Information About

The PhD program requires six quarters of course work beyond the Bachelor's degree and the successful completion of a dissertation after at least six quarters devoted to research. Students entering the PhD program directly after completion of a Bachelor's degree are not required to obtain an MS but may choose to do so. The PhD program typically takes four to five years to complete.

PhD Degree Requirements

Course Requirements:

• Number of post-BS courses: A total of fifteen (15) course units (excluding project/research units) are required towards PhD. Nine (9) course units within this 15 units must satisfy the MS course requirements.

• MS from another school: Students admitted with a MS degree from elsewhere (those who were granted 3 quarters of residency credit by the Graduate School) may transfer a maximum of six (6) course units from the post-bachelor's degree study toward the 15 course requirement. A course credit transfer form must be completed by the student, the advisor and approved by the Graduate Study Chair.

• Level: At least one half (1/2) of the course units satisfying the post-MS requirement must be 400-level courses.

• Seminar: Registration and regular attendance for the non-credit ME512 Seminar is required for all quarters.

• Professional Essentials: Registration for the non-credit ME513 Seminar is required for one quarter within the first two years. It is strongly recommended that this seminar course be taken before PhD candidacy.

• Approval: Students must obtain approval from their advisor for all courses in advance and submit a signed course form each quarter to the ME graduate program assistant before registration.

• Timeline. The course requirement for the Ph.D. program shall be fulfilled within the first 12 and 8 quarters of full-time registration for students matriculating with BS and MS, respectively.

 TA and English requirements

It is suggested that each student conduct at least one quarter of Teaching Assistance. International students whose first language is not English must pass the Test of Spoken English (TSE) with a minimum score of 50 or complete 3 quarters of English (Linguistics 380 or approved equivalent from the “English as a Second Language” (ESL) program offered by the linguistics department at Northwestern). 

 Residency

Eight quarters of full-time registration consecutively over two years, including summers, are required.  Full-time registration requires enrollment in a combination of course units and ME-590 (research) units for a total of 3-4 units each quarter. 

After residency has been obtained, full-time registration is maintained at a reduced tuition by registering for TGS 500 (Advanced Doctoral Study). Courses related to the student’s area of study may be taken in addition to TGS 500, up to a maximum of 4 course units per quarter subject to the approval of the advisor.

 Qualifying Examination / Admission to Candidacy / PhD Prospectus: 

Students are admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree by passing an oral qualifying exam.  The oral qualifying examination will be based on (but not restricted to) a written research proposal (no more than 30 pages in total length, double spaced) prepared by the student and administered by the examination committee appointed by the department chair.

Students are eligible to take the qualifying exam when all but three of the courses required for PhD have been taken.  (See GPA requirement below, however)

Students must take the oral qualifying examination no later than the end of the second year of full time study beyond the MS degree or the end of the third year of full time study beyond the BS degree.  Students who fail the examination may, upon the recommendation of their committee, retake it within one quarter. Students who do not pass the re-examination shall not continue in the PhD program.

The examination committee is also the advisory committee of a student.  Each committee should consist of at least three faculty members who are also members of graduate faculty. At least one of the members must be from outside of the ME department. The committee normally conducts the final examination for the PhD at a later date.  The chairperson of the committee must be a graduate faculty member of the ME department and is generally the student's advisor.  Any faculty member may request the privilege of serving on the committee for a particular student. 

 GPA requirement

GPA is determined by all post BS courses taken at Northwestern towards satisfying the course requirements above, excluding research and seminar units. All but one ME 499 may be used towards the overall GPA. Students whose GPA falls short of a 3.5 average, shall be required to take an oral and/or written preparatory examination prior to the oral qualifying examination.  These examinations will be administered by a committee consisting of at least three faculty members appointed by the department chair.  The student's advisor shall not serve on the preparatory examination committee.  The committee will inform the students involved as to the form and content of the examination beforehand.  The result of the examination will be decided by the committee in consultation with the student's advisor and the department chair.  Students who fail the preparatory examination shall not continue in the PhD program.

 PhD Thesis Dissertation

A written dissertation on the research project that is satisfactory to the student's faculty advisor, the advisory committee, and meets the University's requirements, is required.

 Final Examination / Dissertation Defense

An oral examination by the examination committee of faculty including the student's advisor addressing the research is required.  The written dissertation must be given to the members of the student's examination committee at least one week before the date of the scheduled examination.  

