Appendix A - Ph.D. qualifier format effective May 2008 and afterward The following plan has been approved by the MAE faculty to replace the current Ph.D. qualifier format given in Section 11 a) and 11 b) above. Candidates who need to repeat parts of the January 2007 qualifier under the old format will be permitted to do so in January 2008; in addition, students already in the program as of Sp 2007 will be permitted to take the old format in January 2008. The new format will apply to all newly admitted students and those who have not already taken the qualifier. Course requirements: Each area of MAE will list two courses and there will also be a mathematics requirement. The student and his/her adviser will select the student＊s focus area. Students will be asked to identify their focus area at the start of their PhD program. The focus areas will be: Computational and Applied Mechanics (CAM) Fluid and Thermal Sciences (FTS) Systems and Design (SD) Bioengineering (BIO) Within the declared focus area, the student takes both courses listed; outside of the focus area, the student selects only one listed course from 2 of the 3 remaining areas. This means that each student will take in total 4 of the listed courses plus the mathematics course. In addition, students can select Materials (MAT) as a focus area. In this case, course requirements are as specified in Section f) below. b) Qualifier Date: The qualifier will be given at the end of the academic year, in May. The date will be announced at the beginning of the Spring semester. Qualifier tests normally last 3-4 hours. c) Courses by area: FTS: MAE 515 Fluids 1, MAE 545 Heat Transfer I CAM: MAE 505/CIE CIE 511 Advanced Mechanics of Solids; MAE 529 Finite Elements SD: MAE 550 Optimization in Eng＊g Design, MAE 571 Systems Analysis I BIO: MAE 514 Evaluation of Biomaterials; MAE 578 Cardiovascular Biomechanics In addition, all students will take MAE 507 Eng＊g Analysis I. If a specified course is not available in a given year, the group will propose a substitute. This will be announced before the beginning of the Fall semester. d) Grade requirements for all courses taken outside the focus area, including the mathematics course: Students must earn a B+ or better grade in the required course they have selected. If they do, they have completed their responsibility in that area. If they do not, they will be given an additional written test to achieve the B+. This test is to be given within approximately 2 weeks after the end of the semester in which the course is offered, and given by the instructor of that course. If the student does not achieve a B+ overall, he/she will be given an oral to achieve the B+. Should this fail, the student will repeat the test the following year. If the student fails to achieve a B+ in the following year, he/she has failed the qualifier and will be dismissed from the program. This can be summarized by the figure below. e) Details of the qualifier: The student takes both courses in the focus area, plus any additional materials that the group requires. Details of the content of the qualifier are given in section h) below. There is both an oral and a written component to the test. If the student does not pass on the first try, he/she will repeat the test the following year. If the student fails to achieve a passing grade in the following year, he/she has failed the qualifier and will be dismissed from the program. The significance of the written grades is as follows: A 每 superior, B 每 pass, C - fail, but make sure with an oral exam, D - fail, no oral (repeat next year, if first fail). All students with a grade of C or better take an oral exam . For a grade of C on the written exam, a pass would require a strong performance on the oral. At least two faculty members should administer the exam. The advisor is invited to attend the oral exam but is not an active examiner or participant. It is not required that the advisor attend. The examiners decide whether a student passes or fails based on the written and the oral exams. The examination committee can prescribe additional written or course work as conditions for the student to pass the qualifier test. The working of the qualifier in the focus area can be summarized by the figure below. If the student fails to achieve a B+ in the following year, he/she has failed the qualifier and will be dismissed from the program. f) Materials Qualifier: Students are required to take three* of the following five courses as a basis for their Materials Qualifying Exam: 每 Advanced Materials Science (MAE 581) - Diffraction, Microscopy and Spectroscopy Techniques (MAE 589) 每 Smart Materials (MAE 538) 每 Thermodynamics of Materials (MAE 570) 每 Solid State Materials Physics (MAE 513 or MAE 587) * As circumstances permit, this number may be increased to four courses required after the May 2008 qualifier. All five courses may not be available each year. However, course availability will be announced by April for the following academic year. Students will take written and oral exams in the materials area, based upon these five courses. In addition, students will select one course from among the other areas listed in section a).The course is to be selected by the student and advisor. Successful completion requires a grade of B+ or higher. If this minimum is not attained, the student will follow the flow chart given in Section d). g) Transfer students: Students who have earned an M.S. or equivalent degree from outside MAE at UB and then are admitted to the Ph.D. have the same course requirements as given in sections c) and d) above. If they have already taken and performed satisfactorily in one or more of the non-focus area courses, they will simply take the written test in those non-focus areas, administered by the faculty member who has taught that course in the year of the test (See Figure for courses taken outside the focus area, section d) above). If they have already taken and performed satisfactorily in one or both courses in the focus area, they need not repeat these courses; they may pass directly to the qualifier (see Figure for Qualifier Procedure, Section e) above). h) Content of the Qualifiers: The faculty for each area will be polled on the exact content for each (focus area) qualifier and the results will be posted in Summer 07. In general, performing well in both of the courses listed for the focus area is the best preparation for the qualifier.