Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Requirements

Admission Requirements

• You must meet the general admission requirements that pertain to all master’s degree candidates.
• Your prior education must include an undergraduate or graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related technical discipline from a regionally accredited college or university.
• Your prior education should include the following courses: three semesters of college calculus (Calculus I, II, and III), two semesters of college physics (Physics I and II), and a course or practical knowledge of a programming language (such as Python, MATLAB, or C++)
• Enrolled students typically have earned a grade point average of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale (B+ or above) of their undergraduate studies, though this is not a requirement for admission, nor is it a guarantee.
• Applicants whose prior education does not include the courses listed above may still enroll under provisional status, followed by full admission once they have completed the missing courses with a letter grade B– or higher. Missing courses may be completed with Johns Hopkins Engineering or, with approval, at another regionally accredited institution.
• When reviewing an application, your academic and professional background will be considered in its totality, and decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
• It is strongly advised that you submit a maximum of two page curriculum vitae listing your relevant professional background.

Program Requirements

Students can choose one of two options to fulfill their Master’s degree requirements: the “All-Course” option or the “Thesis” option. The requirements for both options are listed below.

• Students are required to choose a focus area to follow for both options.
• Courses from any of the 9 academic departments in the full-time program may be counted towards the technical elective requirement. Courses from the Mechanical Engineering full-time program (EN.530.XXX) may be substituted for a relevant Group 1 or Group 2 requirement with advisor approval. One computationally-oriented course is strongly recommended and can serve as a technical elective or as a substitute for one of the three courses required from Group 2 of the student’s chosen focus area.
• Only one C-range grade (C+, C, or C–) can count toward the master’s degree. All course selections outside of the Mechanical Engineering program are subject to advisor approval.

All-Course Option:

• Students completing the “all-course” option must take a coordinated sequence of ten courses. All courses must be completed within five years from the start of the student’s first class.
• The first course in the curriculum is a core mathematics course (3 credits), which is required for all students.
• The curriculum also consists of two core courses from Group 1 (6 credits) and three other courses from Group 1 or 2 of the student’s chosen focus area (9 credits), and four technical electives (12 credits). At least two of the four electives must be from a core engineering discipline in the list below, and at most two may be chosen from other programs.
  • Applied and Computational Mathematics
  • Applied Biomedical Engineering
  • Applied Physics
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Data Science
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Robotics and Autonomous Systems
• One of the four elective courses may be substituted for EN.535.820 Master’s Graduate Research.

Thesis Option:

• Students completing the “thesis” option must take a coordinated sequence of eight courses and prepare and submit a Master’s thesis. All requirements should be completed within five years.
• The first course in the curriculum is a core mathematics course (3 credits), which is required for all students.
• The curriculum also consists of two core courses from Group 1 (6 credits) and three courses from Group 1 or 2 of the student’s chosen focus area (9 credits), two technical electives (6 credits), and a thesis (6 credits). The thesis should expand the body of theoretical, experimental, computational, and/or applied knowledge in the field of the student’s chosen focus area.
• Students electing to pursue the thesis option must obtain prior written approval from both their academic advisor and the program chair and must work with an approved research advisor. The research advisor can be any current full-time faculty member at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University or a current instructor within Engineering for Professionals Mechanical Engineering program.
  • An electronic version of the master’s thesis should be delivered to the Milton S. Eisenhower (MSE) library after its approval by the thesis committee. The thesis committee consists of the thesis research advisor and one other member who is an expert in the research area of the thesis and is selected by the program chair.
  • The research work should generally start after the student finishes all the course requirements for their chosen focus area and should not take more than 3 consecutive semesters. While working on the thesis, students must enroll in the two-course sequence EN.535.820 Master’s Graduate Research and EN.535.821 Master’s Graduate Thesis, where the research advisor serves as the instructor for both.