• Specialization in Design/Manufacturing/Tribology
• Specialization in Dynamic Systems and Control
• Specialization in Solid Mechanics
• Specialization in Fluid Dynamics
• Specialization in Nanotechnology / MEMS

Specialization in Design/Manufacturing/Tribology

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University has seven faculty members actively pursuing graduate level research in this area. These faculty members together with a very brief list of their respective research interests are given below:

Jian Cao	Metal and Composite Forming
Yip-Wah Chung	Surface Science; Coating; Tribology
Kory Ehmann	Metal Cutting, Machine Dynamics
Elizabeth Gerber	Human Centered Design Methodology and Innovation Practices
Q. Jane Wang	Mechanical Design and Engineering Tribology
Wei Chen	Design Methodology and Engineering Optimization

Students should follow and satisfy the general course requirements for a graduate degree in ME as outlined in the preceding sections of the ME Graduate Handbook. In addition, students should attend departmental seminars regularly.
Additional courses are determined in conjunction with the advisor and may typically include some of the following courses:

ME 317,318	Molecular Modeling & Interface to Micromechanics I and II
ME 319,320	Applications of Surface Science to Nanomechanics and Nanotribology I and II
ME 341	Computational Methods for Engineering Design
ME 346	Introduction to Tribology
ME 359	Reliability Engineering
ME 363	Mechanical Vibrations
ME 366	Finite Elements in Design
CEE 415-1,2	Elasticity I and II
ME 416	Non-Destructive Evaluation
CEE 417-1,2	Continuum I and II
ME 420,421,422	Micro-/Nano-scale Fluid Dynamics I, II, and III
ME 423,424	Computational Fluid Dynamics, I and II
CEE 426 1,2	Advance Finite Element Methods I and II
ME  439	Computer Control in Manufacturing
ME  441	Engineering Optimization for Product Design and Manufacturing
ME  442	Metal Forming
ME 443 ME 445	Metal Cutting Micromanufacturing
ME 446	Advanced Tribology
ME 448	Flexible Automation and Robotics
ME 460	Advanced Engineering Dynamics
ME 497(0.5 credits)	Rapid Product Innovation Intellectual Property in Manufacturing

Additional courses from other departments are likely to be recommended. Please see your graduate advisor to specify a program of study. New graduate students without an advisor should see Professor Jian Cao to discuss their initial course of study.

Specialization In Dynamics, Control, Robotics, And Neural Engineering

Faculty Research Interest:

J. Edward Colgate	Robotics; human-machine interaction; actuator design and control, automatic control
Dean Ho	Nanomedicine, bionanotechnology, drug delivery, biosensing and diagnostics
Kevin Lynch	Robotics and automation; robot manipulation and motion planning; human-robot interaction; multi-agent systems; bio-inspired sensing and locomotion
Todd Murphey	Robotics; control; overconstrained mechanical systems; manipulation; friction-dominated mechanics and nonsmooth mechanics
Michael Peshkin	Robotics and intelligent mechanical systems; cobots; sensors and actuators, human robot interaction rehabilitation robotics
James Patton	Human motor control, rehabilitation robotics
Mitra Hartmann	Neurobiology and biomechanics of active sensing behaviors
Malcolm MacIver	Biomechanics and the nervous system: neuromechanics, neuroethology, robotics, and simulation,

Course work:
Courses listed below are appropriate for first year MS and MS/PhD program.  Courses in bold are considered fundamental.  Unless taken at the undergraduate level, these should be treated as requirements.  Check the Class Schedule at http://www.registrar.northwestern.edu/ to confirm availability of any course.

Dynamics & Control
ME 314              Theory of Machines — Dynamics
ME 333              Intro to Mechatronics
ME 390              Intro to Dynamic Systems
ME 391              Fundamentals of Control Systems
or EECS 360     Introduction to Feedback Systems
ME 433              Advanced Mechatronics
EECS 374           Introduction to Digital Control
EECS 410           System Theory
EECS 422           Random Processes Comm and Control

Instrumentation; Data Analysis
EECS 353           Digital Microelectronics
EECS 359           Digital Signal Processing
EECS 418           Advanced Digital Signal Processing
PHYS 359-1,2   Modern Physics Laboratory

Mathematics
EECS 302           Prob Systems and Random Signals
EECS 328           Numerical Methods for Engineers
EECS 479           Nonlinear Optimization
ESAM 311-1,2,3            Methods of Applied Math

