Naval Engineer's Degree
Overview
Naval Engineering is considered to include all the arts and sciences as applied in the design, construction and operation of surface and sub-surface marine vehicles. The Naval Engineer’s degree provides an opportunity for further study beyond the Master’s level and is intended for those who wish to enter engineering practice, or who plan a career in the design, acquisition, repair, and modernization of ships and ship systems. This degree emphasizes breadth of knowledge in naval engineering and is quite distinct from the PhD, which emphasizes depth and originality of research.
The overall course of study and thesis must comprise a coherent program in naval engineering. The candidate is required to prepare a plan of study and to submit it to the MechE Graduate Officer for approval by the Naval Engineer’s degree Subcommittee. The student will be considered a Naval Engineer’s degree candidate when this plan is approved.
Funding
The Naval Engineer’s degree is self-funded.
Requirements
Students must successfully fulfill the MechE Department’s writing ability requirement.
At least one subject from eight of the following eleven areas (subjects from various MIT departments are normally taken to satisfy this requirement):
- Mathematics & Numerical Methods
- Dynamics
- Hydrodynamics
- Materials & Fabrication Technology
- Power and Propulsion w Probability & Statistics
- Structural Mechanics
- Acoustics
- Ship Production
- Naval Architecture & Systems Engineering
- Ship Design
Ship design is an integral part of the Naval Engineer’s Degree curriculum. Candidates are required to complete both a conversion design project (2.704) and a 24-credit new design project (2.705) during their course of study.
Students must complete a thesis that demonstrates the educational maturity and breadth expected of candidates for this degree. An important requirement is that the thesis deal with the solution of real, practical engineering problems, including both their technical and socio-economic aspects. It must be at least equivalent to an advanced master’s thesis, and may be an extension of a suitable applications-oriented SMME/SMOE/SMNAME/ SMOGE thesis, or it may be a separate piece of work. Students who enter the program with an SM degree from another school must do a separate Naval Engineer’s thesis. Students are required to submit a specific thesis proposal to the Naval Engineer’s Degree Subcommittee shortly after embarking on the program.
The thesis work described in the preceding paragraph can be carried out under the subject 2.999 and/or 2.ThG. A student may receive a maximum of 12 units of credit for thesis work done under 2.999 (the student’s thesis advisor determining the actual amount of credit) and these credit units may be counted towards the 162 total credit unit requirement. Thesis work done under 2.ThG cannot be counted towards the 162 credit unit coursework requirement.
All incoming graduate students are encouraged to take the seminar subject 2.991 Introduction to Graduate Study in Mechanical Engineering that introduces students to various aspects of graduate student life in the MechE Department, MIT, and the Boston area. It meets for 1 hour each week during the Fall term. Students who do not have a confirmed research advisor by Registration Day, and students whose research advisors are based outside the MIT campus (e.g. a hospital or Draper Labs), are required to take this seminar class.
