, are described below the grid.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework Requirements | ||
| ME 801 | Responsible Conduct of Research in Engineering | 1 |
| Mechanical Engineering Graduate Coursework | ||
| A minimum of 9 credit hours (option A) or 21 credit hours (option B) must be mechanical engineering courses numbered 700-900. Students select graduate courses from the graduate course list below with advice from their faculty advisor. | 9-21 | |
Option A: Students admitted to the program with their M.S. complete 3 courses (9 hours) minimum of Mechanical Engineering graduate courses. | ||
Option B: Students admitted to the program without their M.S. complete 7 courses (21 hours) minimum of Mechanical Engineering graduate courses. | ||
| Advanced Mathematics | ||
| Students complete a minimum of 3 courses (9 hours) of Advanced Mathematics courses from the course list below. | 9 | |
| Total Hours | 19-31 | |
Mechanical Engineering Graduate Course List
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ME 702 | Mechanical Engineering Analysis | 3 |
| ME 708 | Mechatronics | 3 |
| ME 712 | Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics | 3 |
| ME 716 | Introduction to Surface and Interface Science | 3 |
| ME 718 | Fundamentals of Fuel Cells | 3 |
| ME 722 | Modeling Dynamics of Mechanical Systems | 3 |
| ME 733 | Gas Dynamics | 3 |
| ME 736 | Catalytic Exhaust Aftertreatment Modeling | 3 |
| ME 750 | Biomechanics of Human Motion | 3 |
| ME 751 | Experimental Methods in Biomechanics | 3 |
| ME 752 | Acoustics | 3 |
| ME 753 | Bone Biomechanics | 3 |
| ME 754 | Medical Imaging | 3 |
| ME 755 | Computer Simulation in Biomechanics | 3 |
| ME 757 | Biomechanical Systems | 3 |
| ME 765 | Biomaterials | 3 |
| ME 788 | Optimal Estimation | 3 |
| ME 789 | Energy Storage Systems and Control | 3 |
| ME 790 | Special Topics: _____ | 1-5 |
| ME 797 | Materials for Energy Applications | 3 |
| ME 798 | Manufacturing for Energy Applications | 3 |
| ME 810 | Advanced Fluid Mechanics | 3 |
| ME 840 | Continuum Mechanics I | 3 |
| ME 841 | Continuum Mechanics II | 3 |
| ME 854 | Continuum Mechanics for Soft Tissues | 3 |
| ME 860 | Advanced Mechanical Engineering Problems | 1-3 |
| ME 861 | Theory of the Finite Element Method | 3 |
| ME 862 | Finite Element Method for Transient Analysis | 3 |
| ME 882 | Advanced Control Systems | 3 |
| ME 890 | Special Topics: _____ | 1-5 |
Advanced Mathematics Approved Course List
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Mathematics | ||
| ME 702 | Mechanical Engineering Analysis | 3 |
| PHSX 718 | Mathematical Methods in Physical Sciences | 3 |
| MATH 590 | Linear Algebra | 3 |
| MATH 591 | Applied Numerical Linear Algebra | 3 |
| MATH 601 | Algebraic Topics in Computing: _____ | 3 |
| MATH 605 | Applied Regression Analysis | 3 |
| MATH 611 | Time Series Analysis | 3 |
| MATH 627 | Probability | 3 |
| MATH 628 | Mathematical Theory of Statistics | 3 |
| MATH 630 | Actuarial Mathematics | 3 |
| MATH 646 | Complex Variable and Applications | 3 |
| MATH 647 | Applied Partial Differential Equations | 3 |
| MATH 648 | Calculus of Variations and Integral Equations | 3 |
| MATH 650 | Nonlinear Dynamical Systems | 3 |
| MATH 660 | Geometry I | 3 |
| MATH 661 | Geometry II | 3 |
| MATH 717 | Nonparametric Statistics | 3 |
| MATH 724 | Combinatorial Mathematics | 3 |
| MATH 725 | Graph Theory | 3 |
| MATH 727 | Probability Theory | 3 |
| MATH 728 | Statistical Theory | 3 |
| MATH 750 | Stochastic Adaptive Control | 3 |
| MATH 765 | Mathematical Analysis I | 3 |
| MATH 766 | Mathematical Analysis II | 3 |
| MATH 783 | Applied Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations | 3 |
| MATH 790 | Linear Algebra II | 3 |
| MATH 791 | Modern Algebra | 3 |
| MATH 781 | Numerical Analysis I | 3 |
| MATH 782 | Numerical Analysis II | 3 |
| MATH 830 | Abstract Algebra | 3 |
| MATH 831 | Abstract Algebra II | 3 |
| MATH 840 | Differentiable Manifolds | 3 |
| MATH 850 | Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems | 3 |
| MATH 851 | Topics in Dynamical Systems: _____ | 3 |
| MATH 865 | Stochastic Processes I | 3 |
| MATH 866 | Stochastic Processes II | 3 |
| MATH 881 | Topics in Advanced Numerical Linear Algebra: _____ | 3 |
| MATH 882 | Topics in Advanced Numerical Differential Equations: _____ | 3 |
| MATH 890 | Fourier Analysis | 3 |
| BIOS 720 | Analysis of Variance | 3 |
| BIOS 725 | Applied Nonparametric Statistics | 3 |
| BIOS 730 | Applied Linear Regression | 3 |
| BIOS 735 | Categorical Data and Survival Analysis | 3 |
| BIOS 740 | Applied Multivariate Methods | 3 |
| BIOS 825 | Nonparametric Methods | 3 |
| BIOS 830 | Experimental Design | 3 |
| BIOS 835 | Categorical Data Analysis | 3 |
| BIOS 840 | Linear Regression | 3 |
| BIOS 845 | Survival Analysis | 3 |
| BIOS 850 | Multivariate Statistics | 3 |
| BIOS 871 | Mathematical Statistics | 3 |
| BIOS 872 | Mathematical Statistics II | 3 |
| BIOS 880 | Data Mining and Analytics | 3 |
| BIOS 900 | Linear Models | 3 |
| BIOS 902 | Bayesian Statistics | 3 |
| BIOS 905 | Theory of Statistical Inference | 3 |
Plan of Study
A minimum of 72 credit hours of graduate credit beyond the bachelor’s degree is required for a Ph.D.
