Computational Engineering

An Interdisciplinary Curriculum

James Worth Bagley College of Engineering

Dr. Kirk H. Schulz, Dean

Dr. Roger L. King, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies

Dr. Mark Janus, Graduate Coordinator

Box 9627

Mississippi State , MS 39762

662-325-8278

grad-coordinator@erc.msstate.edu

The Computational Engineering graduate program is interdisciplinary, with faculty drawn from the academic departments of the College of Engineering , as well as the research faculty of the ERC.  Programs of study and research leading to both the Master of Science degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree are available.  The Computational Engineering program makes use of cross-disciplinary study to produce graduates with broad viewpoints and backgrounds to integrate the problem domain with engineering design and computational methods and tools, including computer science, computing technology, and mathematics.  The program is open to students with undergraduate degrees in engineering, computer science, or a physical science.  Research assistantships are available through research projects in the ERC.

Admission Criteria—To be admitted, the student must meet the admission requirements of the Office of Graduate Studies, receive a positive recommendation from the Computational Engineering screening committee, and be accepted as a student by a member of the Computational Engineering graduate faculty.  International students must have scored at least 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).  All applicants are strongly encouraged to submit scores for the Graduate Record Examination as part of the application packet.

Program of Study—The specific requirements for the degrees are governed by the general requirements of the Office of Graduate Studies and by the student’s graduate committee.  The committee must include at least one Computational Engineering faculty member from each of the following areas:  1) a Computational Engineering application area, 2) high-performance computing, and 3) numerical mathematics.  The graduate committee will ensure that the student’s program of study adequately addresses each of the three primary cross-disciplinary areas (an application area, high-performance computing, and numerical mathematics), and students are encouraged to include one or more courses in scientific visualization or graphics.  The composition of the graduate committee and the student’s program of study must be approved by the Computational Engineering Program Coordinator.

Provisional Admission—Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the Computational Engineering program, virtually all students are required to take some prerequisite courses.  Nevertheless, all students admitted to the program are granted regular admission.  Provisional admission is not approved.

Academic Performance—Continued enrollment in the graduate program in Computational Engineering is dependent upon satisfactory performance in the courses and satisfactory progress toward completion of the degree. To achieve satisfactory performance, a student must:

1.       Maintain a B average on:

a)       All undergraduate prerequisite Courses;

b)       All graduate courses completed after admission to the program;

c)       All graduate courses included on the student’s program of study.

2.       Have no more than one grade less than C

3.       Have a major advisor and a supervisory committee (after the first two semesters of enrollment)

Should a student’s cumulative grade point average (in any of the three categories above) be less than 3.00 at the end of a term, the student will be placed on “probation” and will be given one semester to earn a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or greater.  If at the end of the probationary term the student’s cumulative grade point average (in any of the three categories above) is less than 3.00, the student’s program of study will be terminated immediately.  If the student enrolls in the summer term, it will count as one  term.

Should a student earn a second grade less than a C, the student’s program of study will be terminated immediately.  Should a student who is beyond his/her second period of study not have a major advisor and supervisory committee, the student will be placed on probation and given one semester to form a committee.  Should the student not be able to form a committee, his/her program of study will be terminated.

A student may appeal termination of his/her study to the Computational Engineering Supervisory Committee.

Prerequisite and Core Courses—Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the Computational Engineering program, courses listed below are typical of those that are acceptable.  Courses not listed can be used for graduate credit with the approval of the student’s supervisory committee and the Computational Engineering Program Coordinator.

