Graduate Program

Director of Graduate Programs
Peter Vorobieff

Graduate Programs Web site
http://megrad.unm.edu

Degrees Offered

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (M.S.)
Concentrations: Entrepreneurship and Technology Management; Manufacturing Engineering; Space Systems Engineering.
Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering (Ph.D)
Concentration: Mechanical Engineering

Detailed degree requirements are explained in the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Manual as a supplement to the UNM Catalog. The graduate programs offered in the department are planned to prepare graduates for professional engineering work in private industry or governmental laboratories or for teaching/research positions. The focus is on the fundamental concepts in the selected research area, with elective and supporting work to complete the study program.

Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Programs

Undergraduate students in the School of Engineering may seek admission to the M.S. in Mechanical Engineering under the Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program. See the School of Engineering section of this Catalog for specific admission information and requirements.

Undergraduate students in the Mechanical Engineering program may seek admission to the M.S. in Mechanical Engineering or in the Master of Engineering in Manufacturing Engineering (M.E.M.E.) under the Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program. See the Mechanical Engineering: Undergraduate Program and the School of Engineering sections of this Catalog.

Interdisciplinary Programs

Computational Science and Engineering: The Computational Science and Engineering interdisciplinary graduate certificate program prepares students to effectively use high-performance computing within their disciplines and is open to graduate students in this department. See the School of Engineering section of this Catalog.

Manufacturing Engineering: The Master of Engineering in Manufacturing Engineering (M.E.M.E.) degree is offered by the Manufacturing Engineering program. This program is administratively separate from the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of New Mexico and is housed in the Manufacturing Technology and Training Center (MTTC), located in the South Campus. Details of this degree program are found in the School of Engineering section of this Catalog.

Nanoscience and Microsystems Engineering: This department participates in the interdisciplinary Nanoscience and Microsystems Engineering M.S. and Ph.D. programs; for more information, see the Graduate Interdisciplinary Studies section of this Catalog.

Application Information

The department welcomes applications from students who have earned distinguished academic records. Results of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test must be submitted to the Department prior to admission.

The following deadlines apply:

	Domestic Applicants Not Requesting Financial Aid (TA/PA)	International and Domestic Applicants Requesting Financial Aid (TA/PA)
Fall	July 1	March 1
Spring	November 1	August 1
Summer	April 30	N/A

The Director of Graduate Programs makes admission decisions. Applicants must hold (or will have completed by the time they arrive) an accredited Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.M.E.) degree and at least a "B" average in their final two years (or their final, earned 60 credit hours) of their last degree.

Applications from individuals with a B.S. degree in other Engineering disciplines, Mathematics, Computer Science, and Physical Sciences (such as Physics and Chemistry) are also considered. To qualify for a graduate degree, applicants are expected to have at least an undergraduate-level exposure to most of the core ME disciplines. Those who are deemed deficient may be asked to take additional (leveling) courses.

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

A minimum of 24 credit hours of 500-level credit is required for all students pursuing the Master of Science (M.S.) in Mechanical Engineering degree program.

Plan I (Thesis) This degree plan requires 31 credit hours. Six (6) credit hours (ME 599) are required for a thesis. A seminar course must be taken for two semesters.

Plan II (Non-Thesis) This degree plan requires 34 credit hours. Three (3) credit hours (ME 559) are required for a project. A seminar course must be taken for two semesters.

Plan III (Course Work Only) This degree plan requires 34 credit hours of regular course work. A seminar course must be taken for two semesters.

Other program information and requirements are available at the Mechanical Engineering department Web site.

Concentration in Entrepreneurship and Technology Management: For information and requirements, see the School of Engineering section of this Catalog.

Concentration in Manufacturing Engineering: The M.S. in Mechanical Engineering concentration in Manufacturing Engineering requires 37 credit hours and a three-month industrial internship in a manufacturing setting. At least three electives for this program must be selected from a set of engineering science courses defined by the department.

