Manufacturing & Design is a major technical area within the Mechanical Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Austin. This group utilizes modern analytical tools to design structures and systems associated with power plants, manufacturing machines, transport vehicles, robots, space stations, recycling, hazardous-waste management, military hardware, prosthetic devices, and even toys for children. Today's manufacturing processes utilize precision machine systems. The supporting technologies for these systems include machine tools, robotics, metrology, microelectronic systems, and human augmentation systems. Research in manufacturing processes also addresses several specific processes, including free-form fabrication with laser sintering, a process invented in this Department that enables computer-guided production of any three-dimensional object directly from a design database.
- The M&D area does not set any area specific course requirements for students in the Thesis or Report options. Faculty supervisors are encouraged to design a course plan for each student which employs all available university course resources to address each student’s needs. If you do not have a Faculty supervisor, contact the M&D area coordinator for registration advising.
- Students in the Thesis MSE option are required to complete 8 three credit courses and two master's thesis courses, Thesis A and Thesis B, taken in two separate semesters. Students in the Report MSE option discuss their plans with their faculty supervisor.
- Students in the coursework only (No-Thesis, No-Report) option, including MSE students, must adhere to the Program of Work requirements. Contact the M&D area coordinator for registration advising
- Note that not every course is offered every semester. Consult the course catalog or schedule for course availability.
- Under current Graduate Studies Committee rules, up to two upper-level undergraduate electives may be taken for credit by MS students, if they have not previously taken a similar course. Undergraduate courses cannot be counted towards the PhD course requirements.
- The typical course load for new graduate students is three courses per semester if you have not already found a research advisor. If you have found a research advisor then they may ask you to sign up for two courses and 3 credits of research which is common for students actively involved in research.
- The final degree plan for each student must be approved by the Graduate Advisor. For PhD students, the final course plan must also be approved by the dissertation committee.
- Courses are listed in the format used in the on-line (registration) course schedule. More detailed course descriptions can be obtained by consulting the on-line Graduate Catalog at http://catalog.utexas.edu/graduate/
