Doctor of Engineering Degree

Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng. or Eng.D. or Dr.Eng. or D.E.) is an academic degree awarded on the basis of advanced study and research in engineering. In most of the countries it is the terminal research doctorate degree in engineering or applied science.

It is awarded by many American universities, and is equivalent to a PhD degree in engineering/applied sciences. To be admitted as a doctoral student, one must hold a Master’s degree (rarely a Bachelor’s degree) in engineering or related science subject and pass a comprehensive entrance exam. The student must complete necessary course work, be taught examinable courses, perform independent research under supervision of a qualified Doctoral Advisor, and pass the thesis defence. The D.Eng takes four years (full time) to complete and has compulsory taught components and coursework/projects.

In the United Kingdom, an engineering doctorate was traditionally used as a higher doctorate, awarded on the basis of a significant contribution to some field of engineering over the course of a career. However, since 1992 some British universities have introduced Engineering Doctorate (EngD) schemes which are four-year PhD-style courses but with a greater taught element, strong industrial links and favourable funding arrangements.

A Doctor of Engineering degree awarded by universities in China, Japan and South Korea is equivalent to a PhD Degree in Engineering awarded in the USA. To be admitted as a doctoral student, one must hold a masters degree (M. S., M. Eng., or M. Sc.) in the same or related subject and pass a comprehensive entrance exam. The student must complete necessary course work, perform independent research under supervision of a qualified Doctoral Advisor, and pass the thesis defense. It usually takes more than three years for a student with an MS Degree to complete his/her doctoral study. However there are few areas (such as Materials Science and Engineering) of study where both D. Sc. and D. Eng. can be awarded depending upon the school which houses the department.