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Engineering MASc
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

[DEPARTMENTS: CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING; ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING; MECHANICAL, AUTOMOTIVE AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING]

MASc program requirements are common for all Engineering program areas. MASc programs are offered in Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Materials, Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.

The following requirements are supplementary to the University's general requirements as set out by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCE

Areas of Specialization

The areas of specialization are listed by Department.

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, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) may be required.

All applicants whose native language is not English are required to satisfy the English proficiency requirement as described in the application procedures listed in this calendar.

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 defence 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 in the MASc program must take MECH-8295 (MASc Graduate Seminar) and Mechanical Engineering students in the PhD program must take MECH 9295 (PhD Graduate Seminar).

Note:
    -Part-time students who are not able to take the MASc Graduate Seminar course have to take an additional 3-credit graduate course approved by his/her degree supervisor(s), if necessary, to fulfill the overall credit requirement for the degree; or
    -Part-time students who are not able to take the PhD Graduate Seminar course have to take an additional 3-credit graduate course approved by his/her degree supervisor(s), if necessary, to fulfill the overall credit requirement for the degree."

4) Industrial Engineering students must additionally take INDE-8595 (Graduate Seminar). They are expected to register in it every semester offered. Normally in the final year of their degree, they are to give a seminar presentation and will receive a Pass/Fail grade. For the M.A.Sc. thesis or Major Paper in Industrial Engineering the final grade is “Satisfactory” or “Unsatisfactory”.

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 Dean of Graduate Studies, 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 Dean of Graduate Studies.

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. 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 Dean of Graduate Studies 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 defence. 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 "Faculty Regulations".

The Faculty of Engineering requires that students maintain at least a 70% average at all times.

Courses in which a grade of 70% 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 for not more than two term courses in which a grade between 65-69% 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 Dean of Graduate Studies. 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 70% 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.

INTEGRATED B.A.Sc./M.A.Sc.

The Faculty of Engineering offers a Bachelor's/Master's Integrated Engineering Degree program which allows students with outstanding academic ability to achieve both a B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. degree in a time period as short as five years. This program treats the educational process through the B.A.Sc. to the M.A.Sc. degree as a single coherent integrated whole, while ensuring that the requirements for both degrees are fully satisfied. This structured program represents a complementary alternative to the existing separate undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Application to the integrated B.A.Sc./M.A.Sc. can be made early in the Winter semester of the student's third year of undergraduate B.A.Sc. study. Normally, only applicants who have a cumulative average of at least 77%, and a semester average of 77% in the Fall semester of their third year of undergraduate B.A.Sc. study may be granted admission to the integrated program which confers conditional admission status to the M.A.Sc. program.

Contact the appropriate Engineering Department for more information.

RESEARCH IN OUTSIDE INSTITUTIONS

Research for the Ph.D. or M.A.Sc. degree, in part or in whole, may be carried out in an outside institution (e.g., industrial, governmental, or academic university). A student who does research at an outside institution must fulfil the same requirements as a student doing on-campus research. The only exception is that the time spent doing the off-campus research relevant to the thesis or dissertation will be credited toward the residence requirement. In addition to the general requirements, a student applying for permission to do research at an outside institution must provide:

1) A detailed statement of the research proposal, including arrangements for supervision, and of the circumstances under which the research is to be carried out;

2) Evidence that the institution has adequate facilities for the research; and that the applicant will be able to pursue independent research;

3) A proposed time schedule;

4) A letter of support from a responsible person in the outside institution giving approval of the proposal and accepting these regulations.

CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING: COURSES
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING: COURSES
MECHANICAL, AUTOMOTIVE, AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING: COURSES

CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING: PROGRAMS
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING: PROGRAMS
MECHANICAL, AUTOMOTIVE, AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING: PROGRAMS

GRADUATE STUDIES FACULTY REGULATIONS