Ph.D. in Materials Engineering

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Materials EngineeringGraduateDoctor of Philosophy

[Learning Outcomes]

Program Title

Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering

Department(s)

Materials Engineering

Degree Designation

Doctor of Philosophy

Program Description

The prospective doctoral candidate should develop a good background in Materials sciences, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, in addition to achieving a high level of competence in a specialized area of Materials. Programs are arranged by the prospective student and the student’s advisory committee.

Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering Requirements

Completion requirement

Select an advisory committee that shall consist of a minimum of four members:

an academic advisor from the Materials department,
at least three other members out of which one must be from outside the department (not necessarily from a different field). The research advisor may be the academic advisor or other member of the committee. Materials faculty shall not be in the minority on the advisory committee. The student must select an academic advisor, who may serve as a temporary research advisor, before the second semester of study. The selection of the entire committee and dissertation topic must be completed by the end of the second semester of study for full-time in-house students, and immediately after completing 12 credit hours for DE students. The student must meet with his or her committee at least once per year, and must get courses approved by them.

Complete at least 24 credit hours of courses approved by the doctoral committee, including:

At least 12 hours of 5000 level courses. No more than 3 hours of MTLS 5081 Directed Study may be used for fulfilling the course requirements. Students may take MTLS 5000 (Directed Research) in multiple semesters but the credits may not count towards their degree requirements.

For students who have already received an MS degree from the Materials department, the total credit requirements for course work may be reduced below 24 credits with the approval of their committee, department chair, and the graduate dean

Conduct a successful written and public oral critique of a paper published in a high quality professional journal

The paper choice shall be agreed on by the doctoral committee. The paper critique is the Materials Department’s Preliminary (alternately called qualifying) examination. This is the first examination that a student has to pass. During the paper critique presentation, the student may be asked questions relating to background knowledge gained from taking regular coursework in Materials and related subjects. The paper critique must be completed within 18 months of enrolling into the PhD program.

Write a research proposal and defend it in a public oral defense at least two full semesters before the final dissertation defense

This proposal defense is the Materials Department Candidacy exam, and should address the rationale for the research plan and preliminary work in progress. This examination can only be taken after a student has passed the preliminary examination.

The admission to candidacy to the PhD degree requires that the preliminary and candidacy examinations be passed and approved by the advisory committee.

Following this, the student must enroll in at least 24 credit hours of MTLS 5095 Dissertation during which the student completes the research project approved by the advisory committee. The student cannot start taking MTLS 5095 credits until both the preliminary exam (paper critique) and the candidacy exam (proposal defense) have been passed.

Full Time

A full-time graduate student must be enrolled in a minimum of 9 credit hours per regular semester and 6 credit hours during the summer.

The student must submit at least one paper based on the dissertation to a recognized journal acceptable to the doctoral committee.

A preprint must be submitted to the doctoral committee prior to defense of the PhD dissertation. It is preferable that this paper be accepted by the journal and a written copy of the acceptance or conditional acceptance with reviewer comments should be provided to the committee.

The student must write the final dissertation and defend it in an oral public defense before the doctoral committee.

Additional requirements include the New Mexico Tech General Graduate Program Requirements.

New Mexico Tech General Graduate Program Requirements.