Doctor of Engineering
The Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng. or D.Engr. or Eng.D. or Dr.Eng. or Dr.-Ing.) is a doctoral degree awarded on the basis of advanced study and research in engineering or applied sciences. In most of the countries it is a terminal research doctorate; in the United Kingdom it can be a higher doctorate.
As a research doctorate
It is awarded by a few American universities including Texas A&M[1] and Southern Methodist University.[2] Depending on coursework and research undertaken, it may be equivalent to a PhD degree in engineering/applied sciences. To be admitted as a doctoral student, one must hold a Master's degree (rarely with only 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 three to six years (full-time) to complete and has compulsory taught components and coursework/projects.
A Doctor of Engineering degree awarded by universities in China, Japan, and South Korea is equivalent to a PhD degree. To be admitted as a doctoral student, one must hold a masters degree 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 M.S. Degree to complete his/her doctoral study. However there are few areas of study(such as Materials Science, Polymer Technology, and Biomedical Engineering) where both Doctor of Science and Doctor of Engineering can be awarded depending upon the graduate school which houses the department.
In Germany the doctoral degree in engineering is called Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften (Dr.-Ing.) and is usually earned after four to six years of research and completing a dissertation. A researcher pursuing a doctorate needs to hold a Master's Degree or the Diplom-Ingenieur degree (Dipl.-Ing.).
In France the degree of "Doctor-Engineer" (docteur-ingénieur) was a former applied science research degree. It was discontinued after 1984 and engineers wishing to go further as researchers now seek a PhD.
Higher doctorate
In the United Kingdom, the D.Eng. degree was traditionally awarded as a higher doctorate 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 the Engineering Doctorate, abbreviated as "EngD", which is instead a research doctorate and regarded in the UK as equivalent to a PhD.
See also
- Engineering Doctorate, a PhD-level degree awarded in the UK.
- Doctor of Technology, an academic PhD-level degree
- Doctor of Science
- Engineer's degree
- Doctor of Education
- Doctor of Business Administration
- Doctor of Philosophy
