Graduate Examinations

A thesis-option student is expected to do original work that would be the basis of a paper suitable for publication in a refereed journal. An unbound or electronic thesis document should be submitted to the examination committee two weeks before the oral final examination. After the final oral examination has been passed, and after any changes required by the examination committee have been made in the thesis, the thesis should be submitted electronically in PDF Format to ProQuest/UMI on or before the date specified by the Graduate Studies Office.

Each Master’s degree candidate must pass a final examination. The examination committee, which is normally the advisory committee, must consist of at least three members of the Graduate Faculty and at least two must be Mechanical Engineering Faculty. The request to schedule the examination must be submitted to the Mechanical Engineering Department at least two weeks prior to the examination date. Unbound or electronic thesis/project report copies are to be submitted to the examination committee two weeks before the examination. The examination must be publicized at least one week before the date of the examination. For every scheduled examination, the department will report a grade of honors, satisfactory, or unsatisfactory as decided upon by the committee. Only two attempts to pass the Master’s examination are allowed. If the examination is not passed in two attempts, the student will be terminated from the program and will not receive the degree.

A project-option student must do an analytical or experimental study acceptable to the advisory committee. A typed unbound project report must also be provided to the advisory committee two weeks before the oral final examination. 

Each Master’s degree candidate must pass a final examination. The examination committee, which is normally the advisory committee, must consist of at least three members of the Graduate Faculty and at least two must be Mechanical Engineering Faculty. The request to schedule the examination must be submitted to the Mechanical Engineering Department at least two weeks prior to the examination date. Unbound or electronic thesis/project report copies are to be submitted to the examination committee two weeks before the examination. The examination must be publicized at least one week before the date of the examination. For every scheduled examination, the department will report a grade of honors, satisfactory, or unsatisfactory as decided upon by the committee. Only two attempts to pass the Master’s examination are allowed. If the examination is not passed in two attempts, the student will be terminated from the program and will not receive the degree.

For a student with a Master’s degree, a qualifying examination will normally be taken in the first semester of participation in the doctoral program on regular status.  It should not be taken later than the end of the second semester.  For a direct admit with a Bachelor’s degree, a qualifying examination will typically be taken after completion of 30 hours of course work.  Qualifying examinations will be scheduled during the fall and spring semesters and will be administered and graded by the Qualifying Examination Committee.

The qualifying exam consists of three parts:

Criterion #1: The student must demonstrate an understanding in a core set of fundamental undergraduate mechanical engineering knowledge.

This criterion will be assessed and satisfied with the current policies for entrance to the KUME graduate program. This includes the current requirements for satisfying deficiencies in the undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum as identified by the department. At the time of the Ph.D. qualifying exam, the student must have satisfied and completed all requirements and conditions specified by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the SOE to address deficiencies.

Criterion #2: The student must demonstrate an understanding in a subset of core advanced mechanical engineering knowledge.

A) The student will identify three 3-credit mechanical engineering technical elective courses (excluding courses required for the KU BSME degree, ME 702, ME 801, ME 860, ME 899, and ME 999) and one 3-credit mathematics course from the approved list in the KUME Graduate Handbook (or approved prior by the Graduate Director). The chosen ME courses should reflect three specific subjects in the focus area of study. Equivalent graduate courses that are completed at other institutions may be used to satisfy the requirements. All courses must meet the approval of the student’s advisor and the Qualifying Examination Committee including a review by the Graduate Director.

B) OR, DEPENDING ON ADVISOR PREFERENCE, the student will be required to demonstrate an understanding of three specific ME subjects and mathematics by passing written exams in each of these four subjects. The series of written exams will be scheduled during one week each fall and/or spring semester. Each exam will be graded separately on an A to F basis and count similarly to a 3-credit course towards this assessment. Scheduling and generation of the exams is the responsibility of the student’s major advisor with other faculty assistance.

In order to pass this criterion, the student must achieve at least a cumulative 3.7 GPA over all four courses or exams. A conditional pass may be awarded for a 3.5 GPA or greater (up to 3.7 GPA) with the student required to address said deficiency in the lowest graded course by either (depending on advisor preference): (1) completing extra coursework in that subject while achieving an A grade, or (2) re-taking the exam in that subject area and passing with an A grade. The student must address this deficiency before taking the Ph.D. comprehensive exam.

Criterion #3: The student must demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively through writing, oral presentation, and open questioning.

The student will give an oral presentation that will last 20 minutes or less.  Questions from the Qualifying Examination Committee and the overall presentation will last 60 minutes or less. The material for the presentation will be a summary of one to three pertinent and related papers.  These paper(s) will be approved by the advisor and the Qualifying Examination Committee. Two days before the oral presentation, the student will provide a one-page summary (single-spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman, 1” margins) to the committee of the material to be presented. No outside help, including the use of AI will be allowed. To receive a passing grade, the student must demonstrate to the committee their ability to effectively communicate the information. For a student that receives a grade of conditional pass, the committee will recommend appropriate remedies. If a student receives a grade of fail, a second and final attempt will be granted.

When a doctoral candidate has completed the required coursework, the Comprehensive Examination can be administered. The candidate must be in good academic standing (3.0 or above), and met the following criteria:

• Completed all course work:  18 credit hours beyond the Master’s degree, or 42 hours beyond the Bachelor’s degree.

• Research skills met (Two 700+ level courses related to research)

• Responsible Scholarship requirement met (ME 801)

• Residency Requirement met (First two semesters after being admitted to program)

The Comprehensive Examination request must be completed a minimum of two weeks prior to the date of the exam.  The candidate’s doctoral committee forms the committee for the comprehensive exam.   

The doctoral committee approves the format of the exam which typically consists of a written proposal for the dissertation research followed by an oral presentation and examination on the proposed research.  Candidates should be prepared in the oral examination to discuss broader implication of the research and core mechanical engineering fundamentals as they apply to the research.

Completion of the dissertation is the final academic phase of the doctoral program, culminating in the final oral examination and defense of the dissertation. 

• Requests for the Final Thesis Defense/Oral Examination must be submitted a minimum of three weeks prior to the date of the exam. 
• The student should provide the Dissertation Committee with the final dissertation document at least two weeks prior to the oral examination. 
• The examination must be publicized at least one week before the date of the examination.

For every scheduled final oral examination, the department reports to the Graduate Division a grade of Honors, Satisfactory, or Unsatisfactory for the candidate’s performance. If an Unsatisfactory grade is reported, the candidate may be allowed to repeat the examination on the recommendation of the department.

When the candidate has passed the final oral examination and the members of the dissertation committee have signed the dissertation, a title page and acceptance page with original signatures are to be delivered to the Graduate Affairs office of the school/college in which the student’s program resides so that completion of degree requirements may be officially certified. After the final oral examination has been passed, and after any changes required by the examination committee have been made in the dissertation, the dissertation should be submitted electronically in PDF Format to ProQuest/UMI on or before the date specified by the Graduate Studies Office.