Concentration in Space Systems Engineering: The M.S. in Mechanical Engineering concentration in Space Systems Engineering is a Managed Online Program based on Plan III requirements as defined in the Graduate Program section of this Catalog. This concentration requires a set of core courses for a total of 16 credit hours:

		Credit Hours
ME 591-592 -or- ECE 590	Sem: Current Issues in Space Sem: Current Issues in Space	0-1
ME 594	Introduction to Space Situational Awareness	3
ME 595	Orbital Mechanics	3
ME 596	Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics and Control	3
ME 597	Small Spacecraft Design I	3
ECE 595	ST: Satellite Communications	3
	Subtotal	16

Note: The graduate seminars must be taken in two semesters, once for 0 credit hours and once for 1 credit hour.

Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering

Concentration in Mechanical Engineering

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree requires 54 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree, exclusive of the dissertation credit. Details of all special requirements are subject to departmental policy.

Course Requirements:
In addition to the general University doctoral degree requirements listed in the Graduate Program section of this Catalog, students pursuing a Ph.D. in Engineering with a concentration in Mechanical Engineering must meet the following criteria:

Four courses comprise the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Core (see above).
Each Ph.D. student must have one credit hour of seminar credit on his/her program. The student shall register for ME 591-592 for three semesters while attending the seminars. In the first two semesters, registration in ME 591-592 may be for zero credit hours. In the third semester the student must register for one credit hour.

Qualifying Examination
Ph.D. students must pass the Mechanical Engineering Qualifying Examination before they form a Committee-on-Studies and file the Advancement to Candidacy form. Students must take the Qualifying Examination no later than the second semester in the Mechanical Engineering Graduate program as a Ph.D. student.

Comprehensive Examination
Before a student may complete this requirement, he/she must have passed the Qualifying examination. The Comprehensive examination must be administered and passed in the same semester the Candidacy form is approved by the Graduate Director and the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Defense of Dissertation
All candidates must pass a Final examination (Defense of Dissertation). The Dissertation Committee conducts the defense of the dissertation.

General Degree Requirements

All graduate students in Mechanical Engineering are required to complete a set of core courses as part of the M.S. or Ph.D. programs. Ph.D. students may satisfy these requirements with equivalent courses taken as part of an M.S. program as approved by the ME Graduate Director. Courses taken at the ME 400-level are not accepted and may not be repeated at the ME 500-level to satisfy the core requirements.

The ME Graduate Core consists of four courses:

1)		One mathematics course, selected from:
	ME 500	Numerical Techniques in Mechanical Engineering
	ME 504	Computational Mechanics
	CBE 525	Methods of Analysis in Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Engineering
		Any MATH/STAT 5XX course
2)		One thermal science course, selected from:
	ME 520	Advanced Thermodynamics
	ME 530	Theoretical Fluid Mechanics
3)		One solid mechanics course, selected from:
	ME 501	Advanced Mechanics of Materials
	ME 512	Continuum Mechanics
	ME 540	Elasticity
4)		One dynamics and control course, selected from:
	ME 516	Applied Dynamics
	ME 580	Dynamic System Analysis
	ME 581	Digital Control of Mechanical Systems

Equivalent graduate-level courses taken at another institution may be used to satisfy this requirement, but this must be decided on a case-by-case basis by the Graduate Director or Graduate Committee in the ME department.

Facilities

The Mechanical Engineering building houses most department facilities, including the Controls, Fluid Mechanics, Heat Transfer, Material Science, Materials Test, Microprocessor, Robotics and Vibrations Laboratories. Other facilities supporting research are the High Performance Computing, Educational and Research Center (HPCERC) and the Manufacturing Technology and Training Center (MTTC).

The Department of Mechanical Engineering has close collaboration with the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, nearby Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, plus the Air Force Research Laboratory. Research facilities at these laboratories are often used by graduate students.

Additional information on the programs and facilities of the Mechanical Engineering Department may be obtained by contacting either the graduate director or the chairperson.

Keys and Symbols Reference