Mechanical Engineering
TTU Home COE Home Mechanical Engineering PhD Program

Doctor of Philosophy Degree Program

 The Graduate School of Texas Tech University sets the policies and regulations regarding admission, minimum grade requirements, final examinations, and other such items of interest to the student. Students should obtain and study the current Graduate Catalog in order to be familiar with these regulations. This Procedures Manual presents information specifically concerning the Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (Ph.D. ME).  

The Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering is a graduate degree requiring a minimum of three years of graduate study beyond the undergraduate degree. It is awarded to students who have completed a program of graduate courses, a final examination, and a dissertation.  Completion of the Ph.D. normally requires approximately 24 to 36 months beyond the Master's degree.

Page Contents

 

Coursework Requirements

The doctorate requires at least 60 semester hours of graduate work, exclusive of the dissertation. No more than 30 semester credit hour of an earned master’s degree from another institution may be transferred. A student will be required to take 4 graduate courses (12 hours).  The remaining 18 hours may consist of ME 7000, ME 6331, or additional graduate courses. A student may not include more than 9 hours each of ME 7000 or ME 6331 courses. Each of the ME 7000 and ME 6331 courses should have a unique prefix identifying the class name. The Graduate School’s custom and practice is to reject all degree plans when a student is taking more than 9 hours with a single professor because this is not consistent with the guidelines of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

The balance of the graduate courses required for a degree program may be selected from mathematics, science, and engineering with the approval of the Faculty Advisor and Advisory Committee.  All courses must carry graduate credit. Students should obtain the approval of the offering department when taking courses outside of Mechanical Engineering to be sure that they have the appropriate prerequisites.  Students are required to submit a degree plan during their first semester.  For information about degree plans as well as the form click here.

top

Graduate Seminar 

One hour of graduate seminar (ME 5120) is required for all students.  Students register for this course in their first full-time graduate semester, but must attend seminars throughout their entire academic career, until completion of the requirment.  Students must attend at total of 10 presentations scheduled during their degree program.  This may incldue any of the Mechanical Engineering departmental seminars, as well as any external seminars approved in advance by the ME Graduate Advisor. 

To find information about Mechanical Engineering seminars, please see the schedule on this website.  To find external seminars, please see the Advising Office for a list of approved presentations. Alternatively, you may find a seminar yourself and bring an abstract to the Advising Office IN ADVANCE for approval.  In either case, a feedback sheet must be picked up from the Advising Office before attending any external seminars and it must be turned in to the Advising Office as soon as possible afterwards. 

Journal Publication Requirement 

The department of Mechanical Engineering requires, as part of its PhD degree requirements, that all its PhD degree candidates have at least one technical paper submitted to an archival journal relevant to the candidate's field of expertise prior to the defense of their PhD thesis. The individual faculty advisors reserve the right regarding journal publication requirement beyond one paper submitted.

 Faculty Advisor and Advisory Committee

When a student first begins a graduate studies program he/she is assigned to the Departmental Graduate Student Advisor. During the first semester of attendance, students should seek a Faculty Advisor. This advisor assists the student with the selection of a dissertation research topic and the courses needed to earn the Ph. D. degree. A Faculty Advisor should be selected by the student and reported to the Department Graduate Student Advisor by the end of the first semester of attendance.

Each student pursuing the Ph. D. program must also have an Advisory Committee to assist with academic and dissertation matters. This committee is chaired by the Faculty Advisor and consists of the Faculty Advisor plus a minimum of four additional graduate faculty members, excluding the Graduate Dean's representative. Students are strongly encouraged to have at least one member from outside the Department. This committee is responsible for the comprehensive examination and approval of the dissertation. This committee should be selected shortly after the student has selected a Faculty Advisor and prior to the end of the first year of attendance. Committee membership is formalized when the student files for admission to candidacy.

top

Qualifying Examination

The Qualifying Examination for Admission to Candidacy for the doctor's degree is one of the major features of the doctoral program and will be administered in both the major and minor areas of study. A student is eligible to stand for this examination after receiving approval of the doctoral proposal from the Dean of the Graduate School and completing most of the course work prescribed by the approved proposal (e.g., the student should be in his/her last semester of coursework). At this point, the student should also provide an abstract of his thesis to the Department Graduate Student Advisor.

