Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering

Degree Prep

View the Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering prerequisites, deadlines and contact information on the U of I Admissions website.

• Most applicants hold a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or closely related field from an accredited institution and demonstrate a strong background in the fundamentals of engineering.
• If your undergraduate degree is not in Mechanical Engineering, you may be required to complete background courses to remove deficiencies before beginning the graduate program.

Degree Roadmap

Depending on your interests, your academic adviser and graduate committee will help you develop a focused plan of study for the Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering degree.

View Mechanical Engineering Graduate Handbook (PDF)

View current Mechanical Engineering courses
Catalogs are released each year with up-to-date course listings. Students reference the catalog released during their first year of enrollment. For catalog related questions, email registrar@uidaho.edu or call 208-885-6731.

View Future Course Plan (PDF)
This course plan lists the graduate courses and technical electives we intend to teach. It is subject to change without notice.

Degree Requirements

• Mechanical Engineering graduate degree requirements
• College of Graduate Studies requirements
• Students are required to write a dissertation and give a final dissertation defense at the end of their degree program.
• The program requires a minimum of 78 credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree and normally takes 3 to 5 years to complete.

A graduate committee will follow an outcomes assessment rubric through a combination of guided discussion with the degree candidate and in discussion as a committee.

The committee will submit a report to the graduate committee, who will perform an assessment of these results and report to the faculty. Faculty will follow up on ways to close the loop to improve the program.

Professional Licensing

Completion of the program will count towards eligibility for the Professional Engineer’s License (PE) to practice Engineering, which requires a four-year degree from an ABET-accredited school, four years of experience under a PE, and passing the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and Principles of Practice in Engineering (PE) Exams.

Questions?

For questions relating to Mechanical Engineering degrees, please email medept@uidaho.edu or call 208-885-6579.

Funding Opportunities

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

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ (ASME) Graduate Teaching Fellowship – Doctoral candidates studying mechanical engineering can earn $5,000 for a maximum of two years to cover books, supplies and equipment for their program. Includes a teaching requirement.
• 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.
• Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) – Funded through the Department of Energy, this student training and outreach program teaches students how to assess and make recommendations toward energy savings, waste reduction and productivity on an industrial site. Open to undergraduate and graduate students in all engineering and computer science disciplines.
• 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.
• Faculty provide funding through a variety of external agencies and industry partners. Contact our faculty to learn more about these funding opportunities.

For more funding options, visit the College of Graduate Studies’ funding website .

Clubs & 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)
• Graduate & Professional Student Association (GPSA)
• 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)
• Vandal Atmospheric Science Team (VAST)