ME Grad Links
Graduate Courses
Guidelines
The required coursework varies between Master's of Science and PhD students, but the following guidelines apply to all graduate degrees offered by the Mechanical Engineering program:
- At least half of the courses taken must be in Mechanical Engineering.
- Regardless of the discipline, at least half of the courses taken should be at the 7000 level, excluding ME Graduate Seminar (ME 7901) and Thesis/Dissertation Research (ME 8000/9000).
- For students with prior graduate degrees, up to half of the credit hours required for the LSU degree can be transferred, provided they have earned a grade better than "C".
To find a list of courses offered in a specific semester, please consult "Course Offerings" listed in LSU's Schedule Booklet. At LSU, the standard conversion is 3 credit hours per course completed.
Core Courses
Master's students must fulfill a minimum of 9 core credit hours, while PhD students are required to complete 12 core credit hours from the approved list of courses. Students are required to seek approval from both their Major Professor and their Graduate Advisory Committee regarding their course selections.
- ME 7313 Advanced Fluid Dynamics I
- ME 7323 Advanced Fluid Dynamics II
- ME 7333 Hydrodynamic Stability
- ME 7343 Computation of Fluid Flow & Heat Transfer
- ME 7433 Heat Transfer I
- ME 7443 Heat Transfer II
- ME 4143 Vibrations
- ME 4273 Stress Analysis in ME
- ME 7153 Advanced Vibrations
- ME 7163 Advanced Dynamics
- ME 7273 Advanced Stress Analysis in ME
- ME 7633 Advanced Engineering System Dynamics
- ME 7673 Advanced Mechanical Systems Control
- ME 4723 Advanced Methods of Material Characterization
- ME 4733 Deformation and Fracture of Engineering Materials
- ME 7723 Electron Beam Characterization of Materials (TEM course)
- ME 7743 Defects, Diffusion, & Transformation in Solids*
- ME 7753 Thermodynamics of Solid Materials*
*Required for all Materials Majors
In addition, 3 mathematics credit hours are required for PhD students and recommended for MS students.
- MATH 4038 Mathematical Methods in Engineering*
- MATH 4340 Partial Differential Equations
- MATH 4036 Complex Variables
- ME 7533 Numerical Methods in Applied Mechanics
*Partially covers material relevant to the PhD Qualifying Exam
Graduate Electives
Electives are offered both at the 4000 and 7000 level. Any upper-division undergraduate technical elective (not part of the core undergraduate curriculum) can be taken for graduate credit.
- ME 4163 Intermediate Dynamics
- ME 4183 Theory and Design of Mechanical Control Systems
- ME 4213 Welding Engineering I
- ME 4223 Welding Engineering II
- ME 4293 Introduction to Microsystem Fabrication and Design
- ME 4353 Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics
- ME 4383 Thermal System Design
- ME 4443 Introduction to Combustion
- ME 4563 Mathematical Methods in Engineering
- ME 4573 Interactive Computer Graphics
- ME 4583 Applied Computer Graphics
- ME 4633 Internal Combustion Engines
- ME 4643 Thermal Environmental Engineering
- ME 4663 Power Plant Engineering
- ME 4673 Introduction to Modern Control Theory
- ME 4683 Sensors and Actuators
- ME 4743 Kinetics in Materials Processes
- ME 4763 Fundamentals of Corrosion Science and Engineering
- ME 4783 Composite Materials: Manufacturing, Properties, and Design
- ME 4813 Interdisciplinary Fluid Dynamics: Physical Concepts
- ME 4823 Interdisciplinary Fluid Dynamics: Computational Methods
- ME 4843 Gas Dynamics
- ME 4853 Turbomachinery
- ME 4913 Aerodynamics
- ME 4923 Jet and Rocket Propulsion
- ME 4933 Special Problems in Mechanical Engineering
- ME 4943 Special Problems in Aerospace Engineering
- ME 4953 Nuclear Reactor Engineering Design
- ME 4963 Nuclear Reactor Systems Engineering
- ME 4973 Space Systems
- ME 7643 Advanced System Modeling
- ME 7933 Mechanical Engineering Problems
- ME 7953 Advanced Topics in Mechanical Engineering
Note: 4000 level classes need to be taught by graduate faculty to be eligible for graduate credit.
Some 4000 level technical electives are offered as dual-enrollment with ME 7933 (Mechanical Engineering Problems) or ME 7953 (Advanced Topics in Mechanical Engineering). For a list of courses offered during a given semester, refer to the LSU General Catalog.
Transfer of Courses
If you have taken graduate-level courses from a previous university and want to transfer courses to LSU, you may be able to transfer up to 50% of credit hours required for the LSU degree. Per LSU Graduate School regulations, only courses with a grade better than "C" are eligible for transfer. For international degrees, you should consult web resources for commonly used grade conversions.
For each course, you must document equivalency by providing a syllabus for the course taken at the previous university as well as the corresponding course description at LSU. All course transfers need to be discussed with and approved by each member of your advisory committee. For any substituted core course, an additional approval is required by the last ME faculty to teach the equivalent course at LSU. The completed departmental course transfer request form should be submitted together with all applicable documentation to the graduate coordinator.