Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate Research

The Woodruff school of Mechanical Engineering has many students who do undergraduate research each semester.  Undergraduate research is a search or discovery of new information; an adventure into solving real world problems.  Having research experience is critical when applying for graduate and professional schools and is impressive to prospective employers as well.  During the 2011-2012 academic year, over 260 students did undergraduate research of special problem assignments.  All students must have a permit to register for research, which is obtained by submitting the Research Registration Form (for Special Problems, PURA and Research).

Research Class Types

Research is a general term, but includes each of the class types listed below.

  • Special Problems arean individual study in certain specialized areas, including mathematical analyses or experimental investigation of problems of current interest. This can include design projects.  Special problem classes are 4903 and are taken for class credit.
  • Research Assignments arean independent research conducted under the guidance of a faculty member.  Research assignments are 4699 for juniors and seniors and 2699 for freshman and sophomores. Research assignments are taken for class credit.
  • Paid Research Assignments are research internships. Students are paid for working on a project. The class will be on your transcript, but no class credit is given for this option and no grade is received for this class.  Students who received PURA awards, register for the paid research assignments, 4699. 
  • Presidents’ Undergraduate Research Awards (PURA) are competitive financial awards given to students who are doing research.  PURA either gives students a salary or pays for travel expenses to present research at a conference.  Students must apply for PURA awards.

Finding Research

In all cases, finding a faculty member to work with is solely the student’s responsibility.

  • The best way for you to find a research position is to talk to the professors on your own. Look through the Woodruff School Research Areas and see which professors are doing research that you may be interested in. You should then contact the professor, send a copy of your resume and ask if he/she is interested in sponsoring you for research.
  • Talk to your current ME/NRE professors to see if they work with undergrads on research.
  • ME Students: A list of current undergraduate research assignments is kept on the web.  This list is generally updated between semesters.
  • NRE Students: Talk to your faculty advisor.
  • Go to Georgia Tech Undergraduate Research to view institute-wide research opportunities.

Registering for Research

  • All courses require a permit to register.  The permit is obtained by submitting the Research Registration Form.
  • All courses are nominally 3 credit hours.  For the 3 hour class, students are expected to do 9 hours of research each week during fall and spring semesters, and 14 hours each week during summer semester.  Classes for alternative credit hours are permitted and must be arranged individually with the professor.
  • Each course must culminate in a mutually agreed upon set of deliverables, which are to be submitted to the faculty advisor for grading.  These deliverables can be a written report, an oral presentation, a computer program, etc. 
  • All unpaid courses are taken for credit and are given a letter grade.
  • Multiple semesters of the same research class (ex. ME 4699) can be taken and used towards your degree as outlined below.

How Research Classes are Used in Your Curriculum

  • ME (2011-2012 & 2010-2011 Curricula): Students can satisfy up to 4 hours of ME Electives with ME 4699 or ME 4903. In addition, up to 6 hours of free electives can be satisfied with 2699/4699/4903 classes from any department.  ME students who want to use research or a special problem from a non-ME professor as an ME elective must have the class approved by Dr. Ferri prior to registering for the class.
  • ME (2012-2013 Curriculum & Later): Students can satisfy up to 6 hours of free electives with 2699/4699/4903 from any department.  No research can be used to satisfy an ME Elective.
  • NRE: Students can satisfy up to 4 hours of technical elective credit with 4699 and 4903 as long as the class is from the college of science, college of engineering or college of computing.