Transcript for MAE Department - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

New MAE Department
MS Degree Program Options
Presented to MAE Visiting Committee
April 12, 2013
John Kuhlman
Overview
• I have two items to present for today:
1.) Present two new MS degree options within MAE Department:
a.) Coursework-Only MS Degree Option (MS-C)
(Developed by GPC, at suggestion of Samir Shoukry, and
adopted by the MAE Faculty, on 3/8/2013)
b.) MS Degree via Unfunded Research (MS-UR)
(Also developed by GPC; discussed by MAE Faculty; not
adopted)
(Also, I seek your input about both proposals.)
2.) Summarize results of meetings with MAE Faculty in the 5
Departmental Technical Disciplines which form the test areas
of our PhD Qualifier Exam
Main Drivers for New MS Degree Tracks
• Three reasons that the proposed new degree tracks should be implemented:
1.) To provide added flexibility for our students pursuing MS degrees
Our current graduate degree programs are aimed at full-time
students pursuing graduate degrees that will prepare them for
research-oriented positions. The new degree options are aimed
more at engineers seeking advanced education to help
advance their careers in industry. Also, the MS-C option is
aimed at both full-time and part-time students.
2.) To generate new revenue stream(s) for MAE Department
This includes the options of establishing distance education
and/or online degree programs.
3.) To increase the enrollment in our graduate courses
This should also help our PhD program, and may enable us to
teach a greater number of advanced follow-on courses.
Summary of Existing MAE MS Degree via Funded
Research (MS-FR) Program
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This MS degree option essentially is our existing MSME/MSAE
program; no changes are proposed.
This MS program has minimally-structured coursework, as shown in
Table 1:
Student takes 2 core MAE classes (from one MAE sub-discipline), &
2 MATH/STAT classes, & 4 approved grad elective classes, & thesis.
Result is an MS degree focused on solving a research problem,
generally within a single sub-discipline of ME or AE.
This thesis option is aimed at students desiring research experience, &
with career goals aimed at R&D careers in industry, gov’t., or academia.
This MS degree option is completed by our students typically within
approximately two years.
Summary of New MAE Coursework-Only MS Degree
(MS-C) Program
1.) Coursework is structured, with 6 required MAE courses, plus 2 MATH
(or 1 MATH + 1 STAT) courses, plus 3 elective courses. In addition,
students will be required to take and pass a written or oral comprehensive examination.
Table 3: Required Courses for MS-C Degree
MAE 687
Materials Engineering
MAE 543
Advanced Mechanics of Materials
MAE 521
Advanced Thermodynamics 1
MAE 532
Dynamics of Viscous Fluids
MAE 660
Feedback & Advanced Controls
MAE 653
Advanced Vibrations
2.) Only viable format for any online MS program that we might develop.
(We do not have any online or distance-ed classes; so, must “start
small”.)
3.) A viable way for industry professionals to earn their MS degree
part-time while working full-time, without having to be at WVU to
perform research to complete a thesis. Also, this degree could be
completed within 1 to 1.5 years by full-time, fee-paying students.
New MAE Coursework-Only MS Degree (MS-C)
Program (Continued)
The Coursework-Only MS degree option already exists within the
College Graduate Program Guidelines. We can adopt this program
without having to go through the WVU Faculty Senate.
However, the College & University MS Guidelines require that the
Coursework-Only option consist of at least 33 credits of coursework,
plus a Comprehensive Examination.
These two requirements make if unlikely that students can complete
the degree within two academic semesters, or currently even within
one year, due to few graduate offerings during the summer.
Note that an informal survey conducted by MAE GPC found that 16
out of 17 US universities surveyed (6 Big Ten, 4 Big 12, 4 ACC, and
3 others: CMU, Pitt, and ODU) currently offer Coursework-Only MS
degree programs.
Changing from One Option to Another;
Implementation of New Option
• Students may, with receipt of written funding offer from a faculty
member, transfer from the MS-C option into the MS-FR option.
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• Students in the MS-FR option may transfer into the MS-C option,
but only with the written approval of the faculty member who had
been providing their GRA funding.
• Also, if a student on a GRA would transfer to the MS-C option,
they would have to meet all of the degree requirements for that
degree. GRAs are unlikely to take the 6 MAE graduate courses in
5 different Technical Areas required for the MS-C option.
• It is envisioned that both of the MS-C degree option could be
implemented immediately, now that it has been adopted by the
MAE faculty. It will have to be advertised and marketed. If it is
successful and grows significantly, there will have to be additional
administrative support, and other resources, allocated for this and
other similar programs.
Proposed MAE MS Degree via Unfunded Research
(MS-UR) Program
1.) This thesis option would be aimed at working professionals in
industry or from overseas, desiring this type of program, who are
attracted to the compressed time for degree completion.
2.) MS program with similarly-structured coursework; see Table 2 below.
Students would take the same required 6 core MAE courses, plus 2
MATH (or 1 MATH + 1 STAT) courses, plus 3 elective courses. In
addition, student would complete a MS thesis, for 6 additional
credits.
3.) Coursework would be structured so the degree could be completed
within 1 year by full-time, fee-paying students, if they are sufficiently
motivated to complete a thesis within the 1-year period.
4.) This program would require 30 credits for graduation. Could the thesis
topic be an industrial project? Would we be able to do the advising?
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Summary of Meetings with MAE Faculty in
5 Technical Areas of PhD Qualifier Exam
During the current semester, meetings were conducted with faculty
groups in each of the 5 Technical Areas that are covered on the
current PhD Qualifier Examination:
1.) Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
2.) Design, Dynamics, and Controls (DDC)
3.) Solid Mechanics and Structures (SMS)
4.) Thermal Sciences and Systems (TSS)
5.) Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics (FDA)
This is, to my knowledge, the first time that we have done this in at
least 28 years. The initial goal was to simply review the 5 lists of
graduate “core classes”, listed previously and repeated below:
Examples of Faculty Recommendations
from 5 MAE Technical Area Meetings
Examples of ideas recommended by the groups include:
1.) All groups said that cancelling a core graduate course is
damaging to the graduate program.
2.) Three of the areas stated that the core requirement for MS
students should force both core courses to come from the primary
interest area of the student.
3.) MSE voted to replace MAE 649 Microscopy of Materials
with MAE 580 Crystallography and Crystals.
4.) DDC suggested creating a common technical “spine” of
more general courses, that ALL MAE graduate students would be
required to take. (e.g., Optimization, or Advanced Dynamics)
5.) SMS suggested that the “Design” portion of DDC should be
placed in the SMS area.
6.) TSS voted to allow MAE 532 Dynamics of Viscous Flow as
one alternate course in their core.
7.) FDA voted to allow MAE 624 Convection Heat Transfer as
one alternate course in their core.
Questions & Discussion?