MSCV Program Details
Program Supervision
All students (thesis or project option) must select a supervisory committee. The supervisory committee must contain at least three members. The supervisory committee will review and approve the student's plan of study. The chair of the committee and at least one of the other members must be chosen from the department faculty. The third member may be chosen from the department faculty or from outside the department in accordance with the University guidelines established in the Graduate Governance document. The third member may be a professional from the practicing engineering community. All members of the committee should have doctoral degrees.
Plan of Study
A Plan of Study is a set of courses and thesis research, or project activity, (depending on the option chosen) that is completed in a sequence that meets the needs and interests of the individual student, and the degree requirements and other stipulations of the university, the college and the department. There is no requirement for master's students to be full-time, nor is there an on-campus service requirement. The Plan of Study must be approved by the student's supervisory committee and the department no later than the end of the student's first semester in the program, regardless of the number of credits earned. After this time, modifications must be approved by the supervisory committee.
The Thesis
The master's thesis is a comprehensive original work that contributes to the understanding of an engineering problem. The thesis is presented at an oral defense, the time and date of which must be approved by the supervisory committee. A minimum of two weeks prior to the anticipated defense, the written thesis must be delivered to the supervisory committee in the format described in the Requirements and Guidelines for Graduate Theses and Dissertations, that is available from the FAU Graduate College
The supervisory committee determines the format of the defense and, in private consultation at the completion of the oral defense, whether or not the defense was successful and the thesis is acceptable in scope and quality.
Students are expected to provide updates on their progress each semester, both written and oral. A progress report is required to record a satisfactory progress grade for thesis credits (CGN6971). It is expected that, at a minimum, one peer-reviewed paper will be submitted as part of the thesis option. At a minimum, one presentation or poster at a conference is also expected.
The Practice-Oriented Project
The practice-oriented project applies concepts and methodologies to the solution of a real engineering problem. The project may be job-related but must not significantly reproduce a job-related product. The supervisory committee must approve the project topic and scope.
A project defense is to be presented before the supervisory committee at a time and place approved by the committee. A minimum of two weeks prior to the anticipated meeting, the written project report must be delivered to the supervisory committee members. The supervisory committee determines, in private consultation at the completion of the presentation, whether or not the project and the report are acceptable in scope and quality.