Engineering Technology

Master's Degree Program

Opportunities for graduate studies

The engineering systems master's program at the University of North Texas is the largest program of its kind in Texas and one of the emerging programs in the country. Most courses are taught at night, some include labs and others employ distance education methods. Additional online courses are being developed.

As a student in the Department of Engineering Technology, you will learn with state-of-the-art equipment in laboratories covering areas of vital importance to the industrial and business communities. Educational opportunities are available to develop highly marketable skills in modern basic and applied engineering through close interactions with faculty and representatives of regional industries and businesses.

The department's mission is to provide excellence in research, teaching and service relative to the technical concentrations of mechanical, electronic, manufacturing, nuclear and construction. The faculty is committed to exceeding the need for advanced education, training and applied research.

This program is dedicated to meeting the increasing demand for advanced training and research in the engineering systems spectrum. The course work prepares you as a highly qualified and adaptable professional who can design, develop, build and manage modern technological systems.

M.S. degree

You may pursue a master of science degree with a major in engineering systems and concentrations in electronics, mechanical or construction management with a thesis or non-thesis option.

If your concentration is in electronics, your technical background will be enhanced through advanced study in a number of areas including telecommunications, process controls, instrumentation and sensor systems. Mechanical emphasizes automation, contemporary materials, quality assurance, research and development, component/product, and process design as well as instrumentation design. Construction management includes scheduling, risk management, building information modeling (BIM) and dispute avoidance.

M.S. /M.B.A. dual degree

The dual-track master's degree program offers an M.B.A. and an M.S. with a major in engineering systems. If you have an undergraduate degree in business and choose the dual-track master's program, you will be able to better comprehend how business decisions affect other divisions of the corporate organization. If you have an undergraduate degree in engineering or engineering technology or another technical field of study, you will develop an understanding of the business side of corporations.

Admission requirements

In addition to the following program requirements, you must meet the admission requirements of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies. For requirements and possible exceptions, access the graduate catalog online at www.unt.edu/catalog.

Program requirements include submitted GRE scores. If you graduate from a program accredited by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Inc. (111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, Md. 21202, 410-347-7700), GRE scores are not required. If you do not have the equivalent of an undergraduate major in engineering or engineering technology at UNT, including appropriate physics, chemistry and calculus courses, the time required for your degree completion could be longer than average.

Degree requirements

Your program is planned under the direction of a chosen major professor/advisor during your first semester of graduate study. When the degree plan is approved by the graduate dean, you will be admitted to candidacy.

The 30-semester-hour thesis option consists of 6 semester hours of thesis credit and 24 semester hours of graduate course work. As a candidate for the M.S. in engineering systems under the thesis option, you will select and develop the topic and design of a thesis in consultation with your graduate advisory committee and follow the manuscript form prescribed by UNT. This option concludes with a thesis defense.

The 33-semester-hour non-thesis option includes a 3 semester-hour project-in-lieu-of-thesis and 30 semester hours of graduate course work.

Research and facilities

Research in the Department of Engineering Technology focuses on technological systems and processes with specific industrial applications. Thesis research develops the problem-solving skills needed to transfer theoretical knowledge from the laboratory to the industrial sector. This strong connection between education and application reflects UNT's focus as a student-centered, public research university.

Research themes in mechanical include product design and development, quality assurance, composite materials, materials testing, production planning and management, green manufacturing processes, computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing, computer numerical control, part programming, electromechanical design, robotics, and computer-integrated manufacturing.

The principal research themes in electronics include hardware and software interfacing, data acquisition and analysis, computer-aided software engineering, local area networks, digital signal processing, real-time control systems, distributed control systems, radio frequency communication systems, and solar energy research. Also of interest are international projects involving the transfer of electronics technology to the academic and industrial sectors.

Construction management research includes sustainability, robotics, thin-walled cold-formed steel structures, structural stability and computational mechanics.

Current support for research projects in the department comes from many sources including Alcatel, Altera Corp., American Cancer Society, American Society for Engineering Education, Civilian Research and Development Foundation, EDS Inc., Motorola, National Science Foundation, Nuconsteel, Office of Naval Research, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Society of Plastics Engineers, Texas Advanced Research Program, Texas Education Agency, TXU and U.S. Air Force.

The Department of Engineering Technology resides in UNT's Discovery Park, UNT’s approximately 290-acre research facility. Laboratories supporting each area of emphasis have been upgraded with the addition of new computers, software, and equipment and instrumentation. Laboratory equipment in other departments is available to support thesis research.