Mechanical Engineering, M.S.
Admissions Requirements
The admission process for the M.S. program in Mechanical Engineering is highly competitive. Admission decisions are based on the quality of the applicant's previous university-level academic work as reflected by grade point average or GPA, letters of recommendations, GRE scores, and other evidence of past accomplishments. GRE General Test scores must be submitted by all applicants seeking assistantships and/or tuition support.
International applicants must also submit TOEFL or the IELTS Intl. Academic Course Type 2 exam scores. The minimum required TOEFL and IELTS scores are set by the graduate school and can be found here: https://academicbulletins.sc.edu/graduate/
Target Minimum Admission Standards
The entire application file is considered when reviewing for admission; that said, the following target minimum standards are used during the admission decision process.
- Undergraduate Engineering GPA ≥ 3.0/4.0
- GRE Verbal ≥ 150
- GRE Quantitative ≥ 155
- TOEFL ≥ 80
- IELTS ≥ 6.5
An applicant whose native language is not English is required to submit a satisfactory score on TOEFL or IELTS.
Degree Requirements (30 Hours)
An M.S. student must take a minimum of 24 hours of graded graduate courses and 6 hours of thesis credits leading to a thesis. Students must complete at least half of the non-thesis credit requirements using courses numbered 700 or above. Students earning an M.S. must have at least 6 hours of EMCH-799 Thesis Preparation and only 6 hours of EMCH 799 Thesis Preparation may be applied to the required 30 hours. In consultation with their academic advisor, the student selects a disciplinary pathway in the following areas: 1) Engineering Mechanics, 2) Energy Systems, 3) Dynamics and Control, 4) Manufacturing, 5) Nuclear
An M.S. student must complete 1 course from the Engineering Analysis courses section and 3 courses from their Major disciplinary pathway of which 2 courses must be 700 level courses. Additionally, students must complete 2 courses from a minor disciplinary pathway of choice, and the remaining 2 courses can be selected from available courses from the department as well as the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing (including designators ECIV, ECHE, ELCT, BMEN, and CSCE). Of these latter 4 courses, at least 1 course must be 700 level. Business courses (including designators ACCT, IBUS, MGMT, and MKTG) numbered 500 level or above may be taken with advance approval by the advisor and the Graduate Studies Committee.
Engineering Analysis Courses
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EMCH 501 | Engineering Analysis I | 3 |
| EMCH 502 | Engineering Analysis II | 3 |
| EMCH 508 | Finite Element Analysis in Mechanical Engineering | 3 |
| EMCH 530 | Introduction to Engineering Optimization | 3 |
| EMCH 770 | Predictive Modeling: Combining Experiments with Computations | 3 |
Engineering Mechanics Disciplinary Pathway
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EMCH 532 | Intermediate Dynamics | 3 |
| EMCH 571 | Mechanical Behavior of Materials | 3 |
| EMCH 572 | Physical Metallurgy | 3 |
| EMCH 573 | Introduction to Nuclear Materials | 3 |
| EMCH 575 | Adaptive Materials and Smart Structures | 3 |
| EMCH 584 | Advanced Mechanics of Materials | 3 |
| EMCH 585 | Introduction to Composite Materials | 3 |
| EMCH 586 | Experimental Stress Analysis | 3 |
| ENCP 707 | Continuum Mechanics | 3 |
| ENCP 721 | Elasticity | 3 |
| EMCH 722 | Plasticity | 3 |
| EMCH 785 | Design of Composite Materials for Aerospace Structures | 3 |
| EMCH 883 | Wave Propagation in Solids | 3 |
Energy Systems Disciplinary Pathway
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EMCH 544 | Compressible Fluid Flow | 3 |
| EMCH 554 | Intermediate Heat Transfer | 3 |
| EMCH 560 | Intermediate Fluid Mechanics | 3 |
| EMCH 562 | Micro/nanofluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip | 3 |
| EMCH 576 | Fundamentals and Applications of Fuel Cells | 3 |
| EMCH 578 | Introduction to Aerodynamics | 3 |
| EMCH 592 | Introduction to Combustion | 3 |
| EMCH 741 | Viscous and Turbulent Flow | 3 |
| EMCH 743 | Aircraft and Rocket Propulsion | 3 |
| EMCH 751 | Advanced Heat Transfer | 3 |
| EMCH 780 | Energy Storage | 3 |
| EMCH 794 | Thermodynamics | 3 |
Dynamics & Control Disciplinary Pathway
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EMCH 514 | Digital Control Systems | 3 |
| EMCH 515 | Industrial Control | 3 |
| EMCH 527 | Design of Mechanical Systems | 3 |
| EMCH 532 | Intermediate Dynamics | 3 |
| EMCH 535 | Robotics in Mechanical Engineering | 3 |
| EMCH 567 | Bio Nano/Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems | 3 |
| EMCH 575 | Adaptive Materials and Smart Structures | 3 |
| EMCH 578 | Introduction to Aerodynamics | 3 |
| EMCH 721 | Aeroelasticity | 3 |
| EMCH 732 | Advanced Dynamics of Machinery | 3 |
| EMCH 744 | Aerodynamics & Flight Mechanics | 3 |
Manufacturing Disciplinary Pathway
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EMCH 507 | Computer-Aided Design | 3 |
| EMCH 509 | Computer-Aided Manufacturing | 3 |
| EMCH 515 | Industrial Control | 3 |
| EMCH 530 | Introduction to Engineering Optimization | 3 |
| EMCH 535 | Robotics in Mechanical Engineering | 3 |
| EMCH 567 | Bio Nano/Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems | 3 |
| EMCH 572 | Physical Metallurgy | 3 |
| ECHE 572 | Polymer Processing | 3 |
| EMCH 708 | Computer-Aided Product Design and Analysis | 3 |
| ENCP 734 | Prototype Design & Manufacturing | 3 |
Nuclear Disciplinary Pathway
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EMCH 552 | Introduction to Nuclear Engineering | 3 |
| EMCH 553 | Nuclear Fuel Cycles | 3 |
| EMCH 573 | Introduction to Nuclear Materials | 3 |
| EMCH 756 | Safety Analysis for Energy Systems | 3 |
| EMCH 757 | Radiation Shielding | 3 |
| EMCH 758 | Nuclear Reactor Systems | 3 |