UB - University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Ph.D. Degree Programs

The minimum requirements for both the Mechanical Engineering and the Aerospace Engineering Ph.D. programs consist of a minimum of 48 credit hours of graduate course work and 12-24 credit hours of dissertation work, for a total of 72 credit hours. A maximum of six credit hours of the 48 credit hour course requirement may be fulfilled by M.S. Thesis (six (6) credit hours) or M.S. Project (three (3) credit hours) completed at the University at Buffalo. Transfer credit policy for students entering with an M.S. degree from outside the Department was stated previously in the transfer credit section. Effective Fall 2007, all PhD students must have taken the GRE tests.

Normally, at least three academic years of full-time graduate study, beyond the baccalaureate degree, are required to complete the Ph.D. degree requirements. The selection of the program of courses and the student's dissertation research are under the supervision of a Ph.D. program committee chaired by the student's advisor.

Students Entering Ph.D. Program With M.S. degree

Students who already have a Masters degree, an outstanding academic background and highly interested in research can pursue their PhD degree by entering the PhD program. All applicants to the PhD program must take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) before their application to the program can be assessed.
Students Entering Ph.D. Program Without M.S. degree

Students with outstanding undergraduate studies and a high level of interest in research can pursue their PhD degree by directly entering the PhD program. During this pursuit, if the student wishes to take MS instead of PhD for special reasons, they need to first seek for the approval from their advisor. The request needs to be submitted by the advisor to Graduate Studies Committee for final approval.
Ph.D. Program for Continuing Students

Students completing M.S. program in the department who wish to proceed to a Ph.D. program in the department must re-apply following the standard admission procedure. All applicants to the PhD program must take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) before their application to the program. This requirement holds even if the applicant previously earned an M.S. degree or equivalent at UB or elsewhere and had not taken the GRE exam.

Qualification for the Ph.D. programs is through a qualifying examination. Details of this examination, the Ph.D. program committee, and the final dissertation examination (oral defense by the student) are described in the Qualifying Examination section.

Research Spotlight

MAE researchers have developed advanced computational techniques for Fire Simulation and multi-phase reacting turbulent flows.
Research Spotlight

UB MAE researchers in computational mechanics have developed a high fidelity volcanic landslide simulator to aid geologists in mapping the hazard areas at locations such as the island of Montserrat.
Research Spotlight

A Level Set Embedded Interface Method has been developed at Compuational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory to simulate Conjugate heat transfer for irregular geometries
Research Spotlight

MAE's Laser Flow Diagnostic Laboratory is a leader holographic particle image velocimetry, a three-dimensional, next generation flow diagnostics tool.
Research Spotlight

MAE's Automation, Robotics, and Mechatronics Laboratory is conducting research both on the theoretical formulation and experimental validation of such novel mechatronic systems as multi-robot collaboration.
Research Spotlight

The nonlinear estimation group is developing techniques for propagating uncertainties through nonlinear dynamical systems for better forecasting and output uncertainty characterization.
Research Spotlight

Study of Non-premixed flame-wall interaction using vortex ring configuration is done for the first time at the Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.