Robotics; Computing
ME 448              Flexible Automation and Robotics
ME 449              Robotic Manipulation
ME 450              Geometry in Robotics
EECS 311           Data Structures and Data Management
EECS 317           Data Management & Info Processing
EECS 325           Artificial Intelligence Programming
EECS 330           Human Computer Interaction
EECS 332           Digital Image Analysis
EECS 333           Intro to Communication Networks
EECS 336           Design And Analysis Of Algorithms
EECS 348           Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
EECS 351           Introduction to Computer Graphics
EECS 390           Intro to Robotics

A typical program consists of no more than four courses each term plus a non-credit, one day per week seminar (ME 512).  Students supported on research assistantships sometimes take 2 classes per term.  In addition, students must meet the requirements for the MS degree.  These requirements are detailed in the ME Graduate Handbook, but key stipulations include:

• Core Course Requirement (two courses outside of main research area)
• Minimum of five 400-level courses (excluding research credits)
• Minimum of five ME courses
• Seminar: ME students must register for and attend ME 512 Mechanical Engineering Seminars

Exceptions to the required number of ME and 400 level courses are frequently granted (by advisor approved petition to the Graduate Studies Committee) in this specialization for well-designed interdisciplinary programs of study.

Considerable variation exists among individual programs and special topics courses (395, 495) are frequently available.  Course availability and scheduling change periodically, so confirm your intended schedule with the official Class Schedule for any given quarter. There are other relevant courses in ME, EECS, and BME as well as in other departments that may interface well with your research study.  Take advantage of these courses.

Contact:
Please see your graduate advisor to discuss your program of study. New graduate students may see any of the above faculty.

Specialization in Solid Mechanics

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University has approximately ten faculty actively pursuing graduate level research in the general area of Mechanics of Solids:

Jan Achenbach	Nondestructive evaluation, fracture mechanics
Oluwaseyi Balogun	Optical techniques for materials characterization; nondestructive evaluation
Ted Belytschko	Computational mechanics, finite elements
Cate Brinson	Polymeric, composite and smart materials, micromechanics
Jian Cao	Mechanics of forming, instability analysis
Wei Chen	Stochastic multiscale analysis, model validation
Isaac Daniel	Experimental mechanics, composites, nondestructive evaluation
Horacio Espinosa	Nanomechanics, dynamic response of materials, cell mechanics
Yonggang Huang	Mechanics of materials; nanomechanics; mechanics of stretchable electronics
Leon Keer	Stress analysis, fracture, elasticity, tribology
Sridhar Krishnaswamy	Intelligent structural health management; smart structures and materials; sensors; photoacoustic materials characterization
Wing Kam Liu	Nanoengineering; multi-scale analysis; materials design; nonlinear finite elements
Jianmin Qu	Micromechanics, interface mechanics, and quantitative nondestructive evaluation
John Rudnicki	Fracture and inelastic behavior, particularly geomaterials

Course work:
A typical list of mechanics courses follows:

Fall Quarter		Winter Quarter		Spring Quarter
		CEE 313	Expt. Stress Analysis	CEE 318	Fracture Mechanics
CEE 417-1	Continuum I	CEE 417-2	Continuum II	CEE 411	Micromechanics
CEE 415-1	Elasticity I	CEE 414-1 ME 366	Composites I Finite Elements for Design	CEE 414-2 CEE 415-2	Composites II Elasticity II
		ME 385	Nanotechnology
ME 365 CEE 327	Finite Elements for Stress Analysis	CEE 426-1 ME 426-1	Advanced FEM I Advanced FEM II	CEE 426-2 ME 426-2	Advanced FEM II Comp. Mech. II
ME 381	Introduction to MEMS	ME 465	Wave Propagation	CEE 429	Comp. Mech. Fracture
		ME 466	Inelastic Constitutive Relations	CEE 418	Continuum Theory of Fracture
Offered any quarter:  CE/ME 495   Special Topics – look for special mechanics courses of interest Offered every other year:  ME 456 usually in Winter

