Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics PhD
Major: Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics
Degree Awarded: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 90.0
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional (CIP) code: 14.1901
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 17-2141
About the Program
The Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics (MEM) Department offers a PhD degree. The courses often associate with one or more areas of specialization: design and manufacturing, mechanics, systems and control, and thermal and fluid sciences. The mechanical engineering field is rapidly changing due to ongoing advances in modern science and technology. Effective mechanical engineers must possess expertise in mechanical engineering core subjects, interdisciplinary skills, teamwork skills, as well as entrepreneurial and managerial abilities. The degree programs are designed so students can learn the state-of-the-art knowledge now, and have the foundation to acquire new knowledge as they develop in future.
The General (Aptitude) Test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required for applicants pursuing full-time study.
The PhD degree program is offered for full-time students only and is a research intensive program. The research areas include, but are not limited to, bio-engineering, energy systems, high performance materials, nanotechnology, plasma science and engineering, and robotics.
For more information, please visit the PhD in Mechanical Engineering webpage.
Admission Requirements
Applicants must meet the graduate requirements for admission to Drexel University. Students holding a bachelor's degree in a science or engineering discipline other than mechanical engineering are advised to take several undergraduate courses as preparation for graduate studies. Though these courses are not counted toward the required credits for the degree, they also must be listed in the student's plan of study. Outstanding students with a GPA of at least 3.5 in their master’s program will be considered for admission to the program leading to the doctor of philosophy degree in mechanical engineering.
Degree Requirements
Outstanding students with a GPA of at least 3.5 in their master’s program will be considered for admission to the program leading to the Doctor of Philosophy degree in mechanical engineering.
PhD Course Requirements
At least 90.0 credits are required for the PhD degree. The master’s degree is not a prerequisite for the PhD, but does count as 45.0 credits toward the 90.0 credit requirement.
For students entering the PhD program with a prior MS degree:
- 45.0 credits of graduate courses out of which 18.0 credits are graduate courses exclusive of independent study and dissertation. If the MS degree was not from Drexel's Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics (MEM) Department, 12.0 of these 18.0 credits must be MEM graduate courses (600-level or above). The remaining 27.0 credits consist of a combination of dissertation, independent study, and additional advanced coursework consistent with the approved plan of study.
For students entering the PhD program with a BS degree but without a prior master's degree:
- 90.0 credits of graduate courses. 45.0 of these 90.0 credits must satisfy the MS in Mechanical Engineering degree requirements. The remaining 45.0 credits must satisfy the requirements above.
PhD Candidacy Examination
A graduate student in the PhD program needs be nominated by his/her supervising adviser to take the candidacy examination. A student who enters the PhD program with a prior MS degree must take the Candidacy Examination within the first year after entry to the PhD program. A student who enters the PhD program without a prior MS degree must take the Candidacy Examination within 2 years after entry to the PhD program.
The Candidacy Examination consists of two components: A course-component examination and a research-component examination. The student must demonstrate excellence in both components. The research-component examination consists of a written report and an oral presentation. The Candidacy Committee selects three or more research papers in the student’s declared research area for student to conduct a critical review. In three weeks the student submits a written report. One week after the written report is submitted the student makes an oral presentation. The presentation is followed by questions by the Committee. The goals of the questions: To evaluate the student’s knowledge in the scientific fields related to the research area, including related background and fundamental material, and the student’s ability to integrate information germane to success in research. Additional details are given in the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Graduate Program Manual.
Thesis Proposal
At least one year prior to graduation, the PhD candidate must give a thesis proposal to the dissertation advisory committee. The student must submit a written proposal and make a presentation. The written proposal normally includes: abstract, introduction, detailed literature review, preliminary results, proposed research tasks and timetable. The committee will approve/reject the thesis topic, the scope of work and the general method of attack.
Thesis Defense
A final examination consisting of a presentation and defense of the research dissertation is required, before the PhD degree is granted.
Further details can be obtained from the department's Graduate Programs Manual.
Facilities
Nanobiomaterials and Cell Engineering Laboratory
This laboratory contains a fume hood with vacuum/gas dual manifold, vacuum pump and rotary evaporator for general organic/polymer synthesis; gel electrophoresis and electroblotting for protein characterization; bath sonicator, glass homogenizer and mini-extruder for nanoparticle preparation; centrifuge; ultrapure water conditioning system; precision balance; pH meter and shaker.
Ceramics Processing Laboratory
This laboratory contains a photo-resist spinner, impedance analyzer, Zeta potential meter, spectrafluorometer, piezoelectric d33 meter, wire-bonder, and laser displacement meter.
