Graduate Programs
Graduate
Brochure
Graduate
Handbook
For admission to the maaster of science program, candidates should have a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a grade point average of at least 3.00/4.00. Applicants who have not graduated from an engineering program accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET must submit combined scores of at least 1195 on the verbal and quantitative parts of the GRE. There is no minimum score on the writing section of the GRE. While not required of graduates of ABET accredited programs, all candidates are encouraged to submit GRE scores.
Graduates of other engineering disciplines or closely related mathematics and science disciplines are encouraged to apply for admission to the ME graduate program. Some prerequisite mechanical engineering undergraduate course work may be required. Interested applicants should contact the department to discuss possible prerequisite needs.
Candidates for admission to the Ph.D. Program should have a master of science in mechanical engineering or closely allied field. Applicants who have do not have a B.S. degree from an EAC/ABET accredited engineering program must submit combined verbal and quantitative GRE scores of at least 1195.
Early admission to the Ph.D. Program is available for outstanding candidates with B.S. degrees in mechanical engineering. For direct admission to the Ph.D. program, an applicant must have an undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.3/4.0 as computed by The University of Alabama. Those who did not graduate from an EAC/ABET accredited engineering program must submit combined verbal and quantitative GRE scores of at least 1300. Current M.S. students with a 3.5/4.00 on 9 or more graduate credit hours may apply for early admission to the Ph.D. program with the recommendation of his or her major professor.
All international applicants must submit TOEFL scores of 580 (228 computerized test) or higher.
Application forms can be obtained by following the appropriate link below.
Additional information can be found in the Graduate Catalog.
Graduate Coordinator
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Alabama
Box 870276
Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0276
Phone: 205 348 6324
gradinfo@me.ua.edu
The Graduate School
University of Alabama
Box 870118
Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0276
Phone 205 348 5921
Master’s Degree
Plan I—Thesis—MS Degree: The thesis option is the standard MS degree for mechanical engineering. Graduates complete 24 hours of graduate course work and a thesis. All students on teaching or research assistantships in the department are expected to pursue the thesis option.
Plan II—Course work—MS Degree: This option is intended primarily for students who are employed full-time in government or industry. Graduates complete 33 hours of graduate course work and take a comprehensive exam in the final semester.
PH.D. Degree
The Ph.D. requires 48 credit hours of coursework past the B.S. degree, a comprehensive qualifying exam, and a dissertation. Students with an MS degree will receive credit for 24 hours of course work. The dissertation will document original research that makes a significant contribution to the profession. Ph.D. students must spend two consecutive semesters, possibly including a summer, in residence as full-time students engaged in coursework.
Graduate Courses
Graduate courses are those with numbers in the 500-level and 600-level. Courses numbered in the 500’s are intermediate-level courses and are often associated with master-level work. Courses in the 600’s are advanced-level courses and are often associated with Ph.D.-level work. However, both M.S. and Ph.D. plans of study can contain both 500- and 600-level courses. Graduate Catalog.
Mechanical engineering graduate students have access to a wide range of laboratory facilities and computing equipment. Laboratories exist for the study of acoustics and vibrations, biomechanics, computer-aided automation, computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer, controls, HVAC, IC engines, combustion, propulsion systems, life-cycle engineering, and metrology.
Computational equipment includes departmental and College of ngineering
PC laboratories, College of ngineering Linux-based workstations linked
together with access to the Internet, and a 16-processor computer cluster
for parallel computing. The campus network allows access to the University's
Sun computer server and the Alabama Supercomputer
Network which houses SGI Altix 350 and Cray XD1 supercomputers.
All graduate-student applicants are automatically considered for research and teaching assistantships and university fellowships. The majority of unconditionally admitted full-time students receive some form of assistance. Assistantships generally include tuition. For the most part, research assistantships (GRA’s) are awarded by the individual professors with funded research. The applicant should communicate directly with a prospective faculty member concerning GRA’s. The ME Department offers teaching assistantships (GTA’s) for assisting with undergraduate courses, laboratories and engineering graphics. A general requirement for all GTA’s university-wide is either English as the native language or taking a course and passing an English-language proficiency exam from the English Language Institute on campus. Non-native speakers are required to do the latter, which takes at least one semester.
Half-time assistants are allowed to take up to 9 hours of graduate courses and are expected to work 20 hours per week.
In order to be considered for financial aid for the fall semester, applicants are urged to send GRE scores, GPA’s, interest areas, and any other pertinent information directly to the ME Department as well as to apply to the ME graduate program before January 15.
University of Alabama Graduate Council Fellowships are awarded by the Graduate School during the spring semester of each year. The fellowships include tuition and a generous stipend for the nine month academic year. Applicants should have exceptionally high scores from the undergraduate institution as well as high GRE scores. A maximum of two students from the ME Department can be nominated for these GCF’s per year. In order to be eligible for a GCF, the applicant should apply for the ME graduate program before January 1 prior to the academic year of application.
Domestic students may be eligible for student loans and other financial
aid and should visit the UA Financial Aid Office website.
Total costs of study includes tuition and fees, living and housing costs,
medical insurance, transportation, and incidental expenses. Information
on the costs can be found at the
Graduate School link.
Housing is available in university dormitories or apartments and off campus
in private apartments. The Off-Campus
Housing Association can assist you with off-campus housing issues.
For international students the International Student Association is an important resource for information on living in the USA.