Mechanical Engineering

Degrees Offered

• Master of Science (Mechanical Engineering)
• Doctor of Philosophy (Mechanical Engineering)

Program Overview

The Mechanical Engineering Department offers the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Mechanical Engineering. The program demands academic rigor and depth, and also addresses real-world engineering problems. The department has four broad divisions of research activity that stem from core fields in Mechanical Engineering: 1) Biomechanics, 2) Thermal Fluid and Energy Systems, 3) Solid Mechanics, Materials, and Manufacturing, and 4) Robotics and Automation.  In many cases, individual research projects encompass more than one research area and elements from other disciplines.

Biomechanics focuses on the application of engineering principles to the musculoskeletal system and other connective tissues. Research in this area addresses rehabilitation engineering, computer-assisted surgery and medical robotics, patient-specific biomechanical modeling, intelligent prosthetics and implants, and bioinstrumentation.

Robotics and Automation applies innovative technologies to problems in robotics, robot-human interaction, manufacturing, and health care. Our research ranges from artificial intelligence to autonomous and remotely operated robot technologies, including applications in additive manufacturing, underground mine safety, magnetic guidance for placement of probes for deep brain stimulation, and remote telesurgery. We use both high-performance computational and physical prototyping methods to advance research in these areas.

Solid Mechanics, Materials, and Manufacturing develops novel computational and experimental solutions for problems in the mechanical behavior of advanced materials and processes. Research in the division spans length scales and includes investigations of microstructural effects on mechanical behavior, nanomechanics, granular mechanics, and continuum mechanics. Material behavior models span length scales from the nano- and microscale to the meso- and macroscale. Much of the research is computational in nature, using advanced methods such as molecular dynamics and finite element, boundary element, and discrete element methods. Strong ties exist between this group and the campus communities of applied mathematics, chemical engineering, materials science, metallurgy and physics.

Thermal Fluid and Energy Systems addresses a wide array of cutting-edge topics that rely on thermodynamics, heat transport, fluid mechanics, and chemical and phase change phenomena in engineered systems. Students, faculty, and research staff implement advanced experimental diagnostics and numerical simulation tools to solve problems related to energy storage, conversion and utilization; environmental impacts and safety; sustainable transportation and fuels; water purification and processing; and thermochemical and material process applications.  Research projects involve collaborations with partners in other disciplines, national labs, and sponsoring companies, and  projects range in scope from experimental characterization and modeling of processes on the molecular scale to testing and technoeconomic of commercial-scale energy systems.

Primary Contact

ME Graduate Program Manager
megrad@mines.edu

Professor and Department Head

Carl Frick

Emeriti Professors

Joan Gosink

Robert King

Graham G.W. Mustoe

Terry E. Parker

Emeriti Associate Professors

Dave Munoz

John P.H. Steele

Professors

Mohsen Asle Zaeem, Fryear Endowed Chair for Innovation and Excellence

John R. Berger, Dean - Energy and Materials

Robert Braun, Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director - Mines/NREL Advanced Energy Systems Program

Cristian V. Ciobanu

Gregory S. Jackson

Robert J. Kee, George R. Brown Distinguished Professor

Alexandra Newman, Rowlinson Professor of Mechanical engineering and Director - Operations Research with Engineering Program

Neal Sullivan

Associate Professors

Steven DeCaluwe, Director of Graduate Studies - ME

Mark Deinert

Veronica Eliasson

Joy Gockel

Owen Hildreth

Leslie Lamberson

Anthony J. Petrella, Associate Department Head

Andrew Petruska

Jason Porter

Anne Silverman

Paulo Tabares-Velasco

Nils Tilton

Ruichong "Ray" Zhang

Xiaoli Zhang

Assistant professors

Katie Knauss

George Kontoudis

Aashutosh Mistry

Andrew Osborne

Raja Rajasegar

Professors of Practice

Angel Abbud-Madrid, Director - Space Resources Program

Craig Brice, Director - Additive Manufacturing Program

Christopher Dreyer

George Sowers

Teaching Professors

Kristine Csavina, Director of Capstone - ME

Ventzi Karaivanov

Derrick Rodriguez

Teaching Associate Professors

Jeff Ackerman

Daniel Blood, Director of Undergraduate Studies - ME

Oyvind Nilsen

Jeff Wheeler

Teaching Assistant Professors

Adam Duran

Stephen Geer

Matthew Johnson

Elijah Kuska

Gary Nave

Kelly Rickey

Polina Ringler

Jim Wong

Affiliate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Michael Mooney

Research Associate Professors

Sandrine Ricote

Huayang Zhu

Research Assistant Professors

Omid Babaie-Rizvandi

Ankit Gupta

Carolina Herradon Hernandez

Garrison Hommer

Xingchao Wang

Research Professor

Brian G. Thomas

Program Details

The Mechanical Engineering Department offers the degrees Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering. The master's program is designed to prepare candidates for careers in industry or government or for further study at the PhD level; both thesis and non-thesis options are available. The PhD degree program is sufficiently flexible to prepare candidates for careers in industry, government, or academia. The following information provides details on these degrees.

