MechE Quals Information Session
May 7, 2003
GAME was host for an information session covering the MechE Qualifier Exams. In addition to the Head of the Department, Prof Rohan Abeyaratne, and the MechE Graduate Officer, Prof Ain Sonin, several other faculty members attended to present information about the exams as well as answer students' questions.
What follows is a summary of the information session. This summer, the department promises to create their own informational web page regarding the Qualifier Exams, but until then, this page will serve that purpose.
General Information (Sonin)
- The exams are offered twice per year, January & May
- Approximately 25-30 students take the exams at one time
- PhD students must take them for the first time no later than after their third semester at MIT
- Four exams, 20 points each (14 = pass), total of 80 points
- Student chooses 3 subject areas out of a possible 10
- Thesis exam covering student's current or past research
- Exams are graded by the faculty that are associated with a particular exam's content area
Results Meeting (Sonin)
- Following the completion of the exams, all MechE faculty as well as faculty supervising students who are taking the exam are invited to attend the results meeting in 3-270
- All students are listed in rank order based on total exam score
- Each student's "file", which includes their complete transcript as well as photo, is available
- Each student is discussed starting at the student ranked number one; discussion becomes "heavier" as they progress down the list
- All faculty participate in the discussion; no single faculty member can drag a student down
Passing/Failing (Sonin)
- Failing is defined as either being allowed to repeat the exams (which a student may be offered only once) or being told to leave
- 30% fail the first time they take the exam
- 90% eventually pass, this is averaged over "decades", but is also consistent over smaller time periods
- If a student fails, they may learn their scores from all the exams
- On a case by case basis, faculty determine which tests a failing student must retake
- Passing students are not allowed to learn their scores in order to discourage competition
Section Exam Summaries
- Dynamics (Akylas)
- Written exam: One hour closed book
- Oral exam: 20 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes of questioning by faculty
- Final grade is an average of the performance on the written and oral sections
- Content is based on 2.032, but this does NOT mean content outside of 2.032 will not be covered
- Lagrangian approach to dynamics
- Also covers momentum principles
- Oral exam tests how well you understand the physics
- Written exam may have some algebra, emphasis on setting up the problem
- Used to be part of the broader "Applied Mechanics" exam
- Heat Transfer (Mikic)
- Written exam: One hour open book, and
- Oral exam: 20 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes of questioning by faculty
- Written problems are close ended
- Oral problems are open ended
- Courses covered: 2.51, 2.52, 2.55, 2.56
- Solid Mechanics (Parks)
- Oral exam: 45 minutes to prepare, 45 minutes of questioning by faculty
- Three questions, each prepared by a different faculty member
- Courses covered: 2.071, 2.001, 2.002
- January 2003 was the first time this was offered as an exam, previously
was covered as parts of "Applied Mechanics" and "Materials"
exams
- Fluid Mechanics (Sonin)
- Written & oral exam combined: One hour to read problem and write solution, 10 minute break, 30 minutes of questioning by faculty
- Allowed certain number of pages of notes
- Can ask faculty for specific equations
- Problem is selected by entire Fluid Mechanics faculty
- Content is based on 2.25
- Incompressible fluid mechanics, Navier-Stokes, viscous flows,
surface tension
- Design (Frey)
- Written exam: one hour, closed book (?)
- Oral exam, focuses on creativity
- Content is pulled from 2.007, 2.008, 2.009, 2.672, 2.75, 2.739J,
and 2.744
- Thermodynamics (Heywood)
- Written exam: One hour closed book
- Oral exam: 20 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes of questioning by faculty
- Oral exam is deliberately "too long", student is graded on how well they understood the problem
- A good undergraduate thermodynamics course covers the content,
however, most students take 2.42
- Manufacturing (Hardt)
- Written exam: One hour, closed or open book (varies by year)
- Oral exam: 20 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes of questioning by faculty
- Content covered in 2.810
- Basic understanding of manufacturing processes
- Flow of material through a factory
- Written exam is a bit quantitative, requires basic calculations
- Oral exam is open ended
- Controls (Hardt for Rowell)
- Written exam
- Oral exam
- Classical control theory as presented in 2.003, 2.004, and 2.14
- Lumped parameter modeling, 1D dynamics
- Material covered in first half of 2.151 may be useful
- Optics (Barbastathis)
- Written exam: closed book
- Oral exam: 40 minute presentation with questions from faculty
- Student is given a paper one week before the exam, each student gets a different paper, student reads literature and creates an oral presentation
- Content from 2.71/2.710
- Biomedical Engineering (Grodzinsky for So)
- Paper given out for written and oral exams (similar to Optics exam)
- Content from 2.795 & 2.798
