Master of Engineering

A Master of Engineering (Magister in Ingeniaria), often abbreviated M.Eng (or MEng), can be either an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the M.Eng 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 or four year courses in engineering, leading to a B.Sc. or B.Eng, and a M.Eng respectively.

Some universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, offer only the four year M.Eng, although even these make provision for leaving at the end of the third year. For those who leave after three years or fail the fourth year, a B.A. is awarded. An exception to this rule is made by Imperial College London, where only an M.Eng is offered.

The Engineering Council Postgraduate Diploma is set at the final year of a British MEng.

Structure

In terms of course structure, M.Eng 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 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 allow progression to the final year. At some universities, the structure of the final year is rather different to that of the first three, for example, at the University of York, the final year for the Computer Systems and Software program 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.

History

At some universities in the U.K. in the early 1980s, the M.Eng 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 M.Eng although, as with many postgraduate master's degrees, the project would extend over a longer period. M.Eng 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 U.K. There was a feeling among recent graduates, the engineering institutions, employers and universities, that the longer and more in-depth study offered on the continent needed to be made available to U.K. students as well. Since to obtain a taught master's degree in the U.K. typically took an additional year beyond a bachelor's degree, it was decided that this extra year would be integrated into the undergraduate program and, instead of pursuing both a bachelor's and master's degree, students would proceed directly to a master's degree.

Since its introduction, the M.Eng 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 B.Eng/B.Sc. route where that is available. Most of the engineering institutions have now made an M.Eng 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 M.Eng.

Other undergraduate masters

The M.Eng is one of a number of 'new' undergraduate masters' degrees recently introduced in the UK; they are also commonly available in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology.

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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 examination 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. Both degrees generally lead to doctoral studies in engineering or other related areas.

Germany

In Germany, 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 (M.Sc. and M.Eng).

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 (Universities of Applied Sciences) and is typically a two-year program with application-oriented coursework and an applied research thesis.

Australia

In Australia, the Master of Engineering degree is a research degree requiring completion of a thesis. Like the Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.), it is considered a lesser degree than Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). It is not to be confused with Master of Engineering Science or Master of Engineering Studies which are coursework master's degrees. An exception is Monash University which awards a Master of Engineering Science by either research or coursework.

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".

India

A postgraduate program in engineering or technology generally leads to either the Master of Engineering (M.Eng) or Master of Technology (M.Tech.) degree, and is used to specialize within an engineering branch or field. In electrical engineering, for example, areas of specialization might include: power systems, electrical machines, instrumentation and control, high voltage or power electronics. Admission typically requires that the candidate must have also obtained a B.E. or B.Tech. degree in engineering or technology. Currently, the duration of the M.E. or M.Tech course is two years (four semesters), however, it has previously been offered in one and one-half years (three semesters). AICTE, the technical education body of India, opted to increase the duration of the course to give practical exposure in the industry and more research orientation.

Korea

In South Korea, the master of engineering (공학석사), which takes a minimum of two years, is a postgraduate program that follows the undergraduate of four years. It is commonly awarded for specializations in the field of engineering rather than the science. For example, the degree "master of science in computer science" differs from the degree "master of engineering in computer science" in that the later one is mainly concentrated on the applicability of the design with strong relation with the hardware rather than the software. Generally, the master of engineering program includes both coursework and research.

Rankings of MENG Programs in the United States

Global Rankings by the US and News World Report:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University (CA)
University of California–Berkeley
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign
Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
California Institute of Technology
University of Southern California (Viterbi)
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Cornell University (NY)

Computer Engineering (U.S. News):

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University (CA)
University of California–Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
University of Texas–Austin
Cornell University (NY)
University of Washington
Princeton University (NJ)
Purdue University–West Lafayette (IN)
University of Wisconsin–Madison
California Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Southern California
University of California–Los Angeles
Rice University (TX)
University of California–San Diego
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY)
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities
Johns Hopkins University (MD)