NanoEngineering

The Department of NanoEngineering (NE) now offers the M.S. and Ph.D. degree in NanoEngineering with a new, unique curriculum centered on our strong research position in nano-biomedical engineering and nanomaterials synthesis and characterization activities. The NanoEngineering Graduate Program provides a course of study for both the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, with a focus on underlying scientific, technical and engineering challenges for advancing nanotechnology in the controlled synthesis of nanostructured materials, especially for biomedical, energy, and environmentally-related technologies. Our graduate degree program is uniquely designed to educate students with a highly interdisciplinary curriculum, focusing on core scientific fundamentals, but extending the application of that fundamental understanding to complex problems requiring the ability to integrate across traditional science and engineering boundaries. Specific courses in our core cluster address both the fundamental science and the integration of this science into engineering problem solving. Three main educational paths within the single degree title ‘NanoEngineering’ are proposed:

• Biomedical Nanotechnology
• Molecular and Nanomaterials
• Nanotechnologies for Energy and the Environment

The new NE curriculum has the following objectives:

• Prepare students for nanotechnology by providing them with a sound grounding in multidisciplinary areas of nanoscience and nanoscale engineering
• Increase students' understanding of materials and their properties at the atomic and nanometer level, including an understanding of the intimate relationship between material scale (nanostructure) and the properties/functionality of materials
• Prepare graduates who, while skilled in areas of nanoscience and nanoengineering, will be qualified for jobs in traditional science-based industries and government laboratories and, as the nanotechnologies emerge and mature, will be positioned for jobs in these applied areas. This program will be anticipating trends and providing students with integrated, cross-disciplinary scientific knowledge and professional skills
• Educate a new generation of engineers who can participate in, and indeed seed, new high-technology companies that will be the key to maintaining jobs, wealth and educational infrastructures as nanotechnology results in a new industrial revolution
• Enable the students to develop a range of professional, scientific and computational skills that will enhance employment opportunities in a wide range of industrial and governmental institutions
• Prepare students for the workplace through developing their ability to contribute constructively to multidisciplinary teams, learn team engineering principles and methods, to communicate both orally and in written form, and to be familiar with modern, computer-based communication technology. This will be achieved using non-traditional education techniques including group-based problem-based learning, flexible delivery and web-based interactive tutorials.

In NanoEngineering, we design and manufacture devices and systems that exploit the unique properties of nanoscale materials to create entirely new functionality and capabilities. Due to the scale of engineering involved, the field of NanoEngineering is inherently interdisciplinary that often utilizes biochemical processes to create nanoscale materials designed to interact with synthetic inorganic materials. The curriculum is built to address the educational needs of this new engineering field.

The Ph.D. Program is intended to prepare students for a variety of careers in research and teaching. The emphasis is on research. All students, in consultation with their advisors, develop appropriate course programs that will prepare them for the Preliminary Qualifying Examination and for their dissertation research. These programs must be planned to meet the time limits established to advance to candidacy and to complete the requirements of the degree. A Ph.D. in NanoEngineering requires the selection of a specific focus [Biomedical Nanotechnology, Molecular and Nanomaterials, or Nanotechnologies for Energy and the Environment], and consists of the successful completion of 10 courses: the 5 required core courses, 3 electives from the student’s selected focus, and 2 electives from any of the two remaining focuses, the ENG-10X courses (for team engineering, leadership, and entrepreneur skills) or from an approved list of electives from other departments across campus, with advisor’s consent. While only one degree title is offered, NanoEngineering’, the choice of a specific focus area is to ensure that the graduate student curriculum is both tailored to their interest and sufficiently in-depth to ensure a complete understanding of their field of interest.

