Interdisciplinary Program in Engineering Science (Graduate Program)

Program Overview

The Donald W. Clayton Graduate Program in Engineering Science allows students to pursue graduate study and research in interdisciplinary areas that cross two or more disciplines in different departments or in program areas not currently associated with an existing department.

The interdisciplinary program spans the fields of engineering, science, business, and even law. In principle, a program in study in almost any imaginable concentration area in engineering can be designed. In practice, many students have developed programs in one of four concentration areas: materials science and engineering, environmental and technological hazards engineering, information technology and engineering, and construction management.   

The concentration area in materials science and engineering involves coursework in mechanical, electrical, chemical and civil engineering, computer science, chemistry, and physics. The environmental and technological hazards engineering concentration area has components primarily from chemical and civil engineering, and environmental science, and secondarily from industrial, biological, and petroleum engineering, chemistry, business and sometimes law. The information technology and engineering concentration area encompasses the disciplines of industrial, electrical and mechanical engineering, and computer science, information systems and decision science, library information systems, and others.

The Ph.D. in Engineering Science with a concentration in construction management includes research in several major areas: advanced material and sustainability, building science for disaster-resistant communities, built environment informatics, capital facility management, and interdisciplinary research in construction.

Students in the Donald W. Clayton Graduate Program in Engineering Science are required to submit a plan of study and an abstract summarizing their research and showing the interdisciplinary nature of the work by the end of their first semester. Students should also follow their major concentration area of study guidelines for any additional requirements, i.e., if the major concentration area of study requires a qualifier exam, then the students are required to follow this requirement).

Degrees awarded through this program do not provide a direct route to professional engineering registration and practice. Students with degrees in a pure or applied science, who are considering registration as professional engineers, are advised to consider pursuing a second baccalaureate degree in engineering.

Program Administration

Admission and Financial Assistance

Applications and supporting materials for all graduate study must be submitted through the online application site for the LSU Graduate School. Official transcripts, official test scores, and other materials that come from third-party sources must be mailed to: LSU Office of Graduate Admissions, 114 West David Boyd Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. These paper documents are stored electronically and departments have access to all materials submitted by and/or on behalf of a student applying to graduate study.

Admission is open to students without baccalaureate engineering degrees. Students wishing to work toward a degree through the Donald W. Clayton Graduate Program in Engineering Science should contact an appropriate faculty advisor in the college before applying for admission. “Engineering Science” should be indicated as the proposed field of study.

Limited research assistantships may be available to qualified students in the PhD program on a competitive basis directly through the Donald W. Clayton Program in Engineering Science. MS program students seeking financial assistance should pursue support through their faculty advisors.

Graduate Faculty

(check current faculty listings by department here)

The Donald W. Clayton Graduate Program in Engineering Science is interdisciplinary. It encompasses the graduate faculty across all departments within the College of Engineering.

Degree Programs

The interdisciplinary degrees of MS in Engineering Science (MES) and PhD in Engineering Science (PES) are offered. The MS program requires emphasis in at least two areas of study not available within a single department; the PhD requires at least two sub-areas of specialization within one or more academic departments, in addition to the major concentration area of study. Students in both the MES and PES programs are required to submit a plan of study and an abstract summarizing their research and showing the interdisciplinary nature of the work by the end of their first semester. Students should also follow their major concentration area of study guidelines for any additional requirements, i.e., if the major concentration area of study requires a qualifier exam, then the students are required to follow this requirement).

Programs

• Engineering Science, M.S.E.S.

• Engineering Science, Ph.D.