Mines' Combined Undergraduate / Graduate Degree Program

Students enrolled in Mines’ combined undergraduate/graduate program may double count up to six credits of graduate coursework to fulfill requirements of both their undergraduate and graduate degree programs. These courses must have been passed with “B-” or better, not be substitutes for required coursework, and meet all other University, Department, and Program requirements for graduate credit.

Students are advised to consult with their undergraduate and graduate advisors for appropriate courses to double count upon admission to the combined program.

Program Requirements

Admitted Students: The Mechanical Engineering graduate admissions committee may require that an admitted student complete undergraduate remedial coursework to overcome technical deficiencies.  Such coursework may not count toward the graduate degree. The committee will decide whether to recommend regular or provisional admission, and may ask the applicant to come to campus for an interview.

Transfer Courses: Graduate-level courses taken at other universities for which a grade equivalent to a "B" or better was received will be considered for transfer credit into the Mechanical Engineering Department. Approval from the Advisor and/or Thesis Committee and ME Department Head will be required as appropriate. Transfer credits must not have been used as credit toward a Bachelor degree. For the MS degree, no more than nine credits may transfer. For the PhD degree, up to 24 credits may be transferred. In lieu of transfer credit for individual courses, students who enter the PhD program with a thesis-based master's degree from another institution may transfer up to 36 hours in recognition of the course work and research completed for that degree.

Master of Science Degree Requirements

The MS degree in Mechanical Engineering requires 30 credits. Requirements for the MS thesis option are 24 credits of coursework and 6 credits of thesis research. The MS non-thesis option requires 30 credits of coursework. All MS students must complete nine credits of course work within one research division by selecting three courses listed under the Research Division Courses. 

Advisor and Thesis Committee: Students must have an Advisor from the Mechanical Engineering Department Faculty to direct and monitor their academic plan, research, and independent studies. The MS graduate Thesis Committee must have at least three members, two of whom must be permanent faculty in the Mechanical Engineering Department.

 MS Thesis Degree

Thesis Defense: At the conclusion of the MS Thesis Option, the student will be required to make a formal presentation and defense of their thesis research to their Advisor and Thesis Committee.

MS Non-Thesis Degree

Time Limit: As stipulated by the Mines Graduate School, a candidate for a Masters degree must complete all requirements for the degree within five years of the date of admission into the degree program.

Online Modality available for Masters Non-Thesis.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree Requirements

The PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering requires 72 credits of course work and research credits. A minimum of 36 credits of course work and 30 credits of research credits must be completed. A minimum of 12 of the 36 credits of required coursework must be taken at Colorado School of Mines. All students must complete nine credits of course work within one research area by selecting 3 courses listed under the Research Division Courses.

Timeline and Milestones: PhD students must make adequate progress and reach appropriate milestones toward their degree by working with their faculty Advisor and thesis committee. The ME faculty has adopted a PhD timeline that outlines milestones students should reach on a semester-by-semester basis. Each milestone is listed here with more detailed explanations given below:

Advisor and Thesis Committee: Students must have an Advisor from the Mechanical Engineering Department Faculty to direct and monitor their academic plan, research, and independent studies. The PhD graduate Thesis Committee must have at least four members; at least two members must be permanent faculty in the Mechanical Engineering Department, and at least one member must be from outside the department. This outside member must chair the committee.  Students who choose to have a minor program must select a representative from the minor areas of study to serve on the Thesis Committee.

Qualifying Exam: Students enrolled in the Mechanical Engineering PhD program will be required to pass a Qualifying Exam.   PhD students with a minimum graduate grade point average of 3.3 are eligible to take the qualifying exam.   Students must have completed at least four 500-level MEGN courses before taking the qualifier.  These courses must include three core 500-level courses (MEGN 502 counts toward this core requirement).

The PhD qualifying exam will be administered at a specific date during every semester. The Department Qualifying Exam Chair oversees the process and ensures that the exam is administered fairly. Students must take the exam by the end of their third semester in the Mechanical Engineering PhD program.

The Qualifying Exam assesses some attributes expected of a successful PhD student, including:

• ability to review, synthesize and apply fundamental concepts;
• creative and technical ability of the student to solve open-ended and challenging problems;
• technical communication skills.

Students, in consultation with faculty advisors, will choose three topical areas.  The oral qualifying exam will be conducted by the qualifying exam committee (three Mechanical Engineering faculty) and the student’s advisor.  Students will receive a journal paper for each topical area at least one week before the exam.  Oral exam questions will be based upon the three selected journal papers.

Exam results of Pass, Conditional Pass or Fail will be provided to the student in a timely manner by the Qualifying Exam Chair. A Conditional Pass will require the student to take a remedial plan. Students have two attempts to pass the exam.  If the student fails the exam on their first attempt, they must retake the exam in the following semester. One-semester extensions may be granted by the Qualifying Exam Chair.