After completing the M.S. degree (or meeting equivalent requirements) and meeting the minimum standard on the comprehensive examination to be admitted to or continue in the Ph.D. program, a student must:

1. Meet all the university’s residency and other requirements.
2. Successfully complete three advanced graduate courses (beyond those required for the M.S. degree), which have been approved by the student’s dissertation advisor.
3. Enroll in NANO 200, as required. See “Courses” for descriptions.
4. Pass the Literature Review Examination. This requirement must be successfully completed within one year after passing the Comprehensive Examination.
5. Pass the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination (Senate Exam) to be advanced to Ph.D. candidacy.
6. Successfully complete and defend a dissertation, which in the opinion of the dissertation committee, contains original work that should lead to publication of at least one significant article in an appropriate refereed journal.

In principle, it should be possible to finish the M.S. degree in three quarters, and a Ph.D. in an additional three years. Ph.D. time limits are as follows: Pre-candidacy—four years; Support limit—six years; Total time limit—seven years. (See “Graduate Studies– Ph.D. Time Limits” for further explanation.)

Departmental Examinations
All Ph.D. Students are required to pass four examinations. The first is a written Comprehensive Examination, which should be taken within three to four quarters of full-time graduate study. The second is a Literature Review Examination (detailed below). The third is the Ph.D. Senate Exam (often referred to as ‘Advancement to Candidacy Exam’). The last is the Dissertation Defense.

The Comprehensive Examination
The examination will consist of questions from each of the five-core courses. A passing grade is 60 percent for successful completion of the Master’s degree, and 70 percent for qualification to the Ph.D. program. The examination will not exceed six hours in duration. The examination is usually administered the week after spring-quarter finals’ week in June. Typically, students take the exam after one year of full-time enrollment. This exam may only be retaken once before the end of the second year of study.

The Literature Review Examination
The Literature Review Examination tests the student’s ability to prepare and present a comprehensive overview of a topic based on existing journal literature. It should be a comprehensive discussion of the literature, scientific theory, problems or theoretical deficiencies, and possible areas of research in some area related to nanoscience or nanoengineering. The topic may be in the general area in which the student plans to pursue his or her thesis research, or it may be in an unrelated field of NanoEngineering. The topic must be approved by the three faculty member committee in advance of the seminar. The Literature Review Examination will conclude with a short preliminary overview of the student’s research project or their research proposal. This exam must occur within one year of the student having passed the Comprehensive Examination.

The Ph.D. Senate Exam: Upon completion of formal course requirements, each student will be required to take a written and oral qualifying examination that will advance the student to candidacy in the Ph.D. Program. It is often known as the “Senate Exam” or “Advancement to Candidacy” exam. Prior to this examination, each student, in consultation with his or her faculty advisor, will establish a dissertation committee of five faculty members. The committee will include the student’s Ph.D. advisor as the Chair of the committee. The committee will consist of three faculty members who are affiliated with the NanoEngineering Department. At least two of the five-committee members must be from a department other than the committee chair’s department and at least one of these two must be tenured. The thesis advisor will have the major responsibility for the student’s research and dissertation.

At UCSD, the University “Candidacy/Senate” Examination is a requirement for a Graduate Student to complete satisfactorily, once a thesis project has been decided upon. It is strongly recommended, except in special circumstances, that the student complete this examination prior to the end of the first 3 years in the Program. The format for this examination is consistent with the highest standards held by UCSD. The Student should write a detailed Candidacy report in the format of an NIH, NSF, or similar grant proposal. The project and the report should be interdisciplinary and should have input from the thesis advisor. Any publications or supplementary material may be attached. It is expected that the student will meet at least annually with the Committee to update the members on his/her progress.

Dissertation Defense: This is the final Ph.D. examination. Upon completion of the dissertation research project, the candidate writes a dissertation that must be successfully defended in an oral examination and public presentation conducted by the doctoral committee. A complete copy of the student’s dissertation must be submitted to each member of the doctoral committee two weeks before the defense. It is understood that this copy of the dissertation given to committee members will not be the final copy, and that the committee members may request changes in the text at the time of the defense. This examination may not be conducted earlier than three quarters after the date of advancement to doctoral candidacy. Acceptance of the dissertation by the Office of Graduate Studies and the University Librarian represents the final step in completion of all requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

Teaching Experience: Prior to the dissertation defense, the candidate must serve at least once as a teaching assistant, with the responsibility to hold a problem-solving section one hour a week.

