August 24, 2005 (Last update: April 3, 1996)

Objectives

This Departmental Honors is directed towards students who are interested in challenging themselves to go beyond the requirements for graduation in the three majors of Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Engineering Management with Technical Specialty in Manufacturing Engineering. Challenging means that the student will design and conduct a significant independent project under the supervision of a faculty member during the student's junior and senior years of study at Miami. Examples of possible projects are presented below and the student is encouraged to discuss alternatives with his or her faculty advisor of choice. The goal is not only for the student to graduate with the distinction of "Departmental Honors," but also to show how he or she is becoming a true learner: one who learns how to learn on his or her own.

Requirements for Admission to the Program

The following requirements are necessary to admit a student to this program:

• A minimum of 3.5 GPA overall
• Completion of the first two years of the three MME majors' curricula including all pre- and co-requisites.
• Agreement from an MME faculty member to sponsor the student's project. Generally, the student would seek this sponsorship during the first semester of the junior year in anticipation of carrying out the program during the final three semesters prior to graduation.

Examples of Possible Projects

Although the department's senior capstone is similar in spirit to the suggested projects, these honors projects may or may not have any design content. For example, a student may decide to apply specific software for analyzing manufacturing processes without utilizing the engineering design method and without a specific open-ended problem in mind. In addition, the capstone course sequence involves projects performed on a team basis rather than an individual.

• Participating in and completing the University's Summer Scholars Program for Undergraduates
• Participating in and completing the University's Urban Summer Intern Project sponsored by the Honors Program at Miami
• Conducting a project as part of the student's summer intern or co-op experiences
• Conducting a project as part of a service to the community
• Others?

Requirements for Completion of Departmental Honors Project

1. Development of a written plan for completing the project (even if the project will be completed as part of an intern or co-op activity). This plan should be approved by the sponsoring faculty member and the department faculty, and it should include the following:

• Statement of the project goals
• Statement of the approach to be used in achieving the goal including a reading list
• Description of the tangible product expected at the completion of the project
• (Note: students should enroll in the independent honors course, MME 480, with 2-4 credit hours, depending on their selected option, see above). These courses do not satisfy the MME elective requirements and may not be substituted for any course in the MFG, MCH or EGM curriculum.

2. Completion of the requirements specified in the written plan.

3. Completion of a well written technical report summarizing the project and results. This report must be submitted to the sponsoring faculty member for approval at least a month prior to graduation to allow time to correct an unacceptable report.

4. The student is urged to publish her or his work in a professional publication with the help of their advisor. The published work must be submitted and approved prior to graduation. Also, the student is encouraged to share his work in a seminar format with the faculty and students.

Requirements for Graduation with Departmental Honors

1. Complete all graduation requirements for the department, division and university.
2. Maintain an overall GPA of 3.5 and a departmental GPA of 3.5.
3. Complete an honors project

Link to University Honors and Scholars