For a first year MS or MS-PhD student, a typical program consists of 4 classes each term for fellowship students, 2-3 classes per term for RAs, 3 classes per term for TAs. Also note:
•    Engineering Science and Applied Mathematics offers many excellent courses, including ESAM 311-1,2,3 series, suggested for students who have not had mathematics beyond sophomore level differential equations. The series ESAM 411-1,2,3 covers more advanced topics.
•     Note that all ME students must satisfy a Core Requirement (for MS) and a Minor Requirement (for PhD) – check Class Schedule for availability of relevant classes each term.
•    For the MS program with thesis, a minimum of 5 courses (excluding 499) must be 400-level and a minimum of 5 courses (excluding 499) must be ME courses or the CEE courses listed here.
•    By spring term, first year students generally register for 1-2 units of 499 Project Research in addition to coursework.
•    Seminars: Mechanics students should register for Structural Mechanics Seminar CEE-512 each quarter and attend all seminars (typically on specific Thursdays at 11 am; send email address to Effie Fronimos at i-fronimos@northwestern.edu) to receive announcements of all seminars). ME students must register for and attend ME-512 Mechanical Engineering Seminars.
The courses listed here are provided as guidelines. Course availability and scheduling change periodically, so confirm your intended schedule with the official Class Schedule for any given quarter. There are many other relevant courses both in CE and ME as well as in other departments that may interface with your research study. Take advantage of these courses.

Contact:
Please see your graduate advisor to discuss your program of study. New graduate students without an advisor should see Professor Sridhar Krishnaswamy to discuss their initial course of study.

Specialization in Fluid Dynamics

Faculty research interests:

Sandip Ghosal	Fluid mechanics at micro and nano scales
Elmer Lewis	Reliability engineering and nuclear engineering
Seth Lichter	Turbulent mixing; vorticity dynamics, Hamiltonian and molecular dynamics
Rich Lueptow	Granular, filtration & Taylor-Couette flows, physical acoustics, design
Neelesh A. Patankar	Computational fluid dynamics; Micro/nano-scale flows; bio-applications
Siavash Sohrab	Combustion; turbulent reactive flows; physico-chemical thermodynamics

Course work:

• Recommended MS and first-year MS-PhD Program in Fluid Dynamics

Fall	Winter	Spring
ME 425	One or more of ME 420, 421, 422, 427, 428, 429	One or more of ME 420,421, 422, 427, 428, 429
Elective or MS Core Reqt	Elective or MS Core Reqt	Elective
Mathematics Elective	Mathematics Elective	ME 499 or Elective
Elective	ME 499 or Elective	ME 499
Seminar Series: ME 512	Seminar Series: ME 512	Seminar Series: ME 512

Many students elect to cover the MS program in Fluid Dynamics over four to six quarters instead of three quarters.  Students with research assistantships typically take two courses per quarter. Excluding ME 499, a minimum of five courses must be 4-level, and a minimum of five courses must be ME courses.

• At least two electives should be in mathematics.  For students who have not had mathematics beyond undergraduate differential equations, ESAM 311-1,2 is suggested. Other appropriate mathematics electives are:

ESAM 311-1,2,3	Methods in Applied Mathematics
ESAM 411-1,2,3	Differential Equations of Mathematical Physics
ESAM 420-1,2,3	Asymptotic & Perturbation Method in Appl. Math.
ESAM 446-1,2,3	Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Eqns.

• Suggested courses:

ME 420	Micro- and Nanoscale Fluid Dynamics
ME 421	Design and Analysis of Microfluidic Systems
ME 422	Molecular Scale Fluid Dynamics
ME 423, 424	Computational Fluid Dynamics
ME 425	Fundamentals of Fluid Dynamics
ME 427	Viscous Fluid Dynamics
ME 428	Compressible and Inviscid Fluid Dynamics
ME 429	Turbulent Flows
ME 432	Optimization Methods in Science and Engineering
ME 434	Random Data and Spectral Analysis
ME 379, 478	Combustion
ME 489	Selected Topics in Cellular-Level Transport
ChBE 404	Advanced Thermodynamics
ChBE 424-1,2	Transport Phenomena
CEE 356	Transport Processes in Porous Media
CEE 455	Computational Methods in Subsurface Hydrology
ESAM 322	Applied Dynamical Systems
ESAM 346	Modeling and Computation in Science & Engineering
ESAM 424-1,2	Mathematical Topics in Combustion
ESAM 426, 427	Flows with Small Inertia and Small Viscosity
ESAM 429-1,2	Hydrodynamic Stability
ESAM 430-1,2,3	Wave Propagation

Contact: Please see your graduate advisor to discuss your program of study. New graduate students without an advisor should see Professor Neelesh A. Patankar to discuss their initial course of study.

