Master of Engineering
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) can be either an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering.
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[edit] United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the MEng is an undergraduate award, available after pursuing a four or five year course of study. These are taught courses, with only a small research element in the final year, and are not available as postgraduate qualifications in most cases. Most British universities offer both the traditional three year or four courses in engineering, leading to a BSc or BEng, and MEng respectively.
Some universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, offer only the four year MEng, although even these make provision for leaving at the end of the 3rd year. For those who leave after 3 years or fail the fourth year, a BA is awarded.
[edit] Structure
In terms of course structure, MEng degrees usually follow the pattern familiar from bachelor's degrees with lectures, laboratory work, coursework and exams each year. There is usually a substantial project to be completed in the fourth-year which may well have a research element to it, and a more teaching-based project to be completed in the third year. At the end of the third year, there is usually a threshold of academic performance in examinations to be reached to allow progression into the final year. At some universities, the structure of the final year is rather different to that of the first three - for example at York the Computer Systems and Software M.Eng final year consists entirely of project work and intensive advanced seminar courses rather than traditional lectures and problem classes. Final results are, in most cases, awarded on the standard British undergraduate degree classification scale, although some universities award something structurally similar to 'Distinction', 'Merit', 'Pass' or 'Fail' as this is often the way that taught postgraduate master's degrees are classified.
[edit] History
At some universities in the UK in the early 1980s, the MEng was awarded as a taught postgraduate degree after 12 months of study. Its entry requirements would typically be like those for other taught postgraduate courses, including holding an undergraduate degree, and its format would be similar to the modern MEng although, as with many postgraduate Master's degrees, the project would extend over a longer period. MEng courses in their modern, undergraduate form were introduced in the mid-1980s in response to growing competition from technical-degree graduates from continental Europe, where degree courses are often longer than the usual three years in the UK. There was a feeling among recent graduates, the engineering institutions, employers and universities that the longer and deeper study offered on the continent needed to be made available to UK students too. Since to obtain a taught Master's degree in the UK typically already took an additional year after a bachelor's degree, it was decided that this extra year would be made a formal part of the undergraduate course and, instead of taking both bachelor's and master's degrees, students would proceed to become Masters in a single step of four years.
Since its introduction, the MEng has become the degree of choice for most undergraduate engineers as was intended. The most common exception to this is international students who, because of the substantially higher fees they are charged, sometimes opt to take the tradition BEng/BSc route where that is available. Most of the engineering institutions have now made an MEng the minimum academic standard necessary to become a Chartered Engineer. Graduates who graduated before the changes in the rules will still be allowed to use their bachelor's degree for this purpose and those who have earned a bachelor's degree since the changes can usually take some additional courses (known as 'matching sections') over time to reach an equivalent standard to the MEng.
[edit] Other undergraduate masters
The MEng is one of a number of 'new' undergraduate master's degrees recently introduced in the UK; they are also commonly available in mathematics (MMath), physics (MPhys), chemistry (MChem) and biology (MBio or MBiol) as well as other subjects. A more comprehensive list may be found on the Wikipedia page for British degree abbreviations.
[edit] United States and Canada
In the United States, the Master of Engineering degree is generally a Professional degree offered as a coursework-based alternative to the traditional research-based Master of Science. It is typically a two-year program, and many universities allow students to choose between the Master of Engineering and the Master of Science.
However, in the mid-1980s at least one engineering school, the University of Washington in Seattle, offered a Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) degree with the following 1984-86 General Catalog description: "The Master of Engineering program is intended to provide course work and research beyond that for the degree of Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics. The student must complete an approved program of study and research, which usually consists of a prior Master of Science degree, followed by a minimum 30 credits of course work and a 9-credit thesis." The University no longer offers this M.Eng. degree program. Instead, it now has two programs essentially similar to the description in the paragraph above.
In Canada, the Master of Engineering degree is a graduate degree of typically two years length that involves coursework and a thesis or research paper of significant depth. Some Canadian universities offer a Master of Engineering or Master of Applied Science in engineering or both. Master of Engineering degrees usually require more coursework and less research, whereas Master of Applied Science degrees require less coursework and more research. However, this is not absolute since some universities only offer a Master of Engineering and some only offer a Master of Applied Science.
[edit] Germany
In Germany, the country of origin of the European engineer's degrees, the local engineer's degree (Diplomingenieur, a first degree after 5 years of study) will be abolished by 2010, and will be replaced by postgraduate master's degrees (MSc and MEng).
The first Master of Engineering courses were introduced in Germany in 2000. This type of master's degree is in most cases offered by German Fachhochschulen (Polytechnics). Unlike the Master of Engineering degree in the United States, the German Master of Engineering, like the Canadian Master of Engineering degree is not regarded as a terminal degree. It is typically a two-year program with applied oriented coursework and an applied research thesis.
[edit] Australia
In Australia, the Master of Engineering degree is a research degree requiring completion of a thesis. Like Master of Philosophy (MPhil) it is a lesser degree than Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). This is not to be confused with Master of Engineering Science or Master of Engineering Studies which are coursework master degrees.
The entry requirement is completion of a Bachelor's Degree at or above the second class honours level. Some universities do not offer direct enrolment into Doctor of Philosophy and students must first enrol in a lesser research degree before "upgrading".
[edit] India ( Bharat )
The post graduation course in engineering or technology leads to M.E. (Master of Engineering) or MTech (Master of Technology) degrees in India. The minimum requirement for admission to this is that candidate must have obtained a B.E. or BTech degree in engineering or technology. The duration of the M.E. or MTech course is two years or four semesters. Previously it was one and half years (three semesters). The duration of the course has been increased to give practical exposure in the industry and more research orientation, as decided by technical education body of India namely AICTE .
The M.E or MTech degree will be a specialisation within an engineering branch or field. For example, the following specialisations are offered in Electrical Engineering branch or field: Power systems, Electrical Machines, Instrumentation and Control, High Voltage, Power Electronics.
[edit] See also
- British degree abbreviations
- Bachelor's degree
- Engineer's degree
- Engineering Doctorate
- Master's degree
- Bachelor of Engineering( B.E )
- AICTE website
- VTU website
