GRADUATE STUDIES A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY For half a century bright, young students have come from around the globe to earn a graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta. Besides their degrees, they have left with unlimited opportunities to challenge the world, and many have gone on to become world leaders in industry and academia. Come and discover these opportunities for yourself.
CHAIR’S MESSAGE YOUR WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY AWAITS IN CANADA While growing up in Canada – from a small boy to a young adult – I admit, I took a lot for granted… wide open spaces, majestic mountain ranges, four amazing changes of seasons, abundant natural resources awaiting discovery and development, and people from all over the world. It wasn’t until I began travelling the world and getting to know people with different backgrounds that I realized how much Canada had to offer. Through their eyes, I began to see this country for all that it is, and continues to be, as truly a place for opportunity. To this day, I appreciate every opportunity and experience living here has afforded me and my family. As Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Alberta for over five years, I have seen first-hand how successful our students have become and how valuable their studies in our graduate programs have helped “Move Their Life Forward”. As I invite you to consider graduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta, in the heart of Western Canada, I sincerely hope to provide you with the vast and diverse opportunities that I, and many others, have experienced. I encourage you to review this brochure and consider graduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta as the starting point for discovering the wealth of opportunities that await you. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely,
Dr. Larry Kostiuk, P.Eng. Professor and Chair Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Alberta, Canada
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING MOVING LIFE FORWARD The Department Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta is one of the leading research-intensive institutions in the world, whose reputation for the highest quality graduate program continuous to grow. Confidence in our stature arises from our proactive approach to seek regular external reviews from the best engineering academics in the world to gauge our performance in terms of quality of students, infrastructure and facilities, funding, publication rates and quality of publications. Through these compare-and-contrast activities we are leaders in the strategic areas of energy, micro and nano-technologies, reliability and asset management, biomedical and bio-mechanics, advanced materials, robotics and autonomous vehicles, and engineering management.
BIO-MEDICAL & BIO-MECHANICS In recent years Mechanical Engineering has been making a substantial impact on bio-inspired problems relating to human health-care by the application of our classical engineering skills to this new class of problems. Within our Department there are several research programs in this area, including the fluid mechanics of the respiratory system as a means to deliver dose-specific drugs for vaccination, cancer treatment, asthma control, knee and hip replacements, development of sensors for health monitoring, the kinematics of sports, robotics for rehabilitation medicine, dental appliances and dental implants, and modification of the rheology of mucus to avoid the spread of infectious deceases.
ENERGY
ADVANCED MATERIALS
The field of energy studies is highly diverse and profoundly important in our modern world. Our program embraces the study of energy across the spectrum of understanding its various sources, conversion processes and end use, as well as considering the environmental impact, conservation and efficiency strategies, and economic factors. Energy sources considered include conventional, sustainable and renewable systems. Work in this area invariably involves developing an advanced understanding of heat and mass transfer, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics.
Some of the major advancements that have occurred in engineering over the last few decades have resulted from access to new advanced materials that have customized functionality for specific applications. Within the Department, advanced materials research groups are well known for their breadth of work from theoretical mechanics to highly applied contributions to industry. Work is being done on smart materials, shape-memory alloys, polymers, nano-composites, thermal spray coatings, and composite structures.
MICRO- & NANO-TECHNOLOGIES
ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
The topic of micro- and nano-technology is highly interdisciplinary and the Department of Mechanical Engineering has strong affiliations with Canada’s premier facilities. For these small scale problems, we have access through connected walkways to the National Institute for Nanotechnologies and the University of Alberta’s Nanofabrication facility. The problems being worked on include functionalizing surfaces and interfaces at the molecular scale to create unique properties for hardness or chemical reactivity, sensor development, power generation and storage, environmental management of colloids, as well as advancing our basic understanding of physics.
The Department of Mechanical Engineering is unique in having a program that recognizes the importance of fully integrating the technical, economical and managerial aspects of engineering in order to effectively solve problems. Specializations within this area include renewable and alternative energy commercialization, quality management, supply chain management and project management.
ROBOTICS & AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
RELIABILITY & ASSET MANAGEMENT
The use of robotics has become common in most industrialized societies; however, it is just being introduced in other fields such as health-care. Similar technology is also applied to autonomous systems where the tasks being undertaken require local decisions to be made and acted upon. Within the Department of Mechanical Engineering there are research groups working in clinical situations to introduce robots to rehabilitation medicine to aid physical therapists. Other groups use autonomous helicopters for inspection and data collection from structural systems while additional projects involve a multitude of autonomous vehicles working together to achieve a desired goal.
