THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCE
ENGINEERING


10.1.2 THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCE

Areas of Specialization

The areas of specialization are listed by Program.

Admission Requirements

A candidate for the degree of Master of Applied Science shall hold the degree of Bachelor of Applied Science from this University or an equivalent degree in Engineering or Applied Science. In addition, the applicant must have at least second-class standing or its equivalent in the final year and be recommended by the Program Graduate Committee in which the candidate plans to undertake studies.

Applicants with degrees in related fields will be considered but will normally require strengthening of their background in engineering. At the discretion of the Program, Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) may be required.

All applicants whose native language is not English are required to satisfy the English proficiency requirement as described in 1.3.

Possession of the minimum requirements does not automatically ensure acceptance.

Degree Requirements

The specific minimum program requirements for the M.A.Sc. include the successful completion of:

1) Course Requirements: Satisfactory completion of courses comprising between twelve and twenty-four term hours, depending on the term hour equivalence assigned to the mandatory thesis or major paper. A thesis may be equivalent to as many as eighteen term hours, and a major paper to as many as six term hours of the total minimum requirement of thirty term hours.

2) Either a thesis or a major paper as specified below:
(a) Thesis: A thesis incorporating the results of an original investigation is required of all candidates except those students who are doing non-thesis research toward a major paper. Before writing the thesis the student must meet with the Master's committee to obtain permission to write the thesis. The Master's committee will grant this permission when the student has shown sufficient competence and has accomplished substantial research. After completion of the thesis, each candidate will be required to make a satisfactory oral presentation and defense of the thesis as described below.
(b) Major Paper: For those candidates doing non-thesis research, a major paper is required. The topic of the major paper is normally research based on the existing literature in the field of study. The candidate will be required to make an acceptable oral presentation to the Master's committee based on the major paper (see below).

3) Mechanical Engineering students must take 92-595 (Graduate Seminar)

Residence and Time Limits: The minimum period of study for a Master's candidate is twelve months. The maximum duration of full-time study as a Master's candidate is three years. Part-time Master's candidates will undertake the equivalent of a minimum of one year of full-time study. For a part-time Master's candidate the maximum time limit generally will not exceed five calendar years. Master's candidates who expect to require an extension of these time limits must petition the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, giving reasons for the request and plans for completion of the work. The Chair of the Program Graduate Committee will then make a recommendation to the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.

Committees: Research undertaken as part of a Master's program is normally directed and supervised by a Master's committee. Whereas the student's advisor provides day-to-day guidance and direction, the committee is ultimately responsible for the overall supervision to ensure that adequate progress is maintained. The Master's committee will consist of at least three members with the student's advisor as chairperson. The advisor must be a member of graduate faculty.

At least one member shall be from a Program within the University of Windsor other than the one in which the student is majoring. The student's advisor will propose the names of the Master's committee and these will be subject to the approval of the Program Graduate Committee and the Executive Committee of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. Within one month after registration, each student will be assigned to a Master's committee.

The final appraisal of the thesis and the conduct of the final oral examination of the dissertation will be carried out by the examining committee. The examining committee will consist of the Master's committee and the Chair of the Program Graduate Committee or designate of the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research as chairperson (non-voting).

Examinations: At the discretion of the Program Graduate Committee a qualifying examination may be required. A qualifying examination is one in which the student is asked to demonstrate a reasonable mastery of the fundamentals in the major subject; it is designed to test the student's preparation for advanced graduate work. If such an examination is required, it must be administered and passed before the student registers for the final candidate year of Master's work.

In addition to the usual examination on course work, all students must meet the following requirements:

1) Review of Progress on Research or Major Paper: Within the first year a full-time student will present in the form of a seminar an outline of his or her proposed thesis research or outline the content of his or her major paper. This will be presented to the Master's committee, who must approve, with or without modifications, or reject the proposal. Thereafter, at least once a year, the student will report his or her progress in the form of a seminar.

2) Final Examinations: The passing of the final oral examination on the thesis (or the major paper) requires both an adequate thesis (or major paper) and a satisfactory defense. The examination will be conducted by the examining committee and the thesis defence will be chaired by the Chair of the Program Graduate Committee or appointed designate. If the examining committee cannot arrive at a unanimous decision to award a passing grade, a majority decision will be accepted provided there is no more than one dissenting vote. If there is more than one dissenting vote, the student may be required to carry out additional work if the thesis is judged to be adequate in all other respects, or the student may be required to withdraw.

Grading: The grading system is outlined in 1.4.3.

The Faculty of Engineering requires that students maintain at least a B average at all times.

Courses in which a grade of B or higher is received will be accepted for graduate credit. In addition, upon the positive recommendation of the Chair of the Program Graduate Committee and advisor concerned, credit may be granted by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research for not more than two term courses in which a grade of C or C+ has been obtained.

If a student fails to obtain credit in a course, the course may be repeated only once, at the discretion of the Chair of the Program Graduate Committee concerned and the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. No student may repeat, or replace with another course, more than two term courses in which credit was not obtained.

All research work for which a letter grade is assigned must be graded B or better to receive credit.

Make-up courses will not count for graduate credit. Make-up courses are those courses required to compensate for deficiencies in the student's academic background.

In exceptional cases, at the discretion of the Chair of the Program Graduate Committee and the advisor, a graduate student may take one undergraduate course for credit.