1. Mechanical Engineering Master’s students are eligible to earn Mechanical Engineering Independent Research Credit (ME 590) on pre-approved MDP Projects.
2. Students must enroll in 3 credit hours of ME 590, available during the second semester of their project only.
3. Students must successfully complete all requirements of both courses (as outlined by the MDP program and the ME department)
4. Please see the ME Independent Research Credit website for more information on the requirements and process. Students are responsible for preparing the ME 590 proposal, obtaining approval from the MDP faculty mentor, and submitting it to the ME department for final approval. This must be done by the end of the Winter term and no later than May 15. Note: May 15 is earlier than the standard ME 590 deadline.
Research Advisor & Proposal Requirements
(1) For students whose MDP faculty mentor is not an ME faculty member, you will register for ME 590 under the ME Graduate Chair (currently Prof. Allen Liu).
(2) Students are responsible for properly submitting their Independent Research Credit proposal, and acquiring approval by posted deadlines. Projects must involve significant ME content and may not be “build only” or project management.
(3) To meet this requirement and to develop the proposal, students need to extend a portion of the MDP team’s project scope and identify a specific deliverable for the project that is independent from teammates’ effort (though students may reference and cite relevant work from team members).
Examples of scope extensions include:
- Designing an additional component or subsystem.
- Performing extra analysis beyond the team’s original scope.
- Developing simulations for additional use cases.
(4) This scope extension/ME 590 proposal must have approval from the current MDP Faculty Mentor and the ME graduate chair.
Enrollment Plan: ME Students earning ME 590 credit on an MDP Project
| Winter Semester | Fall Semester |
|---|---|
| ENGR 555 (1 credit hour) | ME 590 (3 credit hours) |
*note: beginning Winter 2026, MDP will be enrolling graduate students via ENGR 555 (instead of ENGR 599, utilized Fall 2025 and earlier).
Click here to see all projects eligible for ME 590 credit.