Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering
The Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering provides opportunities for engineering study outside the constraints of traditional engineering curricula. Students may engage with the department in a variety of ways including four-year engineering degrees, masters and doctoral degrees, combination degree programs that award multiple degrees in a shortened timeframe, certificates, courses, and a range of engaging programs such as Engineering Entrepreneurship and Subsea Engineering.
The mission of the Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering is to:
1. Utilize the strength of the College of Engineering’s core discipline departments to ensure graduates have strong technical skills appropriate to engineering practice,
2. Provide a vehicle for innovation in both engineering curriculum design and pedagogy, including active classroom techniques, laboratories, and other experiential learning activities such as fabrication, research, internship, and co-op,
3. Offer customizable opportunities for regional and/or underserved populations,
4. Enable means for students to have unique interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary educational experiences, which may include non-engineering disciplines,
5. Support access for students to develop knowledge and skills in emerging and even not-yet-existing fields, and
6. Prepare leaders and engineers who exhibit a dedication to life-long learning, professional and ethical behaviors, sensitivity to global and cultural awareness and impact, and being agents of positive change.
In addition to activities at the College Station campus, the department maintains strong presences at the Galveston and McAllen campuses and through distance education worldwide. The department in an active innovator in engineering education through the creation and delivery of programs as well as granting students the ability to create new fields of study through the interdisciplinary engineering degree programs.
Multidisciplinary Engineering
MTDE 609 Patent Law for Engineers
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Exploration of how proprietary interests in technology are protected by patent law, with a focus on issues of patent validity, patent-eligible subject matter and the enforcement of patent rights.
MTDE 630 Fundamentals of Subsea Engineering
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Orientation to subsea engineering fundamentals; includes SURF (Subsea, Umbilicals/Controls, Risers, Flowlines) equipment and configurations; exposure to practical, industry focused problems; subsea equipment components; design considerations and design drivers; subsea production operations; integrity critical maintenance activities.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification, enrollment in the College of Engineering or approval of instructor.
MTDE 632 Subsea Project Implementation
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Overview of the realization of a subsea development project; includes all stages from discovery to pre-commissioning of the subsea infrastructure.
Prerequisite: SSEN 630 or concurrent enrollment.
MTDE 660 Leadership for Transportation Professionals
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Overview of theories and best practices of leadership at all levels of an organization; five core practices of exemplary leadership - model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act and encourage the heart; adoption of an outward mindset to improve performance, spark collaboration and accelerate innovation.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
MTDE 661 Transportation Organizational Management
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Current practice and practical tools for leaders and aspirational leaders of transportation organizations; practices and processes for mission critical areas; managing flow of work products and projects; decision making processes; interdisciplinary interaction with planners, property owners, developers and government agencies; project development and execution; organizational performance metrics and transportation system performance.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
MTDE 662 Transportation and the Economy
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Relationship between transportation modes and local, regional, national and international economic systems; history of the relationship between economic growth and development and the transportation system; role of different modes and intermodal facilities and transportation development; vulnerabilities in transportation and economic systems; trends in financing transportation systems; application of block chain and other technologies to the movement of goods.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
MTDE 663 Communication for Transportation Professionals
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Exploration of effective communication fundamentals; the concepts of strategic thinking and storytelling; use of verbal, printed and electronic media in communicating transportation information; the set of modern professional behavior for excelling in the workforce among peers and clients.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
MTDE 664 Selection and Adoption of New Transportation Technologies
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Innovative transportation solutions and societal impacts; connected and automated vehicles; demise of the internal combustion engine and rise of electrification; communications with travelers and vehicles; intelligent roadway infrastructure; smart sensor data fusion with artificial intelligence; cybersecurity and communications spectrum; tools for public agencies building transportation’s future.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
MTDE 665 Sustainable Transportation and the Environment
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Sustainable transportation as the nexus of transportation and the environment; human environment and socioeconomic issues relevant to transportation and the natural environment of ecological issues relevant to transportation; environmental legislation affecting the transportation infrastructure development process; emerging environmental topics such as resilience and public health.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
MTDE 666 Transportation Policy
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Fundamentals of policy tools in transportation; strategic policy development; transportation governance, laws and regulation; transportation policy in relation to economics, funding, finance and modal usage; linkages between urban development, transportation systems and policy levers; policy issues associated with the relationship between transportation and global drivers of change; role of the transportation leader in strategic policy development.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
MTDE 667 Regulatory and Legal Topics in Transportation
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Legal and regulatory matters relevant to planning, developing, constructing and maintaining transportation facilities; local, state and federal transportation laws and regulations; legal matters, types of unforeseen questions and dispute resolution options arising in the life cycle of a transportation project; role of counsel and effective interactions with counsel.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
MTDE 668 Innovation in Transportation Funding and Finance
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Transportation funding and finance at the federal and state levels for all modes of transportation; funding process, financing strategies, innovative funding options and associated risks; role of funding in project planning and prioritization; measuring return on transportation investment; role of various governmental agencies in the funding process; shifting policies and issues that impact funding.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
MTDE 669 Transportation Capstone I
Credits 2. 1 Lecture Hour. 2 Lab Hours.
Project selection and development of problem statement; review of literature relevant to problem; proposal to address problem including analysis methodology and date collection plan; mid-project presentation at end of semester; first semester course in two semester capstone project sequence.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
MTDE 670 Transportation Capstone II
Credit 1. 0 Lecture Hours. 2 Lab Hours.