Option A: For students with a 30-credit master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, a minimum of an additional 18 credit hours of graduate coursework and 24 credit hours of dissertationresearch are required. Required courses include:
- Nine credit hours (3 courses) of Mechanical Engineering graduate courses at the 700-level or above.
- Nine credit hours (3 courses) of Advanced Mathematics courses beyond the bachelor's degree. Math courses taken for a master's degree may be counted toward this requirement with approval of the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Director.
- Responsible conduct of research, fulfilled with ME 801.
- Twenty-four total hours of dissertation research, fulfilled with ME 999.
Option B: If a master’s degree is not sought, 42 credit hours of graduate coursework beyond the bachelor’s degree and 30 credit hours of dissertation research are required. Required courses include:
- Twenty-one credit hours (7 courses) of Mechanical Engineering graduate courses at the 700-level or above.
- Nine credit hours (3 courses) of Advanced Mathematics courses beyond the bachelor's degree.
- Responsible conduct of research, fulfilled with ME 801.
- Thirty total hours of dissertation research, fulfilled with ME 999.
Advanced Electives
Remaining hours should be 700-level and above graduate courses in ME or other departments with approval from the ME Graduate Director.
Research Skills & Responsible Scholarship
The University requires that every doctoral student receive training in responsible scholarship pertinent to the field of research and obtain research skills pertinent to the doctoral level of research in their field(s). These requirements must be completed by the end of the semester that the student takes the oral comprehensive exam. For students in PhD in Mechanical Engineering, this requirement is satisfied by completion of ME 801.
A student must demonstrate an understanding in a subset of core advanced mechanical engineering knowledge based on cumulative GPA (Pass: 3.7 or above, Conditional Pass: 3.5 or above). The student will identify three 3-credit ME technical elective courses that reflect three specific subjects in the focus area of study and one 3-credit mathematics course from the approved list, or the student will be required to pass written exams in each of these four subjects.
Ph.D. Qualifying Examination
For a student with a Master’s degree, a qualifying examination will normally be taken in the first semester of participation in the doctoral program on regular status. It should not be taken later than the end of the second semester. For a direct admit with a bachelor’s degree, a qualifying examination will typically be taken after completion of 30 hours of graduate course work.
The Qualifying Examination Committee consists of three or more members of the graduate faculty within the area of emphasis and are normally expected to be members of the Research and Graduate Studies Committee of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The student’s major advisor is not permitted to be on the Qualifying Examination Committee. A grade of pass or fail will be assigned and be kept in the departmental records.
Three evaluation criteria exist for the Qualifying Examination:
CRITERION #1: The student must demonstrate an understanding in a core set of fundamental undergraduate mechanical engineering knowledge.
This criterion will be assessed and satisfied with the current policies for entrance to the KUME graduate program. This includes the current requirements for satisfying deficiencies in the undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum. At the time of the Ph.D. qualifying exam, the student must have satisfied and completed all requirements and conditions specified by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the SOE to address deficiencies.
CRITERION #2: The student must demonstrate an understanding in a subset of core advanced mechanical engineering knowledge.
A) The student will identify three 3-credit mechanical engineering technical elective courses (excluding courses required for the KU BSME degree, ME 702, ME 801, ME 860, ME 899, and ME 999) and one 3-credit mathematics course from the approved list in the KUME Graduate Handbook (or approved prior by the Graduate Director). The chosen ME courses should reflect three specific subjects in the focus area of study. Equivalent graduate courses that are completed at other institutions may be used to satisfy the requirements. All courses must meet the approval of the student’s advisor and the Qualifying Examination Committee including a review by the Graduate Director.
