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

Ph.D. Qualifier Procedure

Each student desiring to become a Ph.D. candidate in the department must pass a Ph.D. qualifying examination. 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, and details depend on the specific focus area, as described in detail below. Students should take the exam at their first opportunity after having been accepted by the department into the Ph.D. program. Students entering the Ph.D. program with a M.S. degree should take the qualifying exam at the end of their first year of Ph.D program. However, students who enter the Ph.D. program without M.S. degree can take qualifying exam either at the end of their first year of Ph.D program or at the end of the second year, as advised by the advisor.

The qualifying exam in each focus area is organized and administered by an ad hoc examination committee of department faculty members. The committee consists of a chair who has overall responsibility for the exam, and at least two faculty members from that focus area in which a specialty exam is given. The qualifying examination is the same for Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering students. 

The subject level of the exams may include undergraduate and introductory graduate level material. Students will be asked to declare their exam areas prior to the qualifying exam.  Students are strongly advised to review the exam contents (courses, topics, references) provided below.

Following completion of the written and oral exams the examination committee reaches a decision as to whether each candidate has passed or failed. In the case of a failure, the committee decides whether or not the candidate should be permitted a second opportunity, which is limited to retaking the entire exam, both written and oral. Candidates who fail without being granted a second try, or those who fail twice, must necessarily be dropped from the program. 

1. Focus Areas:
   
   The student, in advisement with advisor, will select the focus area. Students will be asked to identify their focus area at the start of their PhD program. There are five focus areas as listed below:      
   • Bioengineering (BIO)
   • Computational and Applied Mechanics (CAM)
   • Fluid and Thermal Sciences (FTS)
   • Materials (MAT)
   • Systems and Design (SD)
2. Qualifying Exam Format:
   1. Course requirements for qualifying exam:   Each focus area of MAE lists courses as their fundamental/core courses.
      
      Courses by area:
      • BIO: MAE 514 Evaluation of Biomaterials, MAE 578 Cardiovascular Biomechanics
      • CAM: MAE 505/CIE CIE 511 Advanced Mechanics of Solids, MAE 529 Finite Elements
      • FTS: MAE 515 Fluids 1, MAE 545 Heat Transfer I
      • MAT: MAE 581 Advanced Materials, MAE 589, Diffraction, MAE 570 Thermodynamics, MAE 538 Smart Materials, MAE 587 Solid State Materials
      • SD: MAE 550 Optimization in Eng’g Design, MAE 571 Systems Analysis I
      Students who select BIO, CAM, FTS, or SD as a focus area take all the courses in their focus area listed above. In addition, the student selects one listed course from any 2 of the remaining areas listed above. In addition, all students will take MAE 507 Eng’g Analysis I. This means that each student will take a total of 5 of the listed courses (2 from their Focus area and 2 from other listed areas, plus a mathematics course). For students who select Materials (MAT) as a focus area, they are required to take three of the five courses listed above in MAT. In addition, MAT students will select one course from among the remaining areas listed above.
      
      For any Focus Area, 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. 
   2. Grade requirements for 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 outside their focus area. If they get a B+, they have completed their responsibility in that course.  If they do not, they will be given an additional written test. 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 in that course, he/she will be given an oral exam. 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.
   3. Qualifier Procedure:
      
      The student takes required courses in the focus area, plus any additional materials that focus area requires. There is both an oral and a written component to the qualifier exam. If the student does not pass on the first try, he/she will repeat the qualifier exam the following year. If the student fails again, the student will be dismissed from the program. The significance of the written grades is as follows:  A – superior, B – 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 qualifying exam, a pass would require a strong performance on the oral. At least two faculty members would 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.
   4. Transfer students:  
      
      Students who have earned a M.S. or equivalent degree from outside MAE at UB and then are admitted to the Ph.D. have the same qualifier requirements as described 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. If they have already taken and performed satisfactorily in their focus area, they need not repeat these courses but must pass the qualifying exam.