The schedule of the program is from Monday to Friday, from 08:00 to 18:40; and Saturday from 08:00 to 13:00.

Teaching-learning Methodology

The teaching-learning process contemplates theory and application, aimed at the analysis of specific cases and problem-solving. It combines the delivery of both transversal and specific contents aimed at the students’ particular concerns according to their investigation projects. Similarly, it is included in the development of the competencies necessary for academic production through scientific papers review and analysis.

Evaluation system

The methods used for the evaluation of students mainly consider written tests and exams and the performance of practical work such as project preparation, calculation simulations or case reports, in which the contents are applied to specific problems. As a complement to the previous methods, some courses also include the performance of academic works such as bibliographic researches and oral presentations based on the review of articles or monographs on specific topics.

The final grades of the Master of Engineering Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, will be registered applying a scale of 1 to 7. Regarding the previously said, the courses will be approved if the student has obtained a final grade equal or higher than 4.0, while a grade lower than that will be considered as a failed course.

Once the student has satisfactorily passed all the courses of their work plan, they will be able to defend their Thesis. The Program Committee will approve the thesis topics. The Committee may assign a tutor to the student, among faculty members.

The final presentation of the document will take place when the student has received the approval of the tutor. The student will submit to the commission three copies of the thesis for correction.

To assess the document, the Master’s Program Committee (CPM, for its initials in Spanish) will appoint three people to form a Thesis Committee. This last entity will be composed of the tutor and two professors for correction, one of them can be an external professor to the University. Each member of the Committee will issue and judge the thesis with its observations and its final grade. The Commission will have a period of twenty working days maximum for the thesis correction.

The aspects to be assessed in the thesis are:

a) Presentation and wording (format, organization, indexes, phrasing, plans, graphics, etc.).

b) Ability to analyze the problem presented and applying the knowledge of Engineering Science.

c) Technical-economic evaluation or development of the study itself (judgment and maturity).

d) Capacity to summarize and the contribution to the field of investigation (analysis and conclusions).

The thesis will be considered as approved if it receives by each member of the committee a grade equal to or higher than 5.0. If at least one of the members evaluates it with a grade lower than 5.0, the thesis will be rejected. In this case, the student will have to leave the Program. The thesis will remain pending if at least one of the members of the committee suggests modifications before the approval, and none of them rejects it. The student, in agreement with his/her tutor, will proceed to rewrite the refuted parts. The same committee will evaluate the revised thesis. Once the student has successfully passed the total courses of the action plan, it will be possible to defend the thesis.

Having passed the thesis project, the student will have to request to the director of the Program a date to perform the Exit Exam, according to the availability of the members of the committee.

The Exit Exam is public and consists of an oral defense of the thesis, unless it results in a patent. In this situation, the people present will have to sign a confidentiality commitment.

The Exit Exam will be evaluated by the same committee, using the grade point range from 1.0 to 7.0, and the students will pass if they obtain an average grade of 5.0 or higher.

The requirements to obtain the Master’s degree in Engineering Sciences, Mechanical Engineering are:

a) Having passed the program with a final average grade of 5.0 or higher.

b) Having passed the thesis and the Exit Exam with a final average grade of 5.0 or higher.

The student´s final grade in the Program considers 50% of the grade from the presentation of the Exit Exam (average grade of all the courses), 25% of the grade from the thesis, and 25% of the grade from the Exit Exam. The grade is expressed according to the following table: 

• Between 6.4 and 7.0: Graduated with high distinction
• Between 5.7 and 6.3: Graduated with distinction
• Between 5.0 and 5.6: Graduated

Students graduated with high distinction will additionally receive the Cum Laude distinction. This will be the case if they can submit before the date of defense an indexed article to evaluation or process a patent, as product of their thesis.

Once the candidate fulfills all the requirements of the program, the Dean will request to the Academic Vice Presidency, through the appropriate channels, to confer the student the degree of Master of Engineering Sciences, Mechanical Engineering.