Doctor of Philososphy [Ph.D] [Mechanical Engineering] From University of Utah

The first checkpoint in a doctorate student?s career is the Qualifying Exam. Students must pass this exam in order to be officially admitted to candidacy in the Ph.D. program. The exam is directed at testing students? understanding and application of basic concepts and mastery of technical knowledge in different areas. The exam is administered near the end of the Fall and Spring semesters, and should be taken early in the student?s Ph.D. program.The second checkpoint is a dissertation research proposal defense, which is given within a year of passing the qualifying examination and at least 8 months prior to the dissertation defense. The proposal defense assesses the student?s research abilities and is administrated and scored by the student?s supervisory committee. Passing the proposal defense indicates that the student?s proposed dissertation research is approved by the committee and can commence.