B) OR, DEPENDING ON ADVISOR PREFERENCE, the student will be required to demonstrate an understanding of three specific ME subjects and mathematics by passing written exams in each of these four subjects. The series of written exams will be scheduled during one week each fall and/or spring semester. Each exam will be graded separately on an A to F basis and count similarly to a 3-credit course towards this assessment. Scheduling and generation of the exams is the responsibility of the student’s major advisor with other faculty assistance.
In order to pass this criterion, the student must achieve at least a cumulative 3.7 GPA over all four courses or exams. A conditional pass may be awarded for a 3.5 GPA or greater (up to 3.7 GPA) with the student required to address said deficiency in the lowest graded course by either (depending on advisor preference): (1) completing extra coursework in that subject while achieving an A grade, or (2) re-taking the exam in that subject area and passing with an A grade. The student must address this deficiency before taking the Ph.D. comprehensive exam.
CRITERION #3: The student must demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively through writing, oral presentation, and open questioning.
The student will give an oral presentation that will last 20 minutes or less, and including questions from the Qualifying Examination Committee, the overall presentation will last 60 minutes or less. The material for the presentation will be a summary of one to three pertinent and related papers (with no conflict of interest) to the student’s Ph.D. topic area given to the student one week prior to the oral presentation date. These paper(s) will be approved by the advisor and the Qualifying Examination Committee.
Two days before the oral presentation, the student will provide a one-page summary (single-spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman, 1” margins) to the committee of the material to be presented. No outside help will be allowed. To receive a passing grade, the student must demonstrate to the committee their ability to effectively communicate the information. For a student that receives a grade of conditional pass, the committee will recommend appropriate remedies. If a student receives a grade of fail, a second and final attempt will be granted.
Oral Comprehensive Exam
When a doctoral aspirant has completed their coursework including the research skills and responsible scholarship requirement with no grades if I (incomplete) and good academic standing (3.0 or higher cumulative grade point average), they can request to schedule their oral comprehensive exam. The doctoral aspirant must have also successfully passed the qualifying exam. The examination request must be submitted at least two (2) weeks in advance of the intended examination date. The committee for the comprehensive oral examination must consist of at least five members, all of whom must be members of the Graduate Faculty and at least three of whom must be tenured / tenure track Mechanical Engineering Faculty including the committee chair. At least one member must be from a department other than the aspirant’s major department. This member represents Graduate Studies and must be a regular member of the Graduate
The comprehensive oral examination covers the major field and any extra-departmental work for which the program wishes to hold the aspirant responsible. Students should discuss the oral examination requirements with their advisor and committee. These typically include a written proposal and oral presentation of the work that has been conducted and will be completed for the dissertation. For every scheduled examination, the degree program reports a grade of Honors, Satisfactory, or Unsatisfactory. If the aspirant receives a grade of Unsatisfactory on the comprehensive oral examination, it may be repeated on the recommendation of the degree program, but under no circumstances may it be taken more than
three times. In any case, the examination may not be repeated until at least 90 days have elapsed since the
last unsuccessful attempt.
Enrollment Requirements Post-Comprehensive Exam
Upon passing the comprehensive examination, the student becomes a candidate for the Ph.D. degree and is approved to proceed with their dissertation research and project. Starting the semester following successful completion of the oral comprehensive exam, students must enroll in accordance with the Office of Graduate Studies’ Doctoral Candidacy Policy. This enrollment includes, but is not limited to, at least 1 dissertation hour every semester until graduation. See the Doctoral Candidacy policy for more information about this University level requirement.
For option A, students coming in with an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering are expected to complete 24 hours of dissertation research, with enrollment in ME 999. For option B, students coming straight from a bachelor’s degree are expected to complete 30 hours of dissertation research, with enrollment in ME 999. Dissertation hours are graded on a satisfactory progress/limited progress/no progress basis.
Dissertation and Final Oral Defense
The dissertation must be an original work of research that advances the field of Mechanical Engineering and complies with the Office of Graduate Studies’ Doctoral Dissertation policy. An original contribution suitable for publication in a referred journal is required of Ph.D. candidates. Upon approval by the students committee that the student’s dissertation research and written document is complete, the student must defend the dissertation before all committee members in the “final oral examination,” or dissertation defense. The final dissertation defense includes a public presentation of the dissertation research by the candidate and concludes with a period of questioning by the committee, faculty, and public in attendance. After posing questions to the student about the dissertation work, committee members deliberate and vote on a grade of Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. A grade of Satisfactory requires a majority vote and may be contingent on the completion of specific revisions by a designated due date. The committee may also recommend that a student earning a satisfactory grade be considered for Honors by the Department. Honors are conferred at graduation by the Department, reflecting outstanding work in all aspects of the doctoral program.
At the completion of this program, students will be able to:
- Identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
- Develop and conduct appropriate physical and/or numerical experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
- Read, analyze, and critically assess scientific literature.
- Effectively communicate advanced mechanical engineering concepts in writing and orally at a professional level and an ability to articulate and address critical issues in their field of study.
- Independently acquire new information, learn new concepts, and build new skills.
- Recognize ethical and professional responsibilities.