Doctor of Philosophy

Overview

A Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering opens the door to a wide range of career paths, including industry R&D, government research laboratories, consulting, entrepreneurship, and academia.

Our Ph.D. program equips students with the expertise and problem-solving skills necessary for career success. The curriculum provides a grounding in mechanical engineering fundamentals and opportunities for broader exploration in topics ranging from entrepreneurship to machine learning.

Incoming Ph.D. students will identify a dissertation advisor from among our world-renowned faculty.

All students in our Ph.D. program receive financial support. Many enter with their own funding via external fellowships (from NSF, DOE, etc.) or other sources. All others receive funding in the form of a graduate assistantship, which includes a monthly stipend, remission of tuition and fees, and employee health insurance. Students entering with a Bachelor degree are guaranteed an assistantship for at least five years; those entering with a Master degree are guaranteed at least four years. Funding is contingent on maintaining academic good standing.

For questions about our Ph.D. program, please email us at mechanical-gradprogram@tamu.edu.

Application Process

Applicants to our Ph.D. program receive a fee waiver that reduces application cost to $25. Please follow the link below and complete the application. The fee will be reduced to $25 at checkout.

Apply at EngineeringCAS

View Current Program Requirements

96 Hour Ph.D.

96 Credit Hour Requirements (Direct Ph.D. program)

64 Hour Ph.D.

64 Hour Ph.D. (For those already having a Master's degree)

The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 96 semester credit hours beyond a baccalaureate degree, and a minimum of 64 semester credit hours for a student who has completed a master’s degree. A student in this program must pass the Qualifying Exam according to the current departmental guidelines for the exam.

Committee Requirements:

1. General Requirements:
   1. Minimum of four (4) faculty on the committee, including the committee chair and co-chair, if applicable.
   2. All committee members must be on Graduate Committee Faculty through Graduate and Professional School. A list is available at https://gradcom.tamu.edu/faculty.
   3. At least one member must be from outside the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
2. Committee Chair: Faculty may be tenure/tenure-track faculty in MEEN or joint/courtesy appointment to MEEN. Joint/courtesy appointment faculty chairs do not count as a non-MEEN committee member. 
   1. Joint/Courtesy Appointment Chairs are required to fund student through GAR or a GAT position in the faculty member’s home department.
3. Committee Co-chair: optional; student may choose to have a co-chair on their committee. This person can be from in or out of MEEN.
4. Committee Members:
   1. If your chair is a MEEN faculty member, you must have at least one (1) committee memberfrom MEEN. At least one (1) committee member must be from outside of MEEN. The remainingone (1) committee member may be from in or out of MEEN.
   2. If your chair is a joint/courtesy appointment, you must have at least two (2) committeemembers from MEEN. The remaining one (1) committee member must be from outside of MEEN.

Curricular Options:

Mathematics Courses:

1. MEEN 602: Modeling & Analysis of Mechanical Systems (preferred).
2. Any graduate level MATH or STAT course.

Core Courses:

1. MEEN 601: Advanced Product Design
2. MEEN 603: Theory of Elasticity
3. MEEN 608: Continuum Mechanics
4. MEEN 612: Mechanics of Robot Manipulators
5. MEEN 613: Engineering Dynamics
6. MEEN 615: Advanced Engineering Thermo Dynamics
7. MEEN 617: Mechanical Vibrations
8. MEEN 621: Fluid Mechanics
9. MEEN 630: Intermediate Heat Transfer
10. MEEN 651: Control System Design
11. MEEN 672: Introduction to Finite Element Method
12. MEEN 683: Multidisciplinary System Analysis & Design Optimization
13. MEEN 688: Advanced Solid Mechanics

Technical Elective Courses:

1. Any graduate level MEEN course. It may include courses from the core course listing and a maximum of 4 hours of MEEN 684 and 685 combined. A minimum of two graduate technical electives, excluding MEEN 684, must be in MEEN.
2. Any graduate level course in the College of Engineering or College of Science, with research advisor approval. Courses with the ENGR prefix or from outside the Colleges of Engineering or Science will require prior approval from the MEEN Graduate Program Director.
3. May include up to one undergraduate courses at the 400 level. 

96 Credit Hour Ph.D. Program Requirements 

64 Credit Hour Ph.D. Program Requirements