ME-ENG - Mechanical Engineering (ENG)

The basic University requirements for the degree of Engineer are discussed in the "Graduate Degrees" section of this bulletin.

This degree requires an additional year of study beyond the M.S. degree and includes a research thesis. The program is designed for students who wish to do professional engineering work upon graduation and who want to engage in more specialized study than is afforded by the master’s degree alone.

Admission standards are substantially the same as indicated under the master’s degree. However, since thesis supervision is required and the availability of thesis supervisors is limited, admission is not granted until the student has personally engaged a faculty member to supervise a research project. This most often involves a paid research assistantship awarded by individual faculty members (usually from the funds of sponsored research projects under their direction). Thus, individual arrangement between student and faculty is necessary. Students studying for the M.S. degree at Stanford who wish to continue to the Engineer degree ordinarily make such arrangements during the M.S. degree program. Students holding master’s degrees from other universities are invited to apply and may be admitted providing they are sufficiently well qualified and have made thesis supervision and financial aid arrangements.

Department requirements for the degree include a thesis; up to 18 units of credit are allowed for thesis work (ME 400 Thesis). In addition to the thesis, 27 units of approved advanced course work in mathematics, science, and engineering are expected beyond the requirements for the M.S. degree; the choice of courses is subject to approval of the adviser. Students who have not fulfilled the Stanford M.S. degree requirements are required to do so, with allowance for approximate equivalence of courses taken elsewhere; up to 45 units may be transferable. A total of 90 units is required for degree conferral.

Candidates for the degree must have faculty approval and have a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 for all courses (exclusive of thesis credit and other independent study courses) taken beyond those required for the master’s degree.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) is committed to providing academic advising in support of graduate student scholarly and professional development. This advising relationship is most effective when it entails collaborative and sustained engagement between the advisor and the advisee. As a best practice, the advisor/advisee relationship and expectations of both sides should be periodically discussed and reviewed to ensure mutual understanding. All advisors and the advisee are expected to maintain professionalism and integrity.

Faculty advisors guide graduate students in key areas of their academic career. An academic advisor helps guide student selection of courses and provides help in navigating polices and degree requirements. In the case of faculty advising teaching assistants, the relationship should include help with development of teaching pedagogy and practice. If the advisor also serves as the primary research advisor, then the advising is much more extensive and also includes research training, design, execution, and career planning (see also Ph.D. section below).

In all cases, graduate students should be active contributors to the advising relationship, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for their graduate program (including reading the ME Department’s Graduate Student Handbook). Graduate students conducting research should also strive to understand the method and goals of the research and the project’s contribution to the pertinent field.

The faculty Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) meets with all master’s and doctoral students at the start of their first year, and is available year-round via email and by appointment. The department’s Student Services Office is also an important part of the advising team; they inform students and advisors about university and department requirements, procedures, and opportunities, and maintain the official records of advising assignments. Students are encouraged to talk with staff of the Student Services Office, including the DGS, as they consider advisor selection, or for advice in working with their advisor(s). Another excellent resource for students is the ME Graduate Student Committee, a student-run group which organizes social, academic, and community events for the graduate student population in the ME Department.

For a statement of University policy on graduate advising, see the Graduate Advising section of this bulletin.

Ph.D. and Engineer Degrees 

The ME Department provides academic advising in support of doctoral student scholarly and professional development. A successful advisor/advisee relationship is particularly important for students seeking a Ph.D. in the department. The material in this section is also applicable to students seeking the Degree of Engineer.

In addition to the goals listed above for all advisor/advisee relationships, the Ph.D. advisor provides advice and guidance on developing research skills, choosing classes that helps with the student’s research, identifying and planning research projects, dissemination/publishing of the research, and exploring academic opportunities and professional pathways. The Ph.D. advisor serves as an intellectual and professional mentor to the Ph.D. student. In some cases, a Ph.D. student may be advised by two or more advisors. In these cases, the various roles and goals of each of these individuals should be made very clear to all involved. For example, the co-advisors in such arrangements should strive to coordinate and provide non-conflicting advice to the student and the advisee should work to improve and facilitate communication with the two advisors and provide feedback to and from their advisors.

In the ME department, Ph.D. students can be admitted to be advised by a specified faculty member, or admitted with a fellowship associated with the research rotation program. For the latter, the student is initially assigned a program advisor by the department. This faculty member provides initial guidance in course selection, in exploring academic opportunities and professional pathways, and in identifying doctoral research opportunities. Students are required to perform rotations until a Ph.D. research advisor is identified, and they are strongly encouraged to explore research activities with two or three different faculty members during their first academic year. All Ph.D. students seeking a Ph.D. research advisor are encouraged to very proactively seek out, meet with, and discuss possibilities for Ph.D. advisors. Ideally, these discussions should include possible research projects and the possibility for and sources of sustained research funding.

Ph.D. students must identify their doctoral research/thesis advisor (and vice versa) prior to the end of the first year of study. Ideally, this should happen with the first 9 to 10 months. The research supervisor assumes primary responsibility for the future direction of the student, taking on the roles previously filled by the program advisor as well as the aforementioned research-related advice, and ultimately directing the student’s dissertation. Most ME Ph.D. students find an advisor from among the primary faculty members of the department. However, the research advisor may be a qualified faculty member from another Stanford department who is able to provide both advising and funding for the duration of the doctoral program. When the research advisor is from outside the department, the student must also identify a program advisor, called a co-advisor, from the primary ME faculty, to provide guidance on departmental requirements and opportunities. The co-advisor is also a member of the student’s dissertation reading committee.

For a statement of University policy on graduate advising, see the "Graduate Advising" section of this bulletin.

The purpose of the master’s program is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for a professional career or doctoral studies. This is done through course work providing depth in one area of specialization and breadth in complementary areas. Areas of specialization range from automatic controls, energy systems, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and solid mechanics to biomechanical engineering, MEMS, and design.