Continuation of project started in first semester; project scoping; data analysis; development of options, recommendations and implementation approaches; formal presentation of final results to stakeholder audience at end of semester; second semester course in two semester capstone project sequence.
Prerequisite: MTDE 669.
Subsea Engineering
SSEN 630 Fundamentals of Subsea Engineering
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Orientation to subsea engineering fundamentals; includes SURF (Subsea, Umbilicals/Controls, Risers, Flowlines) equipment and configurations; exposure to practical, industry focused problems; subsea equipment components; design considerations and design drivers; subsea production operations; integrity critical maintenance activities.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification, enrollment in the College of Engineering or approval of instructor.
SSEN 632 Subsea Project Implementation
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Overview of the realization of a subsea development project; includes all stages from discovery to pre-commissioning of the subsea infrastructure.
Prerequisite: SSEN 630 or concurrent enrollment.
SSEN 633 Transition from Fossil Fuels
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Current status of energy supplies; overview of energy source trends and forecast of what will be seen in the future; examine renewable energy sources, their technology, what the challenges are and how will these be overcome; appraisal of how the transition will be founded on what we are doing now.
SSEN 640 Subsea Hardware Design
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Basic elements (bolting, seals, flanges & hubs, valves, fittings, connections, and actuators) that make up subsea hardware assemblies; understanding of how these elements work together in a system.
Prerequisites: SSEN 630 or concurrent enrollment or approval of instructor.
SSEN 641 Subsea Umbilical and Control System Design
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
A practical view of subsea umbilical and controls system project realization from concept selection through installation and offshore acceptance testing.
Prerequisite: SSEN 630, or concurrent enrollment.
SSEN 642 Subsea Pipeline Design
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
A practical view of pipeline project realization from concept selection through installation and offshore acceptance testing.
Prerequisites: SSEN 630, or concurrent enrollment, or approval of instructor.
SSEN 643 Subsea Riser Design
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
A practical view of riser project realization from concept selection through installation and offshore acceptance testing.
Prerequisites: SSEN 630, or concurrent enrollment, or approval of instructor.
SSEN 646 Applied Reliability Engineering for Subsea Systems
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Overview of the application of reliability engineering to subsea system and all stages from discovery to pre-commissioning of the subsea infrastructure; exposure to practical, industry focused problems; risks and mitigation steps to reduce possibility of an accident or hazard; FMEACA, root cause analysis, TRLs, Risk Based Inspection (RBI) and Risk Based Integrity Management concepts, asset integrity and ALARP concepts, fault tree analysis, Principles of Safety Integrity Level (SIL).
Prerequisite: SSEN 630 or concurrent enrollment, or approval of instructor.
SSEN 650 Flow Assurance and Operability of Subsea Systems
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Hydrocarbon production and transport from offshore fields to the host facilities, including prevention and remediation of phenomena that hinder fluid flow in production systems; subsea architecture, hydrodynamic and thermal considerations, reservoir fluid characterization and analysis, solids management, thermal hydraulics and production chemistry.
Prerequisites: SSEN 630 or concurrent enrollment, or approval of instructor.
SSEN 651 Subsea Production Operations
Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.
Multiphase hydrocarbon production and transport from offshore fields to host facilities under both steady-state and transient conditions; includes reservoir and SURF system management through chemical gas and water injection, surface and subsea processing, testing and maintenance through all phases of a subsea development.
Prerequisites: SSEN 630 or concurrent enrollment, or approval of instructor.
SSEN 681 Professional Development Seminar-Subsea Engineering
Credit 1. 0 Lecture Hours. 1 Other Hour.
. Professional seminar introducing students to the latest topics in subsea engineering. Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
Prerequisite: SSEN 630 or current enrollment, or approval of instructor.
SSEN 684 Professional Internship
Credits 1 to 10. 0 Lecture Hours. 1 to 10 Other Hours.
Supervised experience of one academic year in industry where students can learn to apply their textbook-based skills to problems in the real-world environment. Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
Prerequisite: SSEN 630 or approval of instructor.
SSEN 685 Directed Studies
Credits 1 to 6. 1 to 6 Other Hours.
Design or research problems related to subsea engineering.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification; approval of program director or designate.
SSEN 691 Research
Credits 1 to 23. 1 to 23 Other Hours.
Research in the area of subsea engineering. Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification; approval of program director or designate.
Arshad, Muzammil, Instructional Assistant Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, Florida Institute of Technology, 2018
Boehm, Rodney, Associate Professor of the Practice
Multidisciplinary Engineering
MS, Texas A&M University, 1979
Conkey, Andrew, Instructional Associate Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2007
Diaz Rodriguez, Ivan, Instructional Assistant Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2017
Jacobs, Timothy, Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, University of Michigan, 2005
Ledbetter, William, Professor of the Practice
Multidisciplinary Engineering
BS, Texas A&M University, 1975
Lunney, Joseph, University Distinguished Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
JD, Stanford University, 1990
PHD, TULANE UNIVERSITY, 2006
Mirza, Saadat, Professor of the Practice
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, University of South Hampton, 1983
Munoz Vazquez, Aldo, Instructional Assistant Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados, 2017
Porter, Jay, Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1993
Robbins, Andrew, Research Assistant Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2018
Sears, Nicholas, Instructional Assistant Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2017
Shaw, Surupa, Assistant Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, University of New Hampshire, 2015
Shukla, Keshawa, Professor of the Practice
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PHD, Banaras Hindu University, 1979
Vishnubhakat, Saurabh, Professor
Multidisciplinary Engineering
JD, University of New Hampshire School of Law, 2010
LLM, University of New Hampshire School of Law, 2010