Graduate Study

Degree Requirements

Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering
Each student's program must be approved by the Option Representative in Mechanical Engineering. A total of 138 units of courses numbered 100 or above is the minimum number required for completion of the Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Program Required for Mechanical Engineering

The Master’s Degree is based upon course work drawn from the following distribution of courses:

Graduate Mechanical Engineering core—54 units. These units should provide a solid base for the student’s engineering interest. The courses may be selected from the following list: Ae/APh/CE/ME 101 abc, Ae/Ge/ME 160 abc, ME 118, ME 119 ab, Ae/ME 120ab, Ae/AM/CE 102 abc, AM 151 abc or CDS 140 ab, and CDS 110 ab.

Mathematics, Engineering, and Research electives—54 units. Students who have not taken the equivalent of ACM 100 abc are required to take ACM 100 abc for 36 units. Mechanical engineering students are urged to consider taking 27 units of courses in automation and robotics (ME 115ab, ME 131, ME 132); combustion (JP 213 abc); engineering design (ME 171); multiphase flows (ME 202 abc); propulsion (JP 121 abc); experimental methods (Ae/APh 104 abc); or any additional courses listed in the Graduate Mechanical Engineering courses. Other courses may also be taken in Ae, AM, ACM, ME, JP, MS, EE, ESE, APh, CDS, CS, ChE, CNS. Students who are considering study beyond the master’s degree are encouraged to take research units, ME 300, up to a maximum of 27.

Free Electives—27 units. These units may be selected from any course with a number of 100 or greater, except that research units may not be included. Engineering Seminar, E 150—3 units.

Degree of Mechanical Engineer
Greater specialization is provided by work for the Engineer’s Degree than for the Master’s. The degree of Mechanical Engineer is considered to be a terminal degree for the student who desires more highly specialized advanced training with less emphasis on research than is appropriate to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. However, research leading to a thesis is required for both degrees. The student should refer to Institute requirements in the Catalog for the Engineer’s Degree.

Not less than 55 units of work shall be for research and thesis; the exact number shall be determined by a supervising committee, appointed by the Dean of Graduate Studies. Courses should be closely related to mechanical engineering. The specific courses (to be taken and passed with a grade of C or better by the candidate) will be finally determined by the supervising committee. The courses must include an advanced course in mathematics or applied mathematics, such as AM 125 abc or ACM 101 abc, that is acceptable to the faculty in mechanical engineering. A suitable course program may usually be organized from the more advanced courses listed under Ae, AM, ACM, CDS, JP, ME, and MS.

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering
nstitute requirements for the Ph.D. Degree are described in the Caltech Catalog section on degree requirements. Approximately two years of course work are required, and two or more additional years are usually needed for preparation of the dissertation.

Advising and Thesis Supervision
Advising and Thesis Supervision. An interim advisor is appointed for each student upon admission to a graduate degree in mechanical engineering. The interim advisor will serve as the primary mentor till the student finds a research advisor.

It is the responsibility of the student to find an academic and research advisor within three terms of graduate residence at Caltech. In consultation with the advisor, the student must form a Ph.D. dissertation supervision committee within one year of graduate residence at Caltech. This committee shall consist of at least three members of the Caltech professorial faculty, with at least two members from the faculty in mechanical engineering. The advisor shall serve as chair of this committee. This committee shall meet as requested by the student. Further, this committee shall meet annually to review progress and to approve the registration of the student beyond the fifth year of graduate residence at Caltech.

The adviser and the thesis supervision committee provide the majority of mentoring to the student. In addition, the option representative and other members of the faculty are always available to provide advice and mentoring on any aspect of research, progress toward the Ph.D., future careers, and other aspects of life in graduate school and as a professional scientist.

Admission to Candidacy for the Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering
To be recommended for candidacy for the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering, the student must, in addition to meeting the general Institute requirements, do the following:

• Obtain the agreement of a professorial faculty member to serve as his or her academic and research advisor and form a three-member dissertation supervision committee with the advisor as the chair.
• Successfully complete at least 54 units of research and demonstrate satisfactory research progress.
• Pass with a grade of at least C a minimum of 18 units of course work in any three core mechanical engineering subjects spanning at least two broad areas listed below. Examples of suitable courses are given in parentheses.

Area 1

• Fluid Mechanics (Ae/APh/CE/ME 101 abc)
• Mechanics of Structures and Solids (Ae/AM/CE/ME 102 abc)
  
• Continuuum Mechanics of Solids and Fluids (Ae/Ge/ME 160 abc)

Area 2

• Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics (ME 118, APh 105, Ch/ChE 164, Ch 165)
  
• Heat and Mass Transfer (ME 119 ab)
  
• Combustion (ME 120ab)

Area 3

• Dynamical Systems (AM 151 abc or CDS 140 ab)
  
• Mechanical Systems and Design (ME 115 ab, ME 171, ME 175)
  
• Controls (CDS 110 ab, CDS 111, CDS 212)

The student may petition the mechanical engineering faculty to accept alternate subjects or areas. These changes should retain core mechanical engineering knowledge and represent sufficient breadth. The petition must be submitted to the option representative and approved before the student registers for the course.

These 54 units may also be used in the student's program for the master's degree.

• Pass with a grade of at least C an additional 54 units approved by the dissertation supervision committee in engineering or science (with a course number above 100) which pertain to the student's specialty.
• Pass with a grade of at least C 27 units of advanced courses in mathematics or applied mathematics chosen in consultation with their advisor from the following list: ACM 101 or higher, AM 125, CDS 201, CDS 202, Ma 108 or higher, Ph 129. The requirement in mathematics is in addition to the requirements above and cannot be counted towards a minor.
• Pass both subject and research components of the oral candidacy examination. If the student has chosen a subject minor, an examination on the subject of that program may be included at the request of the discipline offering the subject minor. The oral candidacy examination must be taken before the end of the second year of graduate academic residence at the Institute.

The requirement of a minimum grade of C will be waived for an advanced course which (i) lists one of the courses in Areas 1, 2 and 3 as a prerequisite, and (ii) is offered only Pass/Fail.

If the student elects to take a subject minor, these units cannot be used to satisfy any of the Ph.D. degree requirements in mechanical engineering.

The faculty will evaluate the student's research progress, class performance, advisor's input, and oral candidacy exam results to determine whether a student will be admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree.

Registration beyond fifth year of graduate residence. The annual approval of the Ph.D. dissertation supervision committee is necessary for registration beyond the fifth year of graduate residence at Caltech.

Thesis and Final Examination
The thesis examination will be given after the thesis has been formally completed. This examination will be a defense of the doctoral thesis and a test of the candidate's knowledge in the specialized field of research. The format of the examination will be a public seminar presented by the candidate, with an open question period, followed by a private examination by the examining committee. The examining committee shall consist of at least four Caltech professorial faculty members, at least three of whom shall be from the Division of Engineering and Applied Science, and at least two of whom shall be mechanical engineering faculty members. One member of the committee shall be from outside the student's area of Ph.D. research. The student's advisor shall act as chair of the committee.

Subject Minor in Mechanical Engineering
A student majoring in another branch of engineering or another division of the Institute may, with the approval of the faculty in Mechanical Engineering and the faculty in his or her major field, elect Mechanical Engineering as a subject minor. The program of courses must differ markedly from the major subject of study or research, and must consist of at least 54 units of advanced work. The student must also pass an oral examination that is separate from the examination in the student’s major.