Once an engineered system is commissioned and working effectively, the major engineering challenge is to focus on keeping the system operating reliably, producing quality products with little downtime, and maintaining the value of the facility. Research in this area is focused on condition monitoring and fault diagnostics, prognostics to predict the remaining life of components and systems, and providing managers with decision support models and software to optimize maintenance of the complex systems.
DEGREE PROGRAMS Thesis Based
Course Based
Mechanical Engineering
PhD and MSc
MEng
Engineering Management
PhD and MSc
MEng
HOW TO APPLY Application for admission to the graduate programs in Mechanical Engineering is a two-stage process. The first stage requires submitting a Preliminary Application, which is available at www.engineering.ualberta.ca/mece/prospect.cfm. This stage of the process is used to determine if admission requirements are met and serves as a tool for securing potential supervisors for prospective students in thesis-based programs. No official documents are required for this first stage and there is no application fee for our Preliminary Application. For international students the Preliminary Application form should only be completed AFTER you have taken TOEFL, IELTS or MELAB tests and you have an acceptable result. Details of English Language Proficiency are available at www.gradstudies.ualberta.ca/applyadmission/elp.htm. International students can expect the full application process to take up to four months. We recommend you apply early in order to avoid disappointment and to meet external and internal deadlines such as application for your study permit.
DEPARTMENT APPLICATION DEADLINE
Fall (Sept) Entry Winter (Jan) Entry
Canadian
International
June 30
March 15 - China/Nigeria May 15 - Other
October 30
July 15 - China/Nigeria Sept 15 - Other
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS Details at www.gradstudies.ualberta.ca/applyadmission/admissionrequirements.htm
TUITION AND FEES
WHICH GRADUATE STUDY OPPORTUNITY WILL WORK FOR YOU?
Details at www.gradstudies.ualberta.ca/regfees/fees/calculate.htm
FUNDING Financial support is available for thesis-based students (i.e., MSc and PhD) in the form of teaching and research assistantships. There is no financial support for students in the MEng programs.
MORE ABOUT US... CANADA - www.canada.travel As the second largest country in the world (10 million square kilometers) that spans six time zones and has a population of only 33 million Canada has the room to grow in many, many ways. Canada offers opportunity: economic, educational, professional and lifestyle.
PROVINCE OF ALBERTA - www.travelalberta.com As a province within Canada, Alberta boasts some of the world’s most beautiful natural surroundings. Bordered by the Rocky Mountains, Alberta is abundant in its stores of energy including significant conventional crude oil and natural gas reserves, coal, and oil sands. In fact, the hydrocarbons in the northern oil reserves in oil sands rival those of Saudi Arabia. At a production rate of 3 million barrels per day these reserves will last 400 years.
CITY OF EDMONTON - www.edmonton.ca Alberta’s capital is the City of Edmonton – home to one of the largest stretches of urban parkland in North America. With over 30 different festivals yearly, celebrating music, food, culture, sports, theatre and more, we are known as Canada’s Festival City! From our historic galleries, huge shopping malls, and over 1600 restaurants, Edmonton always has something for everyone.
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA - www.ualberta.ca Within Edmonton and located on the shores of the Northern Saskatchewan River, which flows out of the Eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, is the University of Alberta. Our University is one of the largest and most research intensive institutions in Canada. Celebrating 100 years of academic achievements, this year’s enrolment is over 36,000 students that come from over 100 different countries and participate in one of our 200 undergraduate or 170 graduate programs.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING - www.engineering.ualberta.ca The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta has some of the newest and finest facilities to be found anywhere, and its enrolment places it in the top 5% of engineering schools on the North American continent.
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING The Department of Mechanical Engineering is home to over 600 undergraduate students, 200 graduate students and 40 professors. Within our walls, we boast a modern, well equipped Applied Learning Laboratory (machine shop), state of the art laboratories, and facilities in computing, thermosciences and applied mechanics. Our priority is providing a first-class graduate education while remaining committed to conducting leading research. With a graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta, Canada, you’ll be ready to move your world forward.
MOVE YOUR LIFE FORWARD CONTACT US TODAY Mechanical Engineering University of Alberta 4-9 Mechanical Engineering Building Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G8
Telephone: 1.780.492.3598 Facsimile: 1.780.492.2200 Email: mechanicalengineering@ualberta.ca Website: www.engineering.ualberta.ca/mece