Program: Mechanical and Energy Engineering with a concentration in Biomedical Engineering, PhD - University of North Texas

Apr 06, 2025

2024-2025 Graduate Catalog

All students pursuing the doctoral degree with a major in mechanical and energy engineering must plan their degree program with the assistance of their major professor and their advisory committee. The requirement for graduation is at least 72 semester credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree or 42 hours beyond the master’s thesis. The student needs to maintain at least a B average in all graduate courses.

Students entering with a BS

Students entering the PhD with a major in mechanical and energy engineering with a bachelor of science must complete 72 semester hours at the graduate level as follows:

36 semester credit hours of courses including a minimum of 12 semester credit hours of core courses chosen from the listing provided by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a minimum of 24 semester credit hours of elective courses in mechanical and biomedical engineering. Core and electives courses are selected with the approval of the student’s dissertation advisor and graduate advisor.
Up to 21 hours of research credits.
Up to 3 hours of seminar.
A minimum of 12 hours of dissertation (MEEN 6950 ) credit hours that can be registered for only upon the successful completion of the PhD qualifying examination.

Students entering with an MS

Students entering the PhD with a major in mechanical and energy engineering with a master of science must complete 42 semester credit hours of course work as follows:

24 semester credit hours of courses including a minimum of 12 semester credit hours of core courses chosen from the listing provided by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a minimum of 12 semester credit hours of elective courses in mechanical and biomedical engineering. Core and electives courses are selected with the approval of the student’s dissertation advisor and graduate advisor.
Up to 6 hours of research credit hours.
Up to 3 hours of seminar.
A minimum of 9 hours of dissertation (MEEN 6950 ) credit hours that can be registered for only upon the successful completion of the PhD qualifying examination.

Requirements

The Doctor of Philosophy degree represents the attainment of a high level of scholarship and achievement in independent research that culminates in the completion of a dissertation of original scientific merit. Hence, it cannot be prescribed in terms of a fixed semester credit hour requirement.

Generally, the degree consists of 72 semester credit hours beyond a bachelor’s degree and 42 hours beyond the master’s degree, with a minimum of 9 (with master’s degree) or 12 (with bachelor’s degree) semester credit hours allocated for the dissertation. It is expected that the candidate will have published at least two original research articles in a refereed journal prior to graduation.

Admission to the doctoral program

Departmental admission to doctoral candidacy in mechanical and energy engineering (MEEN) requires a satisfactory score on the written and oral sections of the qualifying examination (see “Examinations” section below). Contact the Toulouse Graduate School or the program for current admission requirements, or see information posted on the graduate school web site at graduateschool.unt.edu.

Approximately a year after the candidate is admitted to candidacy, the student is examined on the chosen area of specialization, in this case, biomedical engineering (see “Examinations” section below for details). Enrollment in MEEN 6950 is not allowed until the student has been admitted to candidacy and has successfully passed the examination on the chosen specialization.

Advisors

A student in this program will have two co-advisors, one from MEEN and one from BMEN. Faculty with joint MEEN/BMEN appointments may serve as either the MEEN or BMEN advisor. A student’s graduate program will be constructed with the advice and consent of the two co-advisors within the framework described below.

Dissertation committee

The dissertation committee will consist of a minimum of four members: two must be from MEEN and two must be from BMEN, including one each from MEEN and BMEN as co-advisors. An additional committee member can be from either of these departments or another department if the co-advisors agree that is appropriate.

Examinations

A written qualifying examination consisting of a “general exam” that tests core BMEN concepts and a “specialty exam” in a mechanical and biomedical engineering area, such as thermal/heat transfer, fluid mechanics solid mechanics, biomechanics, bioMEMS. After passing the written exam, students are required to complete and defend in an oral examination an original research proposal that, if executed, would lead to a PhD dissertation.
Upon passing the written and oral examination by the examination committee, the applicant is admitted to candidacy.
A comprehensive oral exam related to the area of specialization (biomedical engineering), not to be confused with the student’s PhD dissertation defense, is taken by doctoral candidates approximately one year after they have completed the oral and/or written qualifying exam.
Details of the examination schedule, expectations and criteria for successful completion are available in the Mechanical and Energy Engineering Graduate Student Handbook available in the department office and posted to the department web site.

Required Courses

For the student who has a BS degree, and for the student who has a MS degree, the approximate requirements follow:

Core Courses, 12 hours

Must be selected from the following in consultation with the thesis/dissertation advisor.

Electives, 24 hours

For students with a BS degree, 24 credit hours may be chosen from mechanical and energy engineering or biomedical fields, as approved by the major professor and the advisory committee. Examples of mechanical and energy engineering electives include MEEN 5110 , MEEN 5410 and MEEN 5140 . Of the 24 elective hours, no more than 12 can be BMEN courses.

For students with an MS degree, a minimum of 12 credit hours may be chosen from mechanical and energy engineering or biomedical engineering as approved by the major professor and the advisory committee. Examples of mechanical and energy engineering electives include MEEN 5110 , MEEN 5410 and MEEN 5140 . Examples of biomedical engineering electives include BMEN 5210 and BMEN 5310 . Of the 12 elective hours, no more than 6 can be BMEN courses.

Individual Research, 21 hours

Dissertation, 9-12 hours

MEEN 6950 - Doctoral Dissertation (minimum of 12 credit hours for students with BS degree and 9 credit hours for students with MS degree)

Seminar in Current Topics in Mechanical and Energy Engineering, 3 hours

All doctoral students are expected to attend MEEN 5940 during each term/semester of full-time graduate study. A seminar based on the student’s dissertation research must be given during the regularly scheduled class time prior to and in addition to the formal defense of the dissertation.

Mechanical and Energy Engineering with a concentration in Biomedical Engineering, PhD