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Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

The MSME program is designed for students seeking advanced technical depth in mechanical engineering. Students may choose between a research-focused Thesis Track or a coursework-intensive Non-Thesis Track. The program requires completion of a minimum of 30 credit hours distributed as follows. 

 

1. Common Core Requirements (9 hours)

All MSME students (Thesis and Non-Thesis) must complete 9 credit hours from the following core categories.

  • Controls
    1. MECE 6367 Control Systems Analysis and Design
    2. MECE 6388: Optimal Control Theory
    3. MECE 7361 System Identification
    4. MECE 6666 Machine Learning.
  • Materials
    1. MECE 6361 Mechanical Behavior of Materials
    2. MECE 6363 Physical Metallurgy
    3. MECE 6364: Phase Transform in Materials.
  • Mechanics
    1. MECE 6377 Continuum Mechanics I
    2. MECE 6397: Applied Solid Mechanics.
  • Thermo-Fluids
    1. MECE 6334 Convection Heat Transfer
    2. MECE 6345 Fluid Dynamics I

 

2. Choose Your Track

Option A: Thesis Track (Research Focus)

Best for students planning to pursue a Ph.D. or R&D careers.

Total credits: 30 hours, including:

  • Math: 3 hours (MECE 6384 Methods of Applied Mathematics 1).
  • Core courses: 9 hours (from list above).
  • Electives: 9 hours (6000-level or above,  exclusive of MECE 8111 Graduate Seminar and MECE 6368 Mechanical Design Project.
  • Research/Thesis: 3  hours of Thesis I for MECE 6399 and 6 hours of Thesis II for MECE 7399.
    • Note: Only one MECE 7399 course can be taken per semester, so please plan accordingly. An S or U grade must be assigned to every thesis course until the thesis is successfully completed (defended and submitted). A final letter grade via grade change request will be assigned to the required number of thesis hours once the student has successfully completed the thesis (defended and submitted). In case a student registers for thesis hours over and above the nine hours that are required, these additional hours will remain as S or U on the student’s transcript. This is a Graduate School directive and aimed at avoiding grade inflation.
  • The remaining hours can be chosen from either MECE courses at 6000-level or above or a list of approved courses in the College of Engineering, the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, the Bauer College of Business, and the UH Law Center at 6000-level or above. If you choose non-MECE courses, no more than three hours from one academic unit (department or program) will be allowed. Click here for the up-to-date list of approved courses. Approval of any course that falls outside of the description given here must be requested by petition to the Director of Graduate Studies. Approval must be received prior to enrollment in the course.

Key requirements: Successful defense of a Master's Thesis and at least a 3.00 GPA over all courses. The Director of Graduate Studies must approve the composition of the thesis examining committee prior to the defense date. The committee consists of at least three tenure-track faculty members, with one member from outside the Department.

Defense Guidelines

Option B: Non-Thesis Track

Best for students seeking advanced technical skills for industry application.

Total credits: 30 hours, including:

  • Math: 3 hours (MECE 6384 Methods of Applied Mathematics 1).
  • Core courses: 9 hours (from list above).
  • MECE electives: 9 hours (6000-level or above,  exclusive of MECE 8111 Graduate Seminar and MECE 6368 Mechanical Design Project.
  • Breadth electives: 9 hours can be chosen from either MECE courses at 6000-level or above or a list of approved courses in the College of Engineering, the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, the Bauer College of Business, and the UH Law Center at 6000-level or above. If you choose non-MECE courses, no more than three hours from one academic unit (department or program) will be allowed. Click here for the up-to-date list of approved courses. Approval of any course that falls outside of the description given here must be requested by petition to the Director of Graduate Studies. Approval must be received prior to enrollment in the course. Three hours can be satisfied by completing the directed-study MECE 6368 Mechanical Design Project course. A statement of the intent of the directed study must be approved by petition to the Graduate Director prior to registration in MECE 6368. A report describing the results of the project must be filed with, and archived by, the instructor at the end of the course.
  • Non-thesis students should not enroll in research or thesis courses (6399 and 7399).

 

3. Specialized Concentration: Data Science

Students may elect to formally concentrate in Data Science.

  • Requirements: Replace 5 general elective courses with 5 Engineering Data Science (EDS) courses, including the three core MSEDS courses:

    • EDS 6333 or INDE 6333: Probability and Statistics or Probability and Statistics for Engineers
    • EDS 6340: Introduction to Data Science
    • EDS 6342: Introduction to Machine Learning

    and two data-science-related MECE elective courses from the following pre-approved list:

    • MECE 6379: Computer Methods in Mechanical Design
    • MECE 6397: Data Analysis Methods
    • MECE 6397: Machine Learning
    • MECE 6397: Learning Meets System and Control