The program prepares students for professional careers in engineering companies that develop products using computational tools of fluid and solid mechanics. The program also provides the necessary background for pursuing higher degrees, Engineer and Ph.D., in aerospace and mechanical engineering with specializations in computational fluid mechanics, computational solid mechanics and computational heat transfer.

The degree course work provides a necessary background in basic aerospace and mechanical engineering disciplines (solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer), engineering mathematics and numerical methods. The advanced computational technical electives provide practical examples using existing numerical programs to simulate structures, heat transfer and fluid flows as well as commercial mathematical packages for analyzing data and simulations.

Admission requirements follow the general admission rules for aerospace and mechanical engineering graduate programs.

The program requires completion of a minimum of 27 units and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 for graduation. The program with thesis requires 28 units, four of which are thesis units.

For information on when courses are offered, please see the USC Catalogue.

Required Core Courses (21 units)

AME 404 Computational Solutions to Engineering Problems (3 units)
AME 509 Applied Elasticity, or CE 507 Mechanics of Solids I (3 units)
AME 525 Engineering Analysis (3 units)
AME 526 Engineering Analytical Methods (3 units)
AME 530a Dynamics of Incompressible Fluids (3 units)
AME 535a Introduction to Computational Fluid Mechanics (3 units)
CE 529a Finite Element Analysis (3 units)

Computational Technical Electives (3 units)

Select a computational technical elective from the following list or other electives approved by a graduate advisor:

AME 415 Turbine Design and Analysis (3 units)
AME 535b Introduction to Computational Fluid Mechanics (3 units)
ASTE 545 Computational Techniques in Rarefied Gas Dynamics (3 units)
CE 529b Finite Element Analysis (3 units)
CE 551 Computer-Aided Engineering Project (3 units)
MASC 575 Basics of Atomistic Simulation of Materials (3 units)
MASC 576 Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Materials and Processes (3 units)
Math 504ab Numerical Solution of Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations (3 units)

Technical Electives (3 units)

Select a technical elective from the following list or other electives approved by a graduate advisor:

AME 511 Compressible Gas Dynamics (3 units)
AME 516 Convection Processes (3 units)
AME 590 Directed Research (1-12 units)
AME 599 Special Topics (2-4 units, max 9)
CE 541a Dynamics of Structures (3 units)
CE 542 Theory of Plates (3 units)

One core class requirement may be waived at the discretion of a graduate adviser if a student documents that he or she completed or is enrolled in an equivalent course. The waived class must be replaced by a technical elective. Credit for one course of not more than 4 units from another accredited institution may be approved by a graduate adviser. The Master's Thesis (4 units) may be substituted for a technical elective class (3 units).