Engineering, Doctor of Engineering < Johns Hopkins University

Program Policies

Continuous Enrollment Requirement

All D.Eng. students are required to register in every term (Summer, Intersession) and semester (Fall, Spring) they are in the program, and must complete registration at the beginning of each term in accordance with instruction issued by the registrar. Detailed instructions about registration will be provided to all students before the registration period each term.

Students who, for any reason, do not complete their registration until after the prescribed registration period are required to pay a late registration service fee. The late registration fee schedule is posted every semester on the registrar's website. see Term Dates & Deadlines). Graduate students must obtain permission from the chair of their department to register after the second week of classes.

Non-Curricular Program Requirements

In addition to their academic coursework, exams, and research, D.Eng. students must also satisfy three additional requirements:

EN.500.603 Graduate Academic Ethics (an online course, requires a passing grade)
AS.360.624 Responsible Conduct of Research (Online) (an online module/course, requires a certificate of completion)
Title IX Training (through JHU's MyLearning portal)

Please contact Mrs. Mia Brooms with any questions.

Retakes and Probation

Ideally, students in the Doctor of Engineering program will pass their milestone exams on the first attempt. However, students will have a second chance to pass any of their exams should they fail on their first attempt. Failing any exam twice is grounds for dismissal from the Doctor of Engineering program.

D.Eng. students are expected to be fully engaged and make progress toward their degree. Should a student become disengaged, or have a significant period with no progress, the student may be placed on probation. Please see Associate Vice Dean Christine Kavanagh for guidance.

Annual Student Review

Doctoral students need to have a clear understanding of their progress and what is expected next in their programs. To this end, D.Eng. students will undergo a formal annual review. This consists of three steps:

First, the student will be given a self-evaluation in which they should report their accomplishments from the previous year and lay out their expectations for the coming year.
Second, advisor's evaluation of your research progress and professional development, along with suggestions for improvement.
Third, documentation that you have discussed Parts 1 and 2 with your advisor.
Fourth, you will evaluate your advisor and the climate within your cohort and the program.

Semiannual Doctor of Engineering Conference

D.Eng. students are nonresidential and therefore have little opportunity to interact with each other. However, they are expected to come to Baltimore for semi-annual Doctor of Engineering Conferences in June and January. As described earlier, the various milestone examinations take place during these conferences. D.Eng. students are strongly encouraged to attend public portions of each other’s oral examinations (proposal and project defenses).

In addition, the conferences provide opportunities for social networking among the students as well as professional development programming.

Advisor or Employer Changes

Loss of funding or an advisor requires a leave of absence (LOA) from the program until the situation is resolved. Students switching employers before the completion of their degree generally encounter difficulty in continuing in the program, as their new employer would need to agree to continuation of the research and in most cases, funding support as well. Students should contact Vice Dean Sri Sarma immediately if they have questions about any of the above issues (and ideally, before any transition). Students cannot work on anything towards their degree while they are on LOA.

Selection of Co-Advisor

The external Co-advisor may not be someone who either reports directly or indirectly to the D.Eng. student. In exceptional cases, an external advisor may be someone from another company, or an exception can be made to have all the advisors be from within JHU. Any co-advisor assignments or changes need to be approved by the D.Eng. Oversight Committee.

Funding

The training of a Doctor of Engineering student takes the form of a research contract between the student’s employer and the Whiting School of Engineering. Annual tuition is posted on the Homewood Student Accounts website. D. Eng. students cannot be personally liable for these fees, except in the cases of health insurance premiums through the JHU Student Insurance plan facilitated by Wellfleet, and any late fees, library fines, etc. There will be no additional funding provided to a D.Eng. student by the Whiting School of Engineering/Johns Hopkins University. While some external fellowships can be applied, this is not a PhD program and not every external graduate fellowship can be applied to this program. Students may be admitted to the D.Eng. while funding details are being resolved, however, they cannot start their program until funding is secured. They may file for a deferral for up to a year. Applicants and students are encouraged to contact the program director with any questions.

Note that graduate students are subject to these policies and requirements in addition to all university and departmental policies and requirements

Admission Requirements

Each prospective Doctor of Engineering student must have:

A master’s degree in a related field
Significant professional experience
- Applicants should have developed a strong work ethic, problem solving skills, organization skills, and communication skills from their work experience. Three years or more of work experience is recommended but not required.
Before you start your application, be sure to read below to understand the full application process.

Beginning the Application Process

The centerpiece of the Doctor of Engineering degree is a research collaboration between your employer and the Whiting School of Engineering. While your employer is responsible for tuition costs, the collaborative structure of the DEng program means you will navigate the research requirement with support and guidance from both entities.

You must:

Identify a project (one that requires multi-year, doctoral-level research) that is of importance to you and your employer.
Discuss the Doctor of Engineering program and proposed project with your employer and inform your employer of time and tuition commitments.
Receive positive feedback and permission from your employer to begin exploring potential collaborations with faculty at the Whiting School of Engineering.

Next Step: The Advisor Request Form

Identify one or more potential advisors: In addition to searching the Doctor of Engineering faculty database by department and research area, we recommend that you visit faculty members’ lab sites and read their publications to ensure your proposed project is in alignment with their work.

Write a 1-2 paragraph summary of your proposed research project. Review examples of research projects from current students and DEng graduates for guidance on appropriate research topics.

