1 GRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING 18 January 2012 102 Kern ...

Master of Science Degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics (M.S., ESMCH)
Program CHANGE Proposal
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Introduction and Program Statement. The Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM) Department is in the process of revising its
curriculum. The range of research and educational expertise amassed by the ESM faculty has grown over the past several years to
encompass bionanotechnology, biophotonics, and neural engineering in addition to advanced materials, electromagnetics,
nanotechnology, and mechanics. With increasing collaboration across the boundaries of engineering science and mechanics, the ESM
faculty voted to unify the two separate M.S. degree granting programs into a composite Master of Science degree program in
Engineering Science and Mechanics (M.S., ESMCH). The new designation will also align with the department’s Ph.D. program,
which offers the Ph.D. degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics (Ph.D., ESMCH).
The ESM department also offers two integrated undergraduate/graduate degree programs, which will be collapsed into a single
program offering the Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Science (B.S., E SC) and the Master of Science degree in
Engineering Science and Mechanics (M.S., EMSCH). [It should be noted that there are no changes to the undergraduate component
of the IUG program. Moreover, there are no changes to the structure of the IUG program in that credit requirements, allowances for
double-counting of 12 credits (which are not prescribed and only 6 of which may be 400-level), and all thesis guidelines remain the
same.]
The unified degree program recognizes this interdisciplinarity with a breadth requirement, whereby all students will take one course
each from categories designated Mechanics, Materials, and Engineering Science; the remaining course work can be tailored to suit the
student’s educational objectives and research interests. The composite degree will enable our M.S. degree candidates to graduate with
a breadth in mechanics, materials, and engineering science and with a concentrated program of study in mechanics, materials, or
engineering science.
We have generated a series of co-dependent proposals to achieve the desired end result. The IUG proposals (proposals 3 and 4 in the
list below) will be submitted separately for review by both Graduate Council (graduate proposals) and the University Faculty Senate
(undergraduate proposals).
1. Drop the M.S., Engineering Mechanics Degree Program.
2. Change the M.S., Engineering Science Degree Program to a composite M.S., Engineering Science and Mechanics
(M.S., ESMCH) Degree Program.
3. Drop the Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate Engineering Science (B.,S., E SC) and Engineering Mechanics
(M.S., E MCH) Degree Program.
4. Change the Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate Engineering Science (B.S., E SC) and Engineering Science (M.S., E SC)
to the Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate Engineering Science (B.S., E SC) and Engineering Science and Mechanics
(M.S., ESMCH) Degree Program.
This proposal addresses the composite Master of Science degree program in Engineering Science and Mechanics. Students pursuing
an M.S. degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics (M.S., ESMCH) must complete 32 credits and write a scholarly thesis.
A. Program Requirements. A revised version of the affected area showing both the old program requirements and the new
program requirements (so the reviewers can determine what specifically is being changed). The proposal should include a
side-by-side comparison of entry requirements, number of credits required, specific courses to be taken, etc. A copy of the
revision to the Graduate Bulletin text must be included, and the proposer is requested to use underlining, bolding, or italics
to indicate changes.
• Master of Science Degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics (M.S., ESMCH)
Objectives. The objectives of the M.S., ESMCH degree program are to: 1) provide an interdisciplinary curriculum, while
retaining the ESM Department’s core strength in mechanics education and research; and, 2) interpret mechanics in its broadest
context to include biomechanics, celestial mechanics, computational mechanics, fluid mechanics, quantum mechanics, solid
mechanics, statistical mechanics, structural mechanics, and wave mechanics, among others.
Engineering science promotes the interchange of ideas across all branches of the scientific and engineering disciplines from both
theoretical and experimental perspectives. Students in the composite degree program are expected to pursue interdisciplinary
studies in areas that encompass nano- and bionanotechnology, advanced materials, electromagnetics, mechanics, microelectronics,
nanoelectronics and bioelectronics, neural engineering, photonics and photovoltaics (among others) and they
are expected to embrace multidisciplinary perspectives across departmental, College, and University boundaries.
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