Overview - The goal of the Master of Science degree program is to provide students with an opportunity to strengthen their technical backgrounds so that they may pursue successful professional careers in engineering research, development and management. Applicants are admitted to both the M.S. and M. Eng. programs on the basis of the same qualifications.  A key requirement is a strong academic background in mechanical engineering or a related technical discipline.

Candidates admitted to the M.Eng. program may transfer to the M.S. program at any time. However, transfer from the M.S. program to the M.Eng. program is only permitted by special petition if the student has not received any financial support. The maximum amount of time that a student can receive a stipend as a Teaching Assistant (T.A.) is two academic years (i.e., 4 semesters).  The maximum duration of a Research Assistantship (R.A.) is two years (i.e., 4 semesters + 2 summers).

The Department encourages but does not require applicants to submit General Record Examination (GRE) scores.

Candidates are required to complete the equivalent of ten credits. MS candidates normally complete their degree requirements in 2 years or 2 years less a summer term.

The program has five distinct parts:

1. Development of mathematical capabilities

2. Breadth of exposure across disciplines

3. Courses focused on thesis research

4. Seminar

5. Thesis research

Degree Requirements

The M.S. program requires successful completion of eight 100-level (or above) course credits, a research-based thesis worth at least 2 credits, an official proposal defense, a seminar, and successful defense of a thesis at an M.S. oral examination.  M.S. candidates are also expected to present their research at a scientific conference and submit at least one paper to a peer-reviewed scientific journal.  Composition of the course program must be selected in cooperation with the student’s academic advisor.  M.S. candidates are encouraged to complete their course requirements in the first two semesters, and the thesis by the end of the second year in the program.

Course Work - The course structure is designed to provide a common core upon which to build an individual program of study. If a student desires to be exempted from either the mathematical analysis or technical breadth requirement, they must submit a petition for departmental approval for such an exemption prior to the first semester in which they register for thesis credit. Petitions should include the student's case for the exemption as well as the written approval of the student's academic and thesis advisors.

 1. Development of analytical capabilities (1 course minimum)

The ability to apply mathematical analysis to the solution of engineering problems is central to mechanical engineering. Modern engineering requires the application of classical analysis as well as computational techniques. To this end, all MS students are required to take either ES 101 - Numerical Methods, or ME 150 - Applied Mathematics for Engineers. All MS students are encouraged to take both these courses or an additional course in advanced analytic or computational analysis.

2. Breadth of Technical Exposure (2 courses minimum)

Mechanical Engineering is a field of diverse engineering science fundamentals and areas of application. The purpose of this requirement is to expose the student to the connections between the various subdisciplines of mechanical engineering. The specific courses identified provide the foundations of the subdisciplines.

 All M.S. students are required to take at least one course from two of the following three categories:

 1. Applied Mechanics

ME 122 - Advanced Strength of Materials

ME 137 - Advanced Vibrations

ME 138 - Advanced Dynamics

2. Processes and Control

ME 125 - Manufacturing Processes and Materials Technology

ME 180 - Modern Control Systems

ME 186 - Electromechanical System Design

3. Thermal-Fluid Sciences

ME 112 - Advanced Heat Transfer

ME 115 - Advanced Thermodynamics

ME 116 - Mass Transfer and Phase Transformations in Materials Processing

ME 165 - Advanced Fluid Mechanics

3. Focus Course Work (typically 4-5 courses)

 The remaining courses are selected by students in consultation with their advisor that best suits their program of study including course work relevant to their thesis work.  All of these courses must be graduate level.  Courses outside of engineering or the sciences are exceptions requiring departmental approval in advance.

4. Seminar (each semester)

 Regular attendance at the department's weekly seminar series is an integral part of full-time graduate study.  Undergraduates and part-time graduate students are strongly encouraged to attend.  The seminars, which are held on Thursday afternoons, feature speakers from both inside and outside of Tufts.  The seminars provide students and faculty with an opportunity to learn about the latest developments in mechanical engineering research and practice.

The seminar schedule will be posted and distributed via email to all graduate students. Important change:  All full-time graduate students are expected to attend at least 80% of the seminars and register and pass ME 291/292 for Int(N/2)+1 semesters, where N is the number of semesters a student is enrolled as a full time student.  That is, for a 4 semester MS program, seminar must be passed for 3 semesters; for a 6 semester PhD program, seminar must be passed for 4 semesters.  Attendance will be taken and the 80% rule will be rigorously applied.  Students should register for both ME 291 (Fall) and ME 292 (Spring) in order to receive proper credit.