    If ME425 is not offered, students may enroll in ChE 424-1. 

 

Specialization in Nanotechnology / MEMS

Faculty research interests:

Horacio Espinosa	Micro and Nano Mechanics, MEMS, NEMS, Biotechnology
Dean Ho	Nanomedicine, bionanotechnology, drug delivery, biosensing and diagnostics
Chang Liu	Sensors and sensing technology, micro and nanofabrication
Cheng Sun	micro/nano 3D fabrication technologies, design and manufacturing for metamaterials and devices

Course work:
In addition to the general requirements placed by the Graduate School and the ME department, students specializing in Nanotechnology/MEMS must satisfy the following:

Core Courses: Take any four of these core courses.

ME 381: Introduction to MEMS
ME 382: Experiments in Micro/Nano Science and Engineering
ME 385: Nanotechnology
ME 451: Micromachining
ME 453: Micro Systems Design
ME 495: Advanced Topics in Nanotechnology

• Other possible courses are listed below:

A. Solid State Physics:
Basics:
PHYS 339 Quantum Mechanics
PHYS 332 Statistical Mechanics
PHYS 422-1,2,3 Solid-State Physics
EECS 388 Microelectronic Technology
Theory and Fabrication:
EECS 381 Electronic Properties of Materials
MSc 355 Electronic Materials
EECS 384 Solid State Electronic Devices
EECS 401 Fundamentals of Electronic Devices
ChBE 367 Fabrication of Microelectronic Devices
B. Fluid Mechanics:
Mechanical Engineering:
ME 420 Micro- and Nanoscale Fluid Dynamics
ME 425 Fundamentals of Fluid Dynamics
ME 423, ME 424 Computational Fluid Dynamics
ME 427 Viscous Fluid Dynamics
Biomedical Engineering: (choose one)
ME 395 Molecular Machines
ME 489 Protein Dynamics
BME 477-1,2 Advanced Fluid Mechanics in Engineering and Biology
ESAM 426 Flows with Small Inertia
C. Biotechnology & Biotransducers:
BME 317-0 Biochemical Sensors
BME 380-0 Biomedical Transducers and Instrumentation
BioSci 301-0 Biochemistry
BioSci 309-0 Principles of Biochemistry
BioSci 354-0 Biochemistry Laboratory
D. Material and Surface Science:
MSc 415 Fundamentals of Thin Film Materials
MSc 316-1,2 Microstructural Dynamics
MSc 312 Interfaces in Crystalline Solids
MSc 361Crystallography and Diffraction
MSc 380 Introduction to Surface Science and Spectroscopy
Chem 329 Analytical Chemistry
ME 346 Introduction to Tribology
CEE 411 Micromechanics

E. Control and Sensors:
Basics:
ME  390 Introduction to Dynamics Systems
ME  391 Fundamentals of Control Systems
EECS 360 Introduction to Feedback Systems
Applications:
EECS 410 Introduction to Robotics
ME  333 Introduction to Mechatronics
ME  433 Advanced Mechatronics
F. Computational and Applied Science and Engineering:
               ME 317/318 Molecular Modeling and the Interface to Micromechanics
               ME 365 Finite Elements for Stress Analysis
               CHEM 448 Computational Chemistry
              ChBE 379 Intro to Computational Biology
               ESAM 495 Interdisciplinary Nonlinear Dynamics
               ESAM 346 Modeling and Computation in Science and Engineering
G. Project Courses*:
                     ME 499-1: MEMS Microfabrication
     ME 499-2: MEMS/Nano Instrumentation
     ME 499-3: Nanofabrication Methods I
* Project courses taught by the advisor will consist in a series of activities outlined at the beginning of the quarter. A final report documenting the materials and techniques learned by the student will be required. Upon grading of the final report, the advisor will submit a final grade. The up to 3 project courses will be taken from the list above and only when activities outside campus will take place. No more than 2 courses per quarter will be allowed. Approval for taking the courses will be given by the ME Graduate Committee chair on an ad-hoc basis.

Seminars: Students should register for ME-512 Mechanical Engineering Seminars each quarter and attend all seminars.

Contact: Please see your graduate advisor to discuss your program of study. New graduate students without an advisor should see Professor Horacio D. Espinosa to discuss their initial course of study.