Submit both the potential advisors and research summary to the Doctor of Engineering Staff via the Advisor Request Form.

After your form is submitted, a Doctor of Engineering staff member will review your proposal summary and confirm whether your selected faculty members are a good match for your research project. You should have responses within five business days, one for each potential advisor selected.

When you receive each review confirmation, you may then contact the specified potential advisor directly to discuss your proposed research project. Once your potential advisor agrees to become your primary advisor and approves your research project proposal, you can move to the next step and begin the application process.

Please do not email advisors directly until a match is approved.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email wse-deng@jhu.edu.

Application Components

Transcripts from all undergraduate and master’s degree programs
Resume of applicant
Statement of purpose
A research proposal (please see our guidelines for the preparation of your proposal)
Names of potential Whiting School of Engineering advisors
Letter of support (indicating full financial support as well) from the selected (non-JHU) co-advisor/employer (sent directly to WSE, not through the applicant)
Co-advisor’s resume or CV
Two additional letters of recommendation

To be accepted into the D.Eng. program, applicants must receive approval from their primary advisor at the Whiting School of Engineering and the Doctor of Engineering Oversight Committee.

For full consideration, please apply by the following dates:

Summer start: Deadline to apply is January 1

Spring start: Deadline to apply is July 1

Program Requirements

Curriculum

Year One

Doctor of Engineering students are expected to come to Baltimore twice each year: once in January and once in June for the Semiannual Doctor of Engineering Conferences. D.Eng. students may begin their program at either time.

Diagnostic Interview, Syllabus of Study, and Start of Research
D.Eng. students begin their program with an extended, in-person meeting with their advisor. This meeting is called the Diagnostic Interview. The student and advisor discuss the proposed project and identify new material for the student to learn (roughly equivalent to two graduate-level courses). This new material should be relevant to the proposed research, especially to guide the student to fill in background material that the advisor anticipates will be needed. Together, the advisor and student lay out a syllabus of study for the coming months. (The syllabus is then approved by the student’s three-person supervisory committee.
The student works to learn the material on the syllabus. This may be done through online courses (such as those offered by our Engineering for Professionals program) or guided independent reading. The advisor and co-advisor are available to the student to answer questions and, if need be, revise the syllabus. The student works on research.
Required Course Enrollment
EN.700.791 Doctor of Engineering Fundamentals 10 credits
This is an intense, professor-guided, individualized course for D.Eng. students preparing for their Preliminary Examinations. The course instructor is the student’s primary advisor and sets the requirements. Successful students pass their Preliminary Examinations upon completing this course. Students may enroll in this course for multiple semesters if necessary.
Preliminary Examination
At the student's second Doctor of Engineering Conference (in either January or June, roughly six months from the start of their program) they will be examined on the syllabus developed in the Diagnostic Interview. This Preliminary Examination is administered by the student’s supervisory committee. The format of the exam may be either written or oral at the discretion of the supervisory committee.)
Refining the Written Research Proposal
After successfully completing the Preliminary Exam, the student spends the next six months refining the basic proposal in the application into a robust, more specific written research proposal.

Year Two to Degree Completion

Required Course Enrollment
EN.700.792 Doctor of Engineering Research Proposal. 10 credits
The purpose of this course is to synthesize a coherent research proposal for the Doctor of Engineering major project. The course instructor is the student’s primary advisor, working with the student to create the research proposal to be defended in a public presentation and private examination. Students may enroll in this course for multiple semesters if necessary.
Proposal Presentation and Examination
At the start of the 2nd year in the program, the student stands for the Proposal Presentation and Examination. This is an oral exam is conducted by the supervisory committee plus two additional JHU faculty members. The first portion of the examination is a presentation of the research proposal. This portion of the exam is a public presentation of the research proposal (and other D.Eng. students are encouraged to attend). This is followed by an examination by the five-member panel to assess the student’s readiness to engage in the proposed research.

Continued Research, Project Development, and Defense

Upon successful completion of the Proposal Presentation and Examination, the student works in earnest to execute the research. Of course, the scope and direction of the research may deviate from the plan originally presented. At this time, the student should register for EN.700.891 Doctor of Engineering Research. 10 - 20 credits

Once your advisor and Supervisory Committee deem the research to be sufficient for the degree, you will present your research and project at a public defense conducted by your Supervisory Committee. Typically doctoral students report and archive the fruits of their research by writing a dissertation. D.Eng. students may choose to do likewise, but we allow greater latitude in our program for alternative projects. There are, however, a few required components no matter the format.

All D.Eng. projects must include a written description of the key results, including

Title Page
Table of Contents
Extended Abstract between 10 - 20 pages

D.Eng. projects should include evidence as well, such as in a portfolio comprising:

Prototypes
Animations or simulations
Computer code
Journal paper submissions
Invention disclosures/patent applications

Taken together, the portfolio is used to evaluate the depth and quality of the student’s work. The design of the portfolio (what is included) is subject to the approval of the student’s advisory committee.

Note that the portfolio, as well as its defense, must be public. That is, neither classified nor otherwise restricted material may be used. However, it is reasonable that the student’s project may support a proprietary or classified application at the student’s home company/agency. Nevertheless, it must be possible for the student to demonstrate their accomplishments in a fully open setting.