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SB Thesis Information

The SB in Mechanical Engineering requires an independent study project or thesis with a minimum of 6 units credit. The objective of this requirement is to give students an opportunity to learn about a topic in depth through independent study under the guidance of an advisor who is knowledgeable in the field.

The nature of the work may be the review of an engineering topic of interest to the student, an original research project, or a design project. In any case, the work must involve additional learning of a substantive nature. The work must be documented by a thesis document graded by the advisor. With the approval of the advisor, up to 15 units of credit are permitted.

Finding a thesis supervisor

Students have the responsibility to find their own thesis supervisor, and it is best that this be done by the beginning of the senior year. Many students develop theses from UROP projects that they have had during the junior year or summer between junior and senior years. In that case, the UROP supervisor becomes the thesis supervisor. In other cases, students will contact faculty members whose research is of interest to them, and a thesis project can be developed by discussion between the student and the faculty member. In still other cases, students may have their own clear idea of the subject of their thesis, and the task will be to find a faculty member who is interested in working with the student on that topic.

The thesis advisor of record must be an MIT faculty member or select members of the research staff (graduate students and postdocs are ineligible to act as thesis advisors). Students who are looking for an appropriate thesis advisor should consult the Undergraduate Officer (Prof. John H. Lienhard V, Room 1-110, x3-2305). Theses may be done off campus, but students are cautioned that off-campus supervisors usually are not familiar with the thesis requirements which may put the student at risk when seeking approval of the Department. Also, work done at an industrial firm may be considered proprietary by the firm which would prevent the student from submitting the thesis to the Department. In such cases, a representative of the firm must sign a release letter, a sample text of which is available at the MechE Undergraduate Office.

Thesis registration and grading

Students may elect to start and/or finish the work in the Fall Term, the Spring Term, or IAP, and they may choose to extend the work over several terms. In the latter case, a progress report is required for each term of registration. If the work in progress is judged satisfactory by the advisor, a grade of "J" will be awarded. Unsatisfactory progress will be awarded the grade "U". Students must be registered for subject 2.ThU for the term in which the thesis is submitted.

Before registering for thesis, students must complete the thesis proposal form and attach a brief paragraph summarizing the work planned. (The form is available on the "download forms" page in this web site.) The form must be signed by the thesis advisor and returned to the MechE Undergraduate Office (Room 1-110). In the event of a change of advisor or project, the proposal must be updated in the Undergraduate Office as soon as possible. Students who submit the completed forms on or before Registration Day may register for 2.ThU on the Registration Form for the number of units agreed upon with the thesis advisor. Students who complete the thesis proposal after Registration Day, but before the Add Date, must add 2.ThU by submitting to the Registrar a completed Add/Drop Card signed by the thesis supervisor and the student's faculty advisor. To add thesis after the Add Date, Peggy Garlick must also sign the Add/Drop Card. Drop date is the absolute deadline for adding or dropping 2.ThU. Students may not register for the thesis after the drop date.

At mid-term, the thesis advisor will be asked for an assessment of the student's progress on the thesis. Thus, it is important for the student to maintain contact with the advisor so that an accurate assessment can be made. If the thesis advisor judges progress to be unsatisfactory, a grade of "U" will be submitted and the number of units for 2.ThU registration will be reduced to 1. The grade of "U" will remain on the transcript and the Course 2 degree requirements cannot be completed until another thesis is started and completed with a passing grade. Students who are making satisfactory progress but fail to complete the thesis by the Thesis Due Date will receive the grade "J" indicating that at least one additional unit of registration for 2.ThU will be required to complete the Course 2 degree. Upon satisfactory completion of the thesis, the thesis advisor will assign a grade which will apply to all units of 2.ThU registration from previous terms, up to an absolute limit of 15. For thesis credit during IAP, students should register during the first week of IAP in the Undergraduate Office.

During the semester in which the student expects to graduate, it is the responsibility of the student to maintain contact with the thesis advisor. In the event that thesis progress is reported as unsatisfactory, the student's name will be removed from the Degree List. Students are reminded that graduation also can be delayed by late submission of an acceptable thesis or by submission of a thesis that fails to conform to the current Thesis Specifications. Theses may not be submitted after 5:00 PM on the Thesis Due Date.

Consult the MIT Academic Calendar for Add Date, Drop Date, and Thesis Due Dates for the semester in question: http://web.mit.edu/registrar/www/calendar.html.

Guidelines for the preparing your thesis for submission are given on this web page: http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/thesis-specs/index.html

 The web site for the Course 2-A thesis (2.ThA) contains a variety of information on preparing theses: http://web.mit.edu/2.tha/www/index.html