Mechanical Engineering, PhD

Standard Program

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This option assumes that the applicant has completed an MS degree from a recognized university.  A minimum of 51 hours of approved graduate study beyond the hours completed for the MS degree are required.  These hours include at least 30 hours of Research and Dissertation credit and at least 21 hours of course work (7 classes) at the 6000-level or higher composed of:

Direct-Admit Program

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This option assumes that the applicant is being admitted without a completed MS degree.  Students who begin in the MS program may petition to transfer into the Direct-Admit PhD if they have demon­strated exemplary course work and research potential.  This option requires a minimum of 66 hours of approved graduate study beyond the hours completed for a baccalau­reate degree in engineering.  These hours include at least 36 hours of Research and Disserta­tion credit and at least 30 hours of course work (10 classes) at the 6000-level or higher composed of:

More on Requirements

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All PhD candidates must have at least one peer- reviewed (archival) journal paper accepted prior to his/her dissertation oral defense. This paper must be based on the student’s dissertation research at the University of Houston.

Breadth Requirement

Two courses with content outside of the research concentration area are required to insure a minimum academic breadth in the program.  The courses can be in MECE, and suitable courses in the Colleges of Engineering and Natural Sciences. The suitability of courses for the breadth require­ment is determined by petition to the Direc­tor of Graduate Studies.  This petition should be filed well in advance of the dissertation defense.

Comprehensive Qualifying Examination

This oral examination determines whether a student has mastered, and can integrate and apply, the knowledge gained in courses.  The student should set aside a period of time to prepare for the examination by reviewing course material and reflecting on how this information can be integrated to solve problems.

To stand for the PhD comprehensive examination, a student must have a grade point average of 3.40 or higher on a minimum of 12 UH graduate hours (4 classes) and no more than the first 21 UH graduate hours (7 classes).

The examination should be scheduled as soon the accumulation of relevant course work allows. For a student with an MS from another university, the exam should be attempted no later than 18 months after study towards the PhD begins.  For students who complete the MS here and for students who petition into the direct-admit program, the exam should be attempted within 12 months of the change of program.

The examination committee is set by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the Mechanical Engineering core research
 groups (Controls, Materials, Mechanics, Thermo-Fluids) and the dissertation advisor. Click here for more information about the
general and transitional qualifying exam guidelines.  Some qualifying exam guidelines will vary by group. Please review the table
 below for more information about each group’s specific core courses.

Groups	Core Courses
Controls	MECE 6384: Methods of Applied Mathematics	MECE 6397: Control Systems Analysis & Design	MECE 6374: Nonlinear Control Systems
Materials	MECE 6361: Mechanical Behavior of Materials	MECE 6363: Physical Metallurgy	MECE 6364: Phase Transform in Materials
Mechanics	MECE 6384: Methods of Applied Mathematics	MECE 6377: Continuum Mechanics I	MECE 7397: Continuum Mechanics II
Thermo-Fluids	MECE 6384: Methods of Applied Mathematics	MECE 6345: Fluid Dynamics 1	MECE 6334: Convection Heat Transfer

 

The committee is composed of a minimum of three voting members and the dissertation advisor who serves as a nonvoting member. 
One of the voting members is responsible for examining the student regarding the content in the mathematics requirement described
above. The committee can be composed entirely of MECE faculty; however, members from outside the department may be approved
 if the nature of the student’s program warrants such involvement. Judgment of the examination is by vote; two or more negative
votes results in failure of the examination. In the case of failure, the commit-tee shall decide whether or not the student should be
invited to take the examination a second time.

Comprehensive Qualifying Examination:

To stand for the Ph.D. comprehensive examination, a student must have a grade point average of 3.40 or higher in a minimum of 12
MECE graduate hours (4 classes) and no more than the first 21 MECE graduate hours (7 classes) after being admitted to the Ph.D.
program.

The examination should be scheduled as soon as the accumulation of relevant course work allows. For a student with an M.S. from
another university, the exam should be attempted no later than 18 months after study towards the Ph.D. begins. For students who
complete the M.S. here and for students who petition into the direct-admit program, the exam should be attempted within 12 months
of the change of program.

The examination committee is set by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the Mechanical Engineering core research
groups (Controls, Materials, Mechanics, Thermo-Fluids) and the dissertation advisor. The committee is composed of a minimum of
 three voting members and the dissertation advisor who serves as a nonvoting member. One of the voting members is responsible
 for examining the student regarding the content in the mathematics requirement described above. The committee can be composed
entirely of MECE faculty; however, members from outside the department may be approved if the nature of the student’s program
warrants such involvement. Judgment of the examination is by vote; two or more negative votes results in failure of the examination.
 In the case of failure, the commit-tee shall decide whether or not the student should be invited to take the examination a second time.

Dissertation Examination

A dissertation committee should be formed by the advisor, with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, during the semester
in which the student passes the comprehensive qualifying examination. This committee consists of at least four members of the
MECE Department including the advisor, and at least one member from outside the Department.

Department/Program Academic Policies

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• Graduate Academic Policies

Residency

The College requires a minimum of one academic year (two long semesters) of full-time enrollment at the PhD level.

Ninety-nine Hour Rule

The student is cautioned to be aware of the scheduling involved in meeting these requirements.  University regulations require that a student who has accumulated more than 99 hours at the PhD level be charged out-of-state tuition for the hours in excess of 99.  This tuition rate applies to Texas residents as well as true out-of-state students.

Students requiring Doctoral Research and Dissertation hours should be advised of the following:

Doctoral Research and Dissertation. Doctoral Dissertation hours should be assigned an S or U grade which is changed to a letter grade after successful completion of the dissertation. An S or U grade must be assigned to every dissertation course until the dissertation is successfully completed (defended and submitted). A final letter grade via grade change request will be assigned to the required number of dissertation hours once the student has successfully completed the dissertation (defended and submitted). In case a student registers for dissertation 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.

Dissertation hours (8x99) for a PhD degree are restricted to 12 hours. PhD students must take at least 30 hours of research and dissertation. Any additional hours should be registered as Doctoral Research 8x98 to complete the research credit hours requirement. Doctoral Dissertation hours should be assigned an S or U grade which is changed to a letter grade after successful completion of the dissertation. If a student is not done after registering required number of Doctoral Research and Dissertation hours, additional hours should be registered as Doctoral Research which are graded on S/U basis. In the event a student registers for extra Dissertation hours, these hours will be left as S or U. It is not necessary to assign the same grade to all the hours while completing S or U grade.