M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Full-time students are required to register for the graduate seminar (ME 591) every semester. 

Full-time students are required to register for the graduate seminar (ME 591) every semester. 

Academic Advising

An academic advisor for a non-thesis MS student in Mechanical Engineering is not required. However, an advisor can be assigned upon request. This advisor can meet with the student to discuss the course plan, explain the requirements of MS degree, and help address special needs/questions of the student. To request a non-thesis advisor, you should email Ms. Statia Canning (scanning@wpi.edu) with your choice of "Area of Study", with an email subject line of "ME MS advisor request". 

For thesis, MS students, a thesis advisor is required. The thesis advisor also serves as the academic advisor to discuss your course plan and answer your questions on the degree requirements. More importantly, your thesis work will be done under the mentor of your thesis advisor. To find a thesis advisor, you need to take the initiative to find faculty members who you would like to work with on your MS thesis. Taking graduate courses is the most effective way to get to know faculty member's expertise and start these conversations. Just keep in mind that not every faculty member is doing active research. It is helpful to find faculty members' publications on the ME website and see their recent publication list to find out more.

The schedule of academic advising is as follows:

• Academic advisor—assigned by the graduate committee or selected by student prior to registering for more than 9 credits. For thesis option students, the academic advisor is the thesis advisor.
• Thesis committee (thesis option only) —formed prior to registering for more than 18 credits. Consists of the thesis advisor and at least two other mechanical engineering faculty members from WPI.

Thesis Defense

Each student in the thesis option must defend their research during an oral defense, which is administered by an examining committee that consists of the thesis committee and a representative of the mechanical engineering graduate committee who is not on the thesis committee. The defense is open to public participation and consists of a 30-minute presentation by the student followed by a 30-minute open discussion. At least one week prior to the defense each member of the examining committee must receive a copy of the thesis. One additional copy must be made available for members of the WPI community wishing to read the thesis prior to the defense. Public notification of the defense must be given by the mechanical engineering graduate secretary. The examining committee will determine the acceptability of the student’s thesis and oral performance. The thesis advisor will determine the student’s grade.

Changing M.S. Options

Students in the non-thesis M.S. option may switch into the thesis option at any time by notifying the mechanical engineering graduate committee of the change, provided that they have identified a thesis advisor, formed a thesis committee, and have worked out a Plan of Study with their thesis advisor. Subject to the thesis advisor’s approval, directed research credits (ME 598) earned in the non-thesis option may be transferred to thesis research credits (ME 599) in the thesis option.

Any student in the thesis option M.S. program may request a switch into the non-thesis option by submitting the request in writing to the mechanical engineering graduate committee. Before acting on such a request, the graduate committee will require and seriously consider written input from the student’s thesis advisor. Departmental financial aid given to the thesis-option students who are permitted to switch to the non-thesis option will automatically be withdrawn. Subject to the approval of the mechanical engineering graduate committee, a maximum of 9 credits of thesis research (ME 599) earned by a student in the thesis option may be transferred to directed research credit (ME 598) in the non-thesis option.