Introduction

Dr. Alvi, Graduate Program Chairman. The administrative contact for Graduate Matters is George Green.

The graduate program is designed to provide the tools that will enable the student to begin a career in some of the more technologically advanced areas of engineering practice or research. Although it is not possible to teach everything that one needs to know during this program, the graduate program provides the student with essential skills and knowledge that will allow the student to continue to grow during his or her career. To prepare the student for the unknown, the program's emphasis is based on a fundamental approach to engineering in which the student learns to identify needs, define problems and then bring basic principles and techniques to bear on their solution. This philosophy is incorporated in classroom lectures, laboratory activities and research.

The master's degree program requires 30 semester credit hours of which at least 21 shall have a letter grade. Beyond the master's degree, a total of 45 additional units of work is required for the Ph.D. degree. Of these, at least 24 units must be letter graded course work and must include at least 9 units of advanced mathematics. A demonstrated ability to perform original research in Mechanical Engineering is the final and major criterion for granting the Doctoral degree.

Graduate enrollment during 1994-1995 consisted of approximately 70 full-time students, over half of whom were in the Ph.D. program. Over 90 percent of these students received financial support in the form of departmental research or teaching assistantships or graduate fellowships. In 1994-1995, the Department awarded 7 Ph.D. degrees and 15 M.S. degrees. A cooperative graduate program exists to serve the employees of the U.S. Navy's Coastal Systems Station in Panama City, Florida. This program usually has several part-time students registered in the M.S. program. We also offer the M.S. degree over the Internet anywhere.

A broad based graduate curriculum exists with emphasis in three major areas:

• Fluid mechanics and heat transfer
• Structural mechanics and materials
• Dynamic systems and controls (including mechatronics and robotics)

State-of-the-art laboratories are associated with each of these areas. In addition, much of our research is conducted in cooperation with the National High Field Magnetic Laboratory, the Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, the Center for Material Research and Technology, and the Center for Nonlinear and Nonequilibrium Aeroscience.