Research

Program Overview

The Donald W. Clayton Graduate Program in Engineering Science allows students to pursue graduate study and research in interdisciplinary areas that cross two or more disciplines in different departments or in program areas not currently associated with an existing department.

The interdisciplinary program spans the fields of engineering, science, business, and even law. In principle, a program of study in almost any imaginable concentration area in engineering can be designed. In practice, many students have developed programs in one of three concentration areas: materials science and engineering, environmental & technological hazards engineering, and information technology & engineering. Another area of specialization, bioengineering, is currently attracting student interest and encompasses the interface between engineering and biological science.

The concentration area in materials science & engineering involve course work in mechanical, electrical, chemical and civil engineering, computer science, chemistry, and physics. Environmental & technological hazards engineering concentration area has components primarily from chemical and civil engineering, and environmental science, and secondarily from industrial, biological, and petroleum engineering, chemistry, business and sometimes law. Information technology & engineering concentration area encompasses the disciplines of industrial, electrical and mechanical engineering, and computer science, information systems and decision science, library information systems, and others. Likewise, bioengineering concentration area involves agricultural, civil, mechanical, chemical, and industrial engineering, chemistry, and the biological sciences.

Degrees awarded through this program do not provide a direct route to professional engineering practice. Students with degrees in a pure or applied science, who are considering registration as professional engineers, are advised to consider pursuing a second baccalaureate degree in engineering.

Degree Programs

The interdisciplinary degrees of M.S. in Engineering Science and Ph.D. in Engineering Science are offered. The M.S. program requires emphasis in at least two areas of study not available within a single department; the Ph.D. requires minors in at least two sub-areas of specialization within one or more academic departments, in addition to the major concentration area of study.

M.S. Program

The M.S. in Engineering Science program--offered with both thesis and non-thesis options--provides an opportunity for study in areas not represented by departments within the college. Students can enter the program with a baccalaureate degree in any field of engineering or in a pure or applied science.

Requirements are 30 semester hours, including six hours of thesis credit, or 36 semester hours of course work with no thesis. The non-thesis option requires a three-hour project course, with report and presentation to the graduate committee. Additional course work may be necessary, however, for students lacking the prerequisites for graduate courses required as part of their program.

At least one-half of the course work must be engineering courses and at least one-half of the total course work must be at the 7000 level. Additionally, at least 18 hours of required course work must be completed after admission to the program. A plan of study (see website, Form 800/801), approved by the student's advisory committee, should be submitted to the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering by the end of the first semester of enrollment. Graduate School regulations regarding graduate committees state that the major professor (advisory committee chair) must be a graduate faculty member from a departmenet within the College of Engineering.

Ph.D. Program

The college accepts qualified students with bachelor's or master's degrees in engineering or a pure or applied science to work toward a Ph.D. in this interdisciplinary program. A student may plan a course of study with a major professor from any department in the College of Engineering. The program must be approved by an advisory committee consisting of at least four members of the graduate faculty (including the major professor from a department within the College of Engineering), and, if applicable, by the coordination council of the concentration area through the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the college. A graduate program of study (wee website, Form 900-904), approved by the student's advisory committee, should be submitted to the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Students in the College of Engineering by the end of the second semester of enrollment. The Dean of the Graduate School makes the final approval of the program of studies. At least one member of the student's committee must come a department offering the Ph.D. degree in the College of Engineering.

The student usually will be required to complete a minimum of 54 semester hours of approved course work beyond the bachelor's degree and prepare a dissertation acceptable to his or her advisory committee and the Graduate School. At least half of the course work (27 semester hours) must be taken in courses offered by engineering departments within the college. Requirements include 24 hours of course work concentrate in at least two minor areas of specialization within one or more academic departments. The advisory committee must include representatives from the minor areas. The remaining 30 semester hours of course work must contain no more than 15 hours in any one department.

Admission and Financial Assistance

Admission is open to students without baccalaureate engineering degrees. Students wishing to work toward a degree through the Donald W. Clayton Graduate Program in Engineering Science should contact an appropriate faculty adviser in the college before applying for admission. "Engineering Science" should be indicated as the proposed field of study.

Research Assistantships to qualified students in the Ph.D. program are available on a competitve basis directly through the Donald W. Clayton Program in Engineering Science. MS program students seeking financial assistance should pursue support through their faculty advisers.

Forms For Graduate Study in Engineering Science

• Cover Page, MES/PES Program of Study Form 800/900
• MES Program of Study Form 801
• PES Program of Study
  • Explanation Form 901
  • Check List Form 902
  • Distribution of Courses Form 903
  • Program of Study Form 904A and Form 904B
• Request for Change of Department Form 100
• Request for Dual Degree Form 200

Program Administration

This interdepartmental program draws on all graduate faculties in this college, as well as other colleges at LSU.

• Graduate Program Admissions
• Academic Programs
  • Biological & Agricultural Engineering
  • Civil & Environmental Engineering
  • Construction Management & Industrial Engineering
  • Craft & Hawkins Petroleum Engineering
  • Electrical & Computer Engineering
  • Gordon A. & Mary Cain Chemical Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
• Engineering Science Program
  • Environmental and Technological Hazards Engineering
  • Information Technology Engineering
  • Materials Science and Engineering
• Advanced Computational Solid Mechanics Lab (CSM)
• Center for Bio-modular Microsystems (CBMM)
• Center for Geoinformatics (C4G)
• Center for Rotating Machinery (CeRoM)
• Center for Turbine Innovation and Research (TIER)
• Hazardous Substance Research Center (HSRC)
• Louisiana Transporation Research Center (LTRC)
• Louisiana Water Resources Research Institution (LWRRI)