Computational Engineering Applications:

ASE 6423      Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics (consent of  instructor). 3 hours

ASE 6433      Fundamentals of Numerical Grid Generation (consent of instructor). 3 hours

CE 6663        Matrix Methods of Structural Analysis (CE 4603/6603or consent of instructor). 3 hours

CHE 8223     Advanced Process Computations (CHE 3223). 3 hours

ASE 8363      Computational Heat Transfer (consent of instructor). 3 hours

ME 8363        Computational Heat Transfer (consent of instructor). 3 hours

ASE 8413      Computational Fluid Dynamics I (consent of instructor). 3 hours

ASE 8423      Computational Fluid Dynamics II (ASE 8413 or equivalent). 3 hours

ASE 8433      Advanced Numerical Grid Generation (ASE 6433 or consent of instructor). 3 hours

CE 8663        Computational Methods in Structural Analysis (CE 4663/6663 with grade of B or better or consent of instructor). 3 hours

CE 8683        Finite Element Analysis (CE 4663/6663). 3 hours

High Performance Computing:

CSE 6163     Designing Parallel Algorithms (CSE 3324 or CSE 4733/6733 with grade of C or better). 3 hours

CSE 6214     Software Engineering I (CSE 2383 with grad of C or better). 3 hours

ECE 6713     Computer Architecture (ECE 2324 with a grade of C or better). 3 hours

ECE 8063     Parallel Computing Architectures I ECE 4713/6713 and CSE 4113/6113). 3 hours

ECE 8073     Parallel Computing Architectures II (ECE 8063 and/or consent of instructor). 3 hours

CSE 8733     Advanced Systems Programming (CSE 4733/6733). 3 hours

CSE 8833     Algorithms (CSE 4833/6833). 3 hours

CSE 8843     Complexity of Sequential and Parallel Algorithms (CSE 4833/6833). 3 hours

CSE 9133     Topics in High Performance Computing (consent of instructor). 3 hours

Numerical Mathematics:

MA 6313        Numerical Analysis I (CSE 1213 or equivalent, MA 3113 and MA 2743). 3 hours

MA 6323        Numerical Analysis II (CSE 1213 or equivalent, MA 3113 and MA 3253). 3 hours

MA 8363        Numerical Solution of Systems of Nonlinear Equations (MA 4313/6313 and MA 4323/6323). 3 hours

MA 8383        Numerical Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations I (MA 4313/6313 and MA 4323/6323). 3 hours

MA 8393        Numerical Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations II (MA 8383). 3 hours

MA 8443        Numerical Solution of Partial differential Equations I (MA 4313/6313, MA 4323/6323, and MA 4373/6373 or consent of instructor). 3 hours 

MA 8453        Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations II (MA 8443). 3 hours

MA 8463        Numerical Linear Algebra (MA 4323/6323). 3 hours

MA 8473        Advanced Numerical Analysis I (MA 4933/6933). 3 hours

MA 8483        Advanced Numerical Analysis II (MA 8473). 3 hours

Graphics and Visualization:

CSE 6413     Principles of Computer Graphics (CSE 2383 with grade of C or better and MA 3113). 3 hours

CSE 8413     Visualization (CSE 4413/6413). 3 hours

CSE 8433     Advanced Computer Graphics (CSE 4413/6413). 3 hours

CSE 9413     Topics in Computer Graphics and Visualization (consent of instructor).3 hours

Special Topics, Individual Study, Thesis and Dissertation Research:

CME 6990     Special Topics in Computational Engineering. 1-9 hours

CME 7000     Directed Individual Study. 1-6 hours

CME 8000     Research/Thesis. 6 hours

CME 8990     Special Topics in Computational Engineering. 1-9 hours

CME 9000     Research/Dissertation. 20 hours

Completion Requirements—Master of Science—Both a thesis (research) option and a project (professional) option are offered. For the research option, successful completion of at least 24 credit hours of graduate course work (at least 12 hours at the 8000 level) plus submission and defense of a 6-hour research thesis are required. 

For the professional degree option, successful completion of at least 33 credit hours of graduate course work and a professional project are required.  No more than three hours of credit for the project can be applied toward the required 30 hours.  At least 15 hours of course work on the program of study must be at the 8000 or higher level.

Completion Requirements—Doctor of Philosophy—Each candidate for the doctoral degree must conduct research and present a dissertation on that research that 1) demonstrates a mastery of the techniques of research and 2) makes a very distinct contribution to the field of Computational Engineering. The dissertation must conform to the rules of the Office of Graduate Studies.