Tarleton State University

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Stephenville, USA

DURATION

2 Years

LANGUAGES

English

PACE

Full time

APPLICATION DEADLINE

09 Jan 2025

EARLIEST START DATE

Mar 2025

TUITION FEES

USD 36,305

STUDY FORMAT

On-Campus

Introduction

Tarleton State’s Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (M.S.) degree is an advanced graduate program designed for career advancement and preparation for doctoral-level degree programs.

Delivered in-person and online, it also allows engineers to further specialize in their professional area of interest, building upon the undergraduate foundation in topics such as robotics, renewable energy, biomedical engineering, aerospace, and automobiles.

Program Format

The mechanical engineering degree is designed to be completed in two years of study. It is offered both in-person at our Stephenville, Texas campus and online through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous coursework.

Accelerated Graduate Pathway for Tarleton Undergraduates

Qualified undergraduate Tarleton students can be approved early for graduate study. This option allows them to begin taking master’s courses during their senior year, positioning them to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering in just five years.

Thesis and Non-Thesis Options

The program offers two pathways to a master’s in mechanical engineering—thesis and professional (non-thesis). Both paths are rich with required transformative independent research work culminating in several hands-on projects. Both options feature a rigorous curriculum while allowing students to concentrate on their preferred specialization.

Students electing to pursue the thesis option identify a research project that the Graduate Office approves and then defend the thesis before an advisory committee of Tarleton faculty and the head of the ENCS Department.

What is Mechanical Engineering?

Mechanical engineers design and implement innovative, real-world solutions to complex problems related to mechanical, thermal, and fluid systems by applying interdisciplinary principles of engineering, science, and mathematics. While developing these solutions, they also consider public health, safety, and welfare and global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.

Estimated Completion

33 credit hours (2 years)

Accreditation

Tarleton’s Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
The Mechanical Engineering (MEEN) program at Tarleton State University is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, under the General Criteria and the Mechanical Engineering Programs Criteria. The accreditation action was retroactive on October 1, 2017. View ABET status and information.

Admissions

Curriculum

What courses will you take in the Mechanical Engineering master’s degree?

The Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MEEN-MS) degree program is an industry-focused, practice-oriented degree that deepens mechanical engineering skills in design, manufacturing, controls, robotics, and energy and sustainability.

The main areas of study in our MEEN-MS program represent highly sought-after skills across the mechanical engineering field, both in Texas and across the country, including:

Mechanics of Solids and Materials
Design, Manufacturing, and Materials Selections
Thermal-Fluid Systems and Heat Transfer
Power, Energy, and Sustainability
System Dynamics, Controls, and Robotics
Nanotechnology and MEMS Devices
Advanced Performance Materials and Structural Health Monitoring

Thesis and Non-Thesis Required Courses

Students in the professional non-thesis pathway take 12 defined credits of coursework in Finite Element Analysis, Lean Six Sigma, Computational Methods for Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer, and Advanced Energy Systems.

Thesis-track students take a six-credit Master’s Thesis course and choose six additional credits of coursework in the same courses defined above for non-thesis students.

Mechanical Engineering Courses

MEEN 5088. Master's Thesis. 1-6 Credit Hours (Lecture: 0 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

Required each semester in which a student is working and receiving direction on a master’s thesis in MEEN-MS. A minimum of two semesters (6 hours) are required for the master’s thesis option. Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

MEEN 5310. Advanced Solid Mechanics. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

Application of continuum mechanics to study the response of materials to different loading conditions; general principles common to all media such as conservation of mass, balance of linear momentum, conservation of momentum and energy; constitutive equations defining idealized materials for structural elements, mechanical energy considering stress and strain.

MEEN 5311. Finite Element Analysis: Theory and Practice. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

Line, plane, solid, plate, and shell elements-theory; practical aspects of modelling; applications in mechanical engineering; final project.

MEEN 5320. Optimization of Engineering Systems. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

Applications of optimization techniques to engineering design problems from a variety of fields, including aerospace, automotive, chemical, electrical, construction, and manufacturing; the focus is on using optimization techniques in a comprehensive manner, to enhance the creative process of conceptual and detailed design of engineering systems.

MEEN 5321. Lean Six Sigma. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

A close examination of Lean Six Sigma tools and methodology, and its relationship to the engineering design, optimization, and validation processes for product development. Students will learn about the translation of requirements, Taguchi’s robust design solutions, and failure mode effect analysis for design and processes.

MEEN 5325. Advanced Materials Engineering. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

Structure-property relationship in engineering materials is discussed in this course. Material structure is investigated at all length scales from the electron level to the macro scale. Besides, this course covers atomic structure and bonding; microstructure properties; crystal structures; imperfections in solids; material strength and strengthening mechanisms; and mechanical, thermal, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties. Differences in properties of metals, polymers, ceramics, and composite materials in terms of bonding and crystal structure.

MEEN 5330. Mechanics of Viscous Flow. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

The mechanics of Newtonian viscous fluids. The use of modern analytical techniques to obtain solutions for flows with small and large Reynolds numbers, particularly in the areas of boundary layer theory, laminar flows, and turbulent flows.

MEEN 5331. Computational Methods for Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

Numerical methods for solving Navier-Stokes equations in complex geometries, including theory, implementation, and applications.

MEEN 5332. Advanced heat transfer. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

General problems of heat transfer by conduction, convection, and radiation; solution by the analogue and numerical methods, thermal boundary layers, analysis of heat exchanges; problems on thermal radiation.

MEEN 5333. Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

Concepts and laws of thermodynamics, including energy, entropy, and energy analysis, property relations, equilibrium conditions, and evaluation of properties; advanced special topics such as kinetic theory, statistical thermodynamics, radiation, and photovoltaic energy conversion.

MEEN 5340. Advanced Energy Systems. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

Advanced energy conversion technologies that are currently on the market or under development; tools used by professionals to design energy systems and to evaluate their performance; related concepts from thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, geophysics, and chemistry.

MEEN 5360. Introduction to Robotics. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

An introduction to robotics through computational methods commonly used in this field; fundamentals of kinematics, dynamics, and control of robot manipulators, robotic vision, and sensing; mechanisms, actuators, sensors, controllers, and processors for the engineering of mechanical manipulation; advanced concepts from mechanics, control theory, optimization, probabilistic inference, simulation, kinematics, and computer science.

MEEN 5390. Advanced Engineering Mathematics. 3 Credit Hours (Lecture: 3 Hours, Lab: 0 Hours).

Mathematical analysis techniques for the solution of engineering analysis problems and the simulation of engineering systems; both continuous and discrete methods are covered; initial and boundary value problems for ordinary and partial differential equations.