Mechanical engineering

Applicants for the Ph.D. in mechanical engineering program must meet the following degree-specific admission requirements: 

• Education level: Bachelor's
• GPA: 3.0
• GRE: Yes
• TOEFL/IELTS: 79/6.5
• Number of references: Two
• Other requirements: Recommended minimum scores for GRE:
  • Verbal: 151
  • Quantitative: 153
  • Analytical Writing: 4.0

Program availability:  

Semester intake: Fall, Spring, Summer

• Eligible for international admission

Deadlines: General application deadlines

Visit Graduate Admissions to learn more and start your application. 

Mechanical Engineering contact: Eric Wolbrecht, ewolbrec@uidaho.edu

Graduate Admissions contact: graduateadmissions@uidaho.edu, 208-885-4001

Find Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty advisor contacts

Graduate funding opportunities

University of Idaho is awarded more than $100 million in annual grants, contracts and research appropriations.

• Idaho National Laboratory Graduate Fellowship Program – Recipients of this competitive fellowship receive full tuition and fees by U of I during their first three years of graduate school. INL covers tuition, fees, and a $60,000 annual salary during the final two years of their doctoral research, to be conducted at INL.
• National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Graduate Fellowship Program – These year-long salaried assignments offer hands-on experience in nuclear security and nonproliferation. Administered by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and open to all engineering disciplines.
• NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium (ISGC) – $25,000 fellowship programs that contribute to NASA’s mission of exploration and discovery. Open to full-time graduate and doctoral students.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) – For outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees.
• National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship – Three-year fellowship with full coverage of tuition and all mandatory fees, including a monthly stipend and up to $1,000 a year in medical insurance.
• DAAD Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE Professional) Programs – RISE Professional offers summer research internships in Germany to master’s and Ph.D. students at companies and non-university research institutions with strong relations to industry.
• Research assistantships (RAs) may be available from faculty through a variety of external agencies and industry partners. Contact our faculty whose research aligns with your area of interest to learn more about these funding opportunities.
• Teaching assistantships (TAs) may be available for students who are effective communicators with the skills and experience needed to support the undergraduate program.

To learn about various ways to fund your graduate degree, check out Graduate Funding. 

For detailed information about the cost of attendance, visit Financial Aid. 

This program could be a good fit if you:

• Hold a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or a related field  
• Want to achieve world-class expertise in a specialized area of mechanical engineering  
• Enjoy challenging, open-ended research problems and finding innovative solutions
• Perform well independently and collaboratively on research and technical projects  
• Are interested in career paths focused on technical engineering.
• Want to broaden your career opportunities to include leading research and product development teams
• Want leadership roles in national labs and corporate research centers
• Are interested in academia employment

Clubs and organizations

Our college offers 20+ clubs and organizations tied to international and national engineering organizations, including national competition teams.

Learn about clubs related to your major:

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
• Humanitarian Engineering Corps (HEC)
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
• Robotics Club
• Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
• Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
• Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
• Tau Beta Pi - Engineering Honor Society (TBP)
• Vandal Atmospheric Science Team (VAST)
• Vandal Motorsports (SAE-Baja Competition)