Annual Evaluation: In the spring of each year, the faculty advisor evaluates each doctoral student’s overall performance in course work, research, and prospects for financial support for future years. A written assessment is given to the student after the evaluation. If a student’s work is found to be inadequate, the faculty may determine that the student cannot continue in the graduate program.

Courses

• NANO 200: Graduate Seminar in NanoEngineering (1)
• NANO 201: Foundations of Nanoengineering I: Introduction to NanoEngineering (4)
• NANO 202: Intermolecular and Surface Forces (4)
• NANO 203: Nanoscale Synthesis & Characterization (4)
• NANO 204: Foundations of Nanoengineering II: Nanoscale Physics & Modeling (4)
• NANO 205: Nanosystems Integration (4)
• NANO 208: Nanofabrication (4)
• NANO 210: Molecular Modeling & Simulations of Nanoscale Systems (4)
• NANO 212: Computational Modeling of Nanosystems (4)
• NANO 227: Structure and Analysis of Solids (4)
• NANO 230: Synchotron Characterization of Nano-Materials (4)
• NANO 234: Advanced Nanoscale Fabrication (4)
• NANO 238: Scanning Probe Microscopy (4)
• NANO 239: Nanomanufacturing (4)
• NANO 240: Polymers (4)
• NANO 241: Organic Nanomaterials (4)
• NANO 242: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (4)
• NANO 243: Nanomedicine (4)
• NANO 244: Nanomachines and Nanorobots (4)
• NANO 245: Nanoelectronics (4)
• NANO 247A: Advanced Biophotonics (4)
• NANO 247B: BioElectronics (4)
• NANO 247C: Bionanotechnology (4)
• NANO 250: Mechanics of Nanomaterials (4)
• NANO 251A: Magnetic Materials: Principles and Applications (4)
• NANO 252: Biomaterials & Biomimetics (4)
• NANO 253: Nanomaterials and Properties (4)
• NANO 255: Electrochemistry (4)
• NANO 256: Microfluids (4)
• NANO 257: Polymer Science and Engineering (4)
• NANO 258: Nanoscale Transport Phenomenon (4)
• NANO 259: Heterogeneous Catalysis (4)
• NANO 260: Nanofabrication Reaction Engineering (4)
• NANO 261: Nanoscale Energy Technology (4)
• NANO 262: Nanosensors (4)
• NANO 263: Magnetic Nano-devices (4)
• NANO 264: Solid-State  and Nanochemistry (4)
• NANO 265: Thermodynamics of Solids (4)
• NANO 266: Quantum Mechanical Modeling of Materials and Nanostructures (4)
• NANO 279: Seminar in NanoEngineering (4)
• NANO 296: Independent Study in NanoEngineering (4)
• NANO 299: Graduate Research in NanoEngineering (1-12)

Requirements

Admission to the Chemical Engineering and NanoEngineering graduate programs are in accordance with the general requirements of the graduate division, which requires at least a B.S. in some branch of engineering, sciences, or mathematics; an overall GPA of 3.0; and three letters of recommendation from individuals who can attest to the academic or professional competence and to the depth of their interest in pursuing graduate study.

In addition, all applicants are required to submit GRE General Test Scores. A minimum score of 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required of all international applicants whose native language is not English. Students who score below 600 on the TOEFL are strongly encouraged to enroll in an English as a second language program before beginning graduate work. UCSD Extension offers an excellent English language program during the summers as well as the academic year.

Applicants are judged competitively. Based on the candidate's background, qualifications, and goals, admission to the program is in one of three categories: M.S. only, M.S., or Ph.D. Admission to the M.S. only category is reserved for students for whom the M.S. degree is likely to be the terminal graduate degree. The M.S. designation is reserved for students currently interested in obtaining an M.S. degree but who at a later time may wish to continue in the doctoral degree program. Admission to the Ph.D. Program is reserved for qualified students whose final aim is a doctoral degree. 

Scholarships

• Global Education
• Different Fellowships and Traineeships