Thesis - The preparation of a thesis and the independent research that it represents are pivotal to the M.S. degree program. It provides the student with an opportunity to work independently on an open-ended problem, the particular solution of which is not pre-determined and which requires synthesis of knowledge and intellectual creativity.  Students are expected to publish the results of their thesis research.

 5. ME 295/296 (2-3 course credits)

Students are awarded thesis credit through their registration in ME 295/6 and successful completion of their thesis work. ME 295 is offered during the Fall term and ME 296 during the Spring term. Students receive the grade of Y in these courses until the thesis is completed, at which time a formal grade is given.

In order to receive a grade of Y, all students must submit a thesis prospectus that outlines the area of work, thesis goals, proposed approach and a review of relevant past work in the literature before the end of the first semester in which the student enrolls in ME 295/6.

All students planning to do a 3-credit thesis must write a justification as part of the thesis prospectus (at http://ase.tufts.edu/mechanical under Programs of Study.  This prospectus must be signed by the student and thesis advisor and include the name of at least one other committee member.

ME 401PT/402FT  A student must be registered, or be on an approved leave of absence, for every academic year semester otherwise he/she will be officially withdrawn from the University.  A continuation fee of $500 is assessed per semester to students who require additional time over the expected completion period - two years for most masters’ programs. Tuition scholarship cannot be applied to this fee.

Students whose research requires work beyond the semesters in which they are registered for ME 295/6 must register for either ME 401PT or 402FT. Please refer to the Graduate School Handbook for more information. Students may not register for these no-credit continuation courses until they have received grades of Y in ME 295 and ME 296.

M.S. Degree Completion – The MS thesis is completed upon a successful oral defense, open to the community, and the submittal of an approved thesis to the Graduate School. The oral examination committee has a minimum of three members including the advisor and one member from outside of the Department. The student should consult the current year's Graduate Student Handbook available from the Graduate School office for the dates and deadlines involved in this process. Degree completion and recommendation to the Graduate School for the award of the appropriate degree involves a coordinated set of steps within and outside of the Department. In order to ensure that the student has completed all requirements, the M.S. Tracking Form (at http://ase.tufts.edu/mechanical under Programs of Study) should be completed carefully.

Special Note: As students complete the steps listed below, they should pay careful attention to the deadlines set by the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies for submitting theses and other degree related work for completing degree requirements in time for August, February or May degrees. In addition, international students may not take a leave of absence and remain in the United States.

Step 1:

The first step in the process is filing the "Recommendation For Award of Master's Degree" form electronically which is also provided in the Graduate School Handbook and also submitting the Graduate School Exit Survey under the Student Services > Graduate Information link at  (http://gradstudy.tufts.edu/). The student fills out this form with their academic advisor and submits it to the Department Chair for approval. The Department will make a copy of the form for the student’s file and then send the approved form to the Graduate School for processing. The approval of this form places the student on the "Degree List" for the next degree awarding cycle (August, February or May).

Step 2:

The second step in the process is the scheduling of the thesis defense.  The student and advisor are responsible for selecting a date and a committee and reserving a room.  (Ask the department office staff for assistance.)  The thesis defense is a public presentation open to the entire community.  In order to provide adequate time for publicizing the event, the student must inform the department of the impending defense as far in advance as possible.

A minimum of ONE WEEK before the defense, the student must provide the Department office staff with the following information in electronic form via email (lorin.polidora@tufts.edu).  There will be no exceptions.

q       Student’s Name

q       M.S. Thesis Title

q       Date, Time and Place of Thesis Defense

q       Committee Members and Affiliations including identification of thesis advisor(s)

q       100-200 word Abstract

Step 3:

The third step in the process is the finalization of the thesis in accordance with the examining committee's findings. The original and appropriate copies of the thesis are submitted electronically (http://dissertations.umi.com/tuftsase/) along with the appropriate paperwork as per the Graduate Student Handbook. The handbook also includes a detailed description of the thesis format and requirements.

Marching Only Policy at Commencement:  Engineering students are allowed to march at Commencement if they have only one lecture course credit remaining to fulfill all degree requirements.  All thesis and project requirements must be completed and approved.

Graduate and Professional Studies Web Site