In their final term at OSU, all grad students must schedule a final oral examination (a.k.a. "defense") through the Graduate School using the Exam Scheduling Form. Students must be enrolled (for a minimum of 3 graduate credits) during the term in which the exam takes place. Before submitting the exam scheduling form students will need to determine the date, time and location of their exam by contacting all of their committee members (including a GCR for PhD and MS-thesis students) and coordinating the event to work with everyone’s schedules. After determining a date, time, and mode for the exam, students should work with Stephanie Grigar in 204B Rogers Hall to reserve the MIME Seminar room or other appropriate venue for their exam.
Exams should be scheduled to minimize conflict with MIME graduate courses. Graduating MS and PhD students must announce their research presentations at least two weeks in advance. A standard form for thesis defense announcements can be obtained from Stephanie Grigar in 204B Rogers Hall. All currently enrolled MIME graduate students are strongly encouraged to attend the presentation phase of their colleagues' final oral examinations.
- PhD and MS–thesis students must submit the pretext pages of their thesis to the Graduate School before scheduling the final oral examination. The PhD and MS-thesis option final oral examination has two components: a public presentation of your research and an oral examination conducted by their committee. The exam lasts two hours. More information of exam requirements can be found on the Graduate School website.
- For the MS–project students, the final oral examination is conducted by the student’s graduate committee for the purpose of ensuring a solid understanding of engineering concepts and practice within the student’s discipline. The project must be completed prior to the examination, and copies of the project report must be distributed to all committee member at least one week prior to the examination. Although there is no required public presentation component, up to one-half of the two hour exam may be devoted to presentation of and questions about the project. The exam lasts one to two hours.
- For the Master of Engineering (MEng) students, the final oral exam is considered to be "passed" after a portfolio of the student's work has been evaluated by their committee. More information about the content of the portfolio will be presented to MEng students in the following two courses:
- Master of Engineering Portfolio Orientation (a free, web-based course made available through Canvas to MEng student upon admission to the program.)
- ENGR 521: MEng Portfolio Completion (a 1-credit capstone course taken during an MEng student's last term)