ENPM808: Advanced Topics in Engineering

ENPM808 gives students the opportunity to do an independent study project on a topic relevant to their academic program that is not available within the current UMD coursework.  It is supervised by a University of Maryland, College Park faculty member.

ENPM808 is a project-based independent study course that will count as a technical elective towards a student’s degree curriculum.  This is not a thesis- or research-based course, as research is not permitted to contribute to the curriculum of the Master of Engineering or Graduate Certificate in Engineering program.  As such, any work being done in a Graduate Research Assistantship position cannot be applied towards this course.

The independent study (ENPM808) topic must be approved by the supervising faculty, the student’s Faculty Content Advisor, and Maryland Applied Graduate Engineering (MAGE) – both for content and for use as a technical elective towards the student’s degree program and can only be used as part of students' academic degree program for a maximum of one (1) time (Effective beginning Spring 2019).

ENPM808 must be taken for 3 credits and Regular (A-F) grading method.

The independent study will be the length of a standard course during the semester in which the student enrolls for it and completed during this time.  Retroactive credit cannot be earned for projects completed before enrollment in ENPM808.

The effort required in the independent study must be equivalent to that required for regularly-listed 3 credit graduate-level courses.  The course requirements detailed should not overlap in any substantial way with the requirements of previous courses the student has completed or will complete for credit in the program. Documentation of the student’s work must be submitted to MAGE at the end of the semester.

ENPM808 can only be approved by the advisor as part of students' academic degree program a maximum of one (1) time.

Students and their supervising faculty will outline the requirements and final submission of the independent study in their submitted proposal. Please note that, at minimum,  students are required to submit a final report with a 1-2 page summary on the project and its results. However, the majority of ENPM808 final documentation required by the supervising faculty exceeds that minimum requirement.

Students must be entering into their 3^rd+ academic semester

Students must be in good standing with the University (i.e. have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above).

Students must have earned passing grades in all core courses taken to date. (Requirement for Spring 2021 enrollment onward).

Independent Study subject matter must be directly related to the student's primary program of study.

It is the student’s responsibility to identify a faculty member under which to pursue this coursework. Supervising faculty can be full-time faculty of UMD (preferred) or any faculty member actively affiliated with UMD.

• Note: Faculty receive compensation for their supervision of the students’ ENPM808 coursework. Please refer your supervising faculty member to the Coordinator for Academic Affairs at mage-advising@umd.edu with any questions about this.

The ENPM808 Proposal AND the ENPM808 Faculty Confirmation Form must be submitted for Faculty Content Advisor and MAGE review by 10 business days prior to the academic semester start date.

• Winter 2025: Wednesday, December 18, 2024
• Spring 2025: Monday, January 6, 2025 (Due to the new Workday System, this has been moved up)

Independent Study requires advanced planning and in depth discussion with the supervising faculty. As such, this must take place prior to the deadlines above and no exceptions to the form submission deadlines will be given.

This form should be submitted by the student, in conjunction with the supervising faculty.

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