Mechanical Engineering, MSME

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Department of Mechanical Engineering

Stilwell Hall 232
(216) 687-2567
http://www.csuohio.edu/engineering/mce/graduatestudies.html

William Atherton, Interim Chair
Hanz Richter, Graduate Program Director

Introduction

The Mechanical Engineering Department offers a program leading to the Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Major areas of specialization within the department are:

Thermal-Fluid Mechanics and Energy Systems
Mechanical Systems and Design
Dynamics and Control
Mechatronics

Courses are organized in the above four tracks, however students have the flexibility to choose their own courses according to their individual interests and career goals. Numerous and continuous opportunities exist for exposure to engineering problems and developments within the industrial/ research complex of Northeastern Ohio. In addition to substantial interdisciplinary research activities in the College of Engineering, faculty and students participate in research programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the NASA Glenn Research Center, and industrial partners like Parker-Hannifin, General Electric and Philips Medical Systems, to name a few. The program is designed to stimulate creativity, to provide a deep understanding of the basic physical phenomena involved in mechanical systems, and to provide an ability to use modern techniques in the analysis, control, and design of mechanisms machines, mechatronic and robotic systems and fluid/thermal systems.

Students may enter the program immediately after receiving a bachelor’s degree or after a period of employment in industry. In either case, students may pursue their studies on a full-time or part-time basis. Classes also are available through distance-learning technology, including interactive, live video, and asynchronous Internet systems. The Department also offers a combined BSc/MSc degree program to be completed in 5 years.

Facilities

The department maintains excellent instructional and research facilities, including one of the state’s largest anechoic chambers and the unique Center for Rotating Machinery Dynamics and Control. The department maintains state-of-the-art facilities in energy and power systems, control and mechatronics and machine design, including Stirling engines, a wind tunnel, the machine vision and system monitoring lab, the rapid prototyping lab, and the rotating machinery dynamics and control lab. The Fenn College of Engineering’s computer network, workstations, PC laboratory, and associated software such as Matlab, AutoCAD, and SolidWorks, are available for research and academic activity.

Faculty research areas Include

Computer Modeling of Manufacturing Processes
Analysis and Modeling of Gear Trains
Turbomachinery Analysis, Design, and Optimization
Rotor-Bearing Dynamics and Diagnostics
Tribology and Control of Rotor-Bearing Systems
Magnetic Bearings
Prediction and Control of Vibrations in Machinery
Intelligent System Monitoring
Machine Vision and 3D Optical Measurements
Gravitational Effects on Two-Phase Flow
Spray Evaporative Cooling
Enhanced Heat Transfer
Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer
Computational Fluid Dynamics and HeatTransfer
Combustion
Bio-Based Electroactive Transducers
Control Theory
Control for Aerospace Propulsion
Robust Nonlinear Control
Modeling and Control of Mechatronic Systems

Current faculty information can be located on the Cleveland State University Faculty Profile page.

Financial Assistance

The department offers a limited number of graduate research assistantships. Additional opportunities for assistantships exist through the Ohio Aerospace Institute. Information about assistantships is available from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at (216) 687-2567.

Career Information

Upon successful completion of program requirements, students will have a solid education based on the fundamentals of engineering science. Graduates are well prepared for practical applications of engineering design, analysis, and research, and for employment in industry and research laboratories.

Admission Information

Admission to the graduate program in mechanical engineering is open to qualified students with a baccalaureate degree in mechanical engineering or other fields of engineering. A minimum baccalaureate grade-point average of 3.0 (or 2.75 for students from EAC/ABET accredited programs) normally is required. Students without a degree in mechanical engineering are required to take prescribed undergraduate courses in mechanical engineering to ensure adequate preparation for the graduate program. These courses are available both during the day and evening. Undergraduate courses taken to remediate deficiencies do not count toward graduate degree requirements.

The GRE General examination is required if one or more of the following conditions is true:

The undergraduate degree was awarded by a college or university outside of the United States or Canada, or by a Canadian institution not accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers.
An unaccredited college or university awarded the undergraduate degree.
The student’s undergraduate cumulative grade-point average is below 2.75.
The year of the baccalaureate degree precedes the date of application to the College of Graduate Studies by more than six years; however, in this case, the examination requirement may be waived, by the program, if the applicant’s undergraduate grade-point average is 3.0 or above.

Apply Now: http://www.csuohio.edu/gradcollege/admissions/apply.html

Accelerated 4 + 1 Program in Mechanical Engineering

The Department of Mechanical Engineering also offers an Accelerated Program that would enable students to a earn a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree as well as a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 5 years. Applicants must have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher at the time of application. Honors students are strongly encouraged to participate. Students who are interested in this program may submit applications upon completing their first semester of the junior year. Applications must be submitted by the end of the junior year. This application policy also applies to transfer students who have equivalent junior status. Students in this program must take 500-level courses in year 4, and 500-level or 600-level courses in year 5, as indicated in the BME/MSME Dual-Program Sheet. To remain in the program, students must maintain a 3.00 or higher GPA.

Minimum number of credits required to earn both degrees: 155 (thesis option) and 158 (project option).

For more details, please refer to the department webpage http://www.csuohio.edu/mce/

Degree Requirements

The Department of Mechanical Engineering offers two program options. The thesis option requires a minimum thirty credit hours of course work and master’s thesis research. The non-thesis option requires a minimum thirty-three credit hours of course work and master’s project. The Department of Mechanical Engineering further restricts the content of each student’s
master’s program to contain:

A minimum of twenty credit hours of course work in the department’s 500 or 600-level courses, which includes a minimum of four credit hours of advanced engineering analysis or applied mathematics. (Completion of one course from among MCE 501 , MCE 504 , MCE 509 , or approved substitutes meets this requirement.)
A maximum of nine credit hours of graduate course work transferred from other universities.

The graduate program must include thesis or project work on a topic approved by the student’s graduate advisor and thesis committee. The project or thesis work typically should start only after the student completes sixteen credit hours or more of approved course work at the master’s level. A thesis proposal approval form must be completed and approved by the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies before registering for MCE 699 - Master’s Thesis .

At least one semester prior to graduation, an application-for-graduation form must be submitted to the department and the Office of the University Registrar.

Thesis Option

With the thesis option, a student plans and carries out a research project. It is expected that the project will yield a refereed journal article. The requirements are:

A minimum of thirty credit hours with a grade-point average of 3.0 or better. This includes a minimum of twenty-four credit hours of course work and at least six credit hours for the master’s thesis.
Selection of a major advisor and an advisory committee and approval of a program of study and the research project by the major advisor and advisory committee.
Completion of all requirements noted above under Degree Requirements.
Continuous thesis enrollment from the time the research plan is approved until completed.
Defense of the thesis before the advisory committee.

Non-Thesis Option

The non-thesis option is intended for students who already have had the equivalent of a thesis experience. Equivalence of such an experience must be approved by both the student’s advisor and the department chair. Students following this option earn the MS degree by completing the following requirements:

A minimum of thirty-three credit hours with a grade-point average of 3.0 or better. The thirty-three hours includes a minimum of twenty-eight credits of course work and at least five credit hours for the master’s project.
Selection of a major advisor to supervise and approve the student’s program of study.
Fulfillment of all requirements noted above under Degree Requirements.
Approval of the master’s project report by the major advisor and two additional faculty members in the department.