Research Proposal: After passing the Qualifying Examination, the PhD student will prepare a written Research Proposal for the Dissertation and present it formally to the Dissertation Committee, which is selected by the student and the student's advisor and approved by the Department Head.  A written Research Proposal document consisting of no more than 10 pages will be provided to the Committee in advance of the presentation with the expectation of achieving the following:

• Demonstrate a thorough familiarity with the background and motivation of the research problem being undertaken as embodied by a review of the relevant literature;
• Enumerate specific aims and/or hypotheses;
• Identify preliminary techniques, materials, and specific measurements for the proposed research project;
• Explain clearly the scientific merit ("value added") of the proposed work;
• Provide a general idea of the timeline for the research program;
• Specify potential publications and presentations that may arise from the work. 

The student and the advisor must convene a meeting of the full Dissertation Committee in which the student gives an oral summary of their written proposal in a 30-45 minute presentation. This Research Proposal gives the Committee an early chance to discuss the work and to help the student more clearly define the work and identify the salient aspects.  For most students, Research Proposal presentation will happen the semester after successfully passing the qualifier. The research proposal must be completed before admission to candidacy.  If the qualifier is passed after the fourth semester, admission to candidacy may be granted prior to the research proposal with ME Graduate Curriculum Committee approval.

Degree Audit and Admission to Candidacy: PhD students must complete the Degree Audit form by the posted deadlines and the Admission to Candidacy form by the first day of classes of the semester in which they want to be considered eligible for reduced registration.

Additionally, full-time PhD students must complete the following requirements within the first two calendar years after enrolling into the PhD program:

• have a Thesis Committee appointment form on file in the Graduate Office;
• complete all prerequisite and core curriculum course requirements;
• demonstrate adequate preparation for, and satisfactory ability to conduct doctoral research; and
• be admitted into full candidacy for the degree.

Preliminary Defense: Prior to the final Dissertation Defense, the PhD student will make an oral presentation to the student’s Committee to summarize research accomplishments and remaining goals and work plan.  This meeting serves as a final check to assess if the student's progress is on schedule for graduation.  This meeting should present a preliminary document that will likely evolve and expand into the Dissertation.  The preliminary document should include basic literature review, methodologies used, results to date, and an estimated timeline for remaining work.  The student must give no more than a 45-minute presentation that summarizes the work already accomplished, including their relevant publication(s) and a proposed plan of the work needed to culminate in a formal defense and graduation.  The Committee will provide feedback and, as necessary, revisions to the proposed work plan such that its completion should lead to a successful Dissertation Defense and publication record in a realistic time frame.  The time period between the Research Proposal and the Preliminary Defense can span a few years, but the Preliminary Defense should take place 12 months and no less than 6 months prior to the date of Dissertation Defense.

Required Number of Publications and Presentations: The required and recommended journal publications for PhD students prior to graduation are listed below.  Students wanting to defend before meeting these requirements must submit a one-page petition with a reasonable explanation to the ME Graduate Curriculum Committee.

Journal publications -  Required: Minimum of one first-author paper accepted or published (DOI is required) in a peer-reviewed journal (recognized as high quality in the research field), before Dissertation Defense.  Recommended: Three or more first-author papers accepted or published in peer-reviewed journals. More than three first author journal publications are recommended for students interested in academic positions.

Presentations - Required:  Minimum of one research presentation (poster or podium) at an external technical conference before the Dissertation Defense.  Minimum of three presentations in the research division's MEGN 503 or equivalent (such as campus-wide graduate student research conference, research sponsor meetings, or additional conference presentations) during PhD program. Recommended: Two or more conference presentations (poster or podium), before the Dissertation Defense in which the student is the first author on these presentations.  Numerous conference presentations are strongly encouraged to establish a reputation amongst researchers in a field for students interested in academic positions.

Thesis Defense:  At the conclusion of the student’s PhD program, the student will be required to make a formal presentation and defense of her/his thesis research.  A student must “pass” this defense to earn a PhD degree. The Dissertation document should be submitted to the Dissertation Committee at least 10 days prior to the Defense. The Committee will perform a post-presentation review of the Dissertation, technical contributions, and publications with the student.  The Committee may request revisions to the Dissertation and additional work that requires subsequent review by the advisor and or the Committee.

Unsatisfactory Progress: To ensure that a student receives proper feedback if progress toward the Preliminary Defense or the Dissertation Defense is not satisfactory, the Advisor must provide the student and the Committee a brief, written progress evaluation. If the student's progress is unsatisfactory such that the Advisor gives them a PRU grade for research credits, the student will go on academic probation as outlined in the Graduate Bulletin.

Time Limit: As stipulated by the Mines Graduate School, a candidate for a doctoral degree must complete all requirements for the degree within nine years of the date of admission into the degree program.

RESEARCH DIVISION COURSES 

Courses

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