The Qualifying Examination is normally prepared and administered by the candidate's Advisory committee or any other professors the committee may consider necessary. The Qualifying Examination consists of two parts; (a) Written portion and (b) Oral part. The committee assigns a topic for each member who will then administer a written examination on that particular topic. Once the doctoral student completes the written examination with each committee member, the committee meets as a group and administers the oral portion of the Qualifying Examination. The procedure outlined in the Graduate Catalog applies when the examination is satisfactory or not satisfactory. If the student performance is not satisfactory, then the student will be given one more chance to take the examination after four months.

top

Admission to Candidacy

Authority for admitting an applicant to candidacy for a doctoral degree is vested in the Graduate Council. Once a recommendation is received from the advisory committee, the Graduate Dean will submit it to the Graduate Council for action. The council may approve the committee's recommendation, or it may, after consultation with the committee, suggest additional requirements for the applicant to satisfy.

A student must be admitted to candidacy for the doctorate at least four months prior to the proposed graduation date.

top

Dissertation

A dissertation is required of every candidate for a doctoral degree. This requirement is separate and apart from other requirements in doctoral programs; consequently, successful performance in other areas does not necessarily guarantee the acceptance of a dissertation. The dissertation work must earn a grade of at least B in order to qualify the student for graduation.

The doctoral dissertation represents the results of original and significant research work in mechanical engineering conducted by the student under the supervision of the Faculty Advisor and Advisory Committee. The dissertation must be prepared in strict conformance with the requirements described in the Graduate School booklet, "Instructions for Preparing and Submitting Reports, Thesis, and. Dissertations." As stated in the booklet, it is the student's responsibility to be sure that English usage is proper and that physical form (margins, spacing, etc.) is acceptable. Students who have difficulty with writing proper English are encouraged to employ assistance (typically students majoring in English) in correcting their dissertation or report prior to submittal to their Faculty Advisor. Students must defend their dissertation to their Advisory Committee. A draft of the thesis must be provided to the Advisory Committee three weeks prior to the defense. An announcement of the defense must be given to the Department three weeks in advance of the defense.

top

Academic Regulations

Academic Probation and Suspension of Graduate Students (OP 64.04) 

All graduate students at Texas Tech University must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.  If a student's cumulative GPA falls below 3.0, he/she is placed on academic probation. At this time, the student has two consecutive semesters to raise his/her cumulative GPA to at least 3.0.  If during this two semester period, his/her semester GPA drops below a 3.0, the student is subject to suspension.

A student placed on suspension will be required to remain out of Graduate School for one semester.  If a student is suspended two times, he/she will not be allowed to return to Graduate School.  Any student who has been suspended must appeal to the Graduate School, according to OP 64.07, if reinstatement is desired.  Summer sessions and/or trimester count as one semester. 

Departmental Academic Standards

The Department will permit only a single grade of C for courses listed on the Official Degree Plan. If a student earns two or more C's or any single grade less than C, he or she must meet with a group consisting of the Faculty Advisor, Advisory Committee, and the Department Graduate Advisor. This group will recommend appropriate action, which may include probation or suspension by the Department.

top

Minimum Residence

The minimum residence time for a Ph. D. is one full academic year of graduate study beyond the master's degree or beyond the equivalent of this degree if the student proceeds to doctoral work without getting a master's degree.

Time Limit

All work for the doctorate must be completed within four years after the applicant has been admitted to candidacy. Students whose graduate study is interrupted by military service will be granted an extension of time for the period of their military service, not to exceed five years.

top