Engineering Science Major, PhD

Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees with a major in engineering science are offered through an interdepartmental program. The program is intended only for students whose research is best supported by a collection of courses that is interdisciplinary and so would not meet course requirements for any other major. As part of the application process, the applicant must choose an Engineering Science concentration from either Aerospace, Biomedical, Civil, Energy Science and Engineering (Bredesen Center), Environmental Engineering or Mechanical Engineering programs. The student’s departmental home is that of the chosen concentration and of the student’s major professor.

Admission

Applicants for admission to the engineering science program are expected to have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited undergraduate program in engineering or physics. Students from other appropriate disciplines (e.g. chemistry, mathematics, etc.) can be admitted but additional engineering courses may be required. Entering students must have, as a minimum, competency in mathematics through ordinary differential equations. Submit online application to the Graduate Admissions Office.

Requirements

All students must complete a minimum of 72 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree, exclusive of credit for the master’s thesis. These shall include a minimum of 24 credit hours in Doctoral Research and Dissertation and a minimum number of credit hours in other courses, as specified by the home department. Courses will depend on the student’s research program and all must be approved by the student’s advisory committee. Students must satisfy:

• Mathematics requirement of the home department.
• All examination requirements of the home department.
• Successful defense of the dissertation.

In engineering science, the courses must include the following.

• A minimum of 24 credit hours in engineering graduate courses, exclusive of thesis and dissertation credit. These courses will normally be numbered 500 and above, with at least 9 credit hours of 600-level courses, which constitute one or two areas of concentration selected by the student. The number of courses in this group to be taken will depend on the program selected by the student and the approval of his/her advisory committee. 
• A minimum of 12 credit hours in mathematics or computer science in courses numbered 400 and above, exclusive of a first course in ordinary differential equations.

Additional requirements for all students include the following.

• Registration and participation in the graduate seminar in the major program. 
• Meet all departmental examination requirements, which include passing a written and oral comprehensive examination. 
• Presentation of a dissertation proposal to the student’s advisory committee and approval of that proposal by that committee. 
• Successful defense of the dissertation.