Layered Solids Laboratory
This laboratory contains a vacuum hot-press; a hot isostatic press (HIP) for materials consolidation and synthesis; laser scattering particle size analyzer; creep testers, Ar-filled glove-box, high-speed saw, and assorted high temperature furnaces; metallographic preparation facilities; high temperature closed-loop servo-hydraulic testing machines.
Mechanical Testing Laboratory
This laboratory contains mechanical and closed-loop servo-hydraulic testing machines, hardness testers, Charpy and Izod impact testers, equipment for fatigue testing, metallographic preparation facilities and a rolling mill with twin 6" diameter rolls.
Macromolecular Materials Laboratory
This laboratory contains a hybrid rheometer, inert environment glove box, size exclusion chromatography with multi-angle laser light scattering, HPLC and RI detector & MALS, centrifuge, rotovapor, and vacuum oven used for developing innovative synthetic platforms to generate functional soft materials with complex macromolecular architectures.
Mesoscale Materials Laboratory
This laboratory contains instrumentation for growth, characterization, device fabrication, and design and simulation of electronic, dielectric, ferroelectric and photonic materials. Resources include physical and chemical vapor deposition and thermal and plasma processing of thin films, including oxides and metals, and semiconductor nanowire growth. Facilities include pulsed laser deposition, atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition, sublimation growth, and resistive thermal evaporation. Variable-temperature high-vacuum probe station and optical cryostats including high magnetic field, fixed and tunable-wavelength laser sources, several monochromators for luminescence and Raman scattering spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy with electron beam lithography, and a scanning probe microscope.
Nanomaterials Laboratory
This laboratory contains instrumentation for synthesizing, testing and manipulation of nanomaterials carbon and two dimensional carbides under microscope, high-temperature autoclaves, Sievert’s apparatus; glove-boxes; high-temperature vacuum and other furnaces for the synthesis of nano-carbon coatings and nanotubes; tube furnaces for synthesis of carbides and nitrides; potentiostat/galvanostat for electrochemical testings; ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectrophotometry; Raman spectrometers; Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) up to 1500 °C with mass spectrometer, Zeta potential analyzer; attrition mill, bath and probe sonicators, centrifuges; electro-spinning system for producing nano-fibers.
Functional Inorganic Materials Synthesis Laboratory
This laboratory contains gas cabinets and CVD furnaces for the synthesis of inorganic and hybrid materials for energy and environmental applications, including photocatalytic mixed anion materials, oxides and nitrides.
Films and Heterostructures Laboratory
This laboratory contains an oxide molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) thin film deposition system; physical properties measurement system (PPMS) for electronic transport and magnetometry measurements from 2 – 400K, up to 9 T fields; 2 tube furnaces.
Powder Processing Laboratory
This laboratory contains vee blenders, ball-mills, sieve shaker + sieves for powder classification, several furnaces (including one with controlled atmosphere capability); and a 60-ton Baldwin cold press for powder compaction.
Soft Matter Research and Polymer Processing Laboratories
These laboratories contain computerized thermal analysis facilities including differential scanning calorimeters (DSC), dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) and thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA); tabletop tensile tester; strip biaxial tensile tester; vacuum evaporator; spin coater; centrifuge; optical microscope with hot stage; liquid crystal tester; microbalance; ultrasonic cleaner; laser holographic fabrication system; polymer injection molder and single screw extruder.
Natural Polymers and Photonics Laboratory
This laboratory contains a spectroscopic ellipsometer for film characterization; high purity liquid chromatography (HPLC) system; refractometer; electro-spinning and touch-spinning systems for producing nano-fibers.
X-ray Tomography Laboratory
This laboratory contains a high resolution X-ray micro-tomography instrument and a cluster of computers for 3D microstructure reconstruction; mechanical stage, a positioning stage and a cryostage for in-situ testing.
Materials Characterization Core (MCC)
The Department of Materials Science & Engineering relies on the Materials Characterization Core facilities within the University for materials characterization and micro- and nano-fabrication. These facilities contain a number of state-of-the-art materials characterization instruments, including high resolution and variable pressure field-emission scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) for elemental analysis, Orientation Image Microscopy (OIM) for texture analysis, various in-situ and in-operando stages (cryo mat, heating, tensile, 3- and 4-point bending, and electrochemistry); two Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM) with STEM capability and TEM sample preparation equipment; a dual-beam focused ion beam (FIB) system for nano-characterization and nano fabrication; a Nanoindenter; an X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS)/Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA) system; X-Ray Diffractometers (XRD); and an X-ray microscope (NanoCT) with an in-situ tensile/compression temperature controlled stage.
More details of these instruments, information on how to access them, and instrument usage rates can be found at Drexel University’s Materials Characterization Core webpage.
