Engineering Adds Ph.D. Option

John Ting, dean of the Francis College of Engineering, announced recently that the College can now grant Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees, as well as Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.) degrees.

The Ph.D. will be available in the following engineering options: chemical, civil and environmental, computer, electrical, energy, mechanical and plastics.

“While both programs have the same total number of credits required for thesis and coursework, the Ph.D. is a more recognized, traditional research degree,” says Ting. The Ph.D. requires all 42 credits to be in approved technical courses, while the D.Eng. requires nine of the course credits to be in approved management or other non-technical coursework. Also, industrial design-oriented theses should be done in a D.Eng. degree, subject to approval by the thesis advisor. 

The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education approved the request based on the professional accreditation of the UMass Lowell engineering programs by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), information regarding program need and demand, as well as the success of program graduates over the past two decades.
Students currently enrolled in the D.Eng. program may choose to switch to the Ph.D. program, if they will meet the technical course requirement.

“I’ve already signed several petitions for students who are switching from the doctoral to the Ph.D. degree, and who are planning on graduating this spring,” says Ting.

The change offers an administrative benefit, as well. The existing doctoral degrees are based in three departments, with options extending to the others. The new D.Eng. and Ph.D. programs streamline the process, with approved options for all seven engineering specialties.