The General Electric Advanced Course in Engineering program (GE-ACE) permits qualified employees of General Electric Corp. the opportunity to earn a Master's without Thesis degree in the MSE department (Master's degrees from other departments in the OSU College of Engineering are also available--contact the GE-ACE coordinator for details).

At present, there is no memorandum of understanding to permit a GE-ACE student to pursue an MS non-thesis degree in Welding Engineering. However, a petition to consider such a degree, especially in light of the WE Distance Education MS, could be submitted to the WE Graduate Studies Committee. Please contact the MSE-WE Graduate Studies Coordinator via e-mail, if interested.

Admission requirements

General application requirements
GE-ACE participants are to apply for admission to the MSE graduate degree program by means of an abbreviated OSU Graduate School application. All GE-ACE applicants to our program are to submit:

1. OSU Graduate School application (see link above for complete details)
2. Pay the OSU application fee
3. Submit transcripts of all post-secondary course work to only the OSU Admissions Office (Admissions will scan the transcript and we will download a copy from your Admissions record).

Please note: GE-ACE applicants are not required to submit letters of reference, a resume/CV, and Statement of Purpose.

Plan of study

Each GE-ACE student is to develop a plan of study in cooperation with his/her OSU academic advisor. This plan of study should detail how the student intends to meet the MS non-thesis requirements within the constraints of the GE-ACE program.

The plan should be submitted to the MSE Graduate Studies Committee Chair before the end of the student's first full term at OSU. Deviation from the plan will require approval from the GE-ACE office and the MSE Graduate Studies Committee.

Typical path. Though each student's plan of study may vary, our GE-ACE students tend to take 3-5 graduate level courses in their first term in the program. The student then returns to GE to take the B and C courses, registering for MSE 5193 Individual Study (under Dr. Suliman Dregia) in the term of completion of the A & B courses. Three terms after initial enrollment in OSU, GE students finish their course work to complete their graded graduate-level course work. In the GE student's final term in the program, s/he is to register for credits of MSE 6193 Individual Study under his/her MSE advisor. This provides the student with graduate level credit for time spent developing his/her GE project. The student defends his/her findings before a committee comprised of the MSE advisor and one additional MSE faculty member. A rough time-line is as follows:

• Autumn 20##: First semester on-campus; full time enrollment; submit study plan
• Spring 20##+1: Off campus semester
• Autumn 20##+1: Off campus semester, register for 9 cr of MSE 5193
• Spring 20##+2: Graduation semester; part time course work (commute to OSU or on-line courses); final report and defense (MSE 6193 cr)

Advisor

By default, the advisor for all GE-ACE students will be Dr. Michael Mills. This does not in any way preclude a student from interacting with other faculty and seeking guidance, including the option to have another OSU faculty member serve as a co-advisor with Dr. Mills.

University credit for GE A and B courses

GE provides, on-site, a sequence of courses for members of the GE-ACE program (these courses are known as "A, B, and C"). A total of 9 graded graduate credit hours will be granted by the MSE department for successful completion of A and B courses. These 9 credits will be applied toward the 21 semester credits of graded graduate-level course work required for the MS non-thesis degree.

GE students are to register for 9 credits of MSE 5193 (under Dr. Suliman Dregia) in the term following successful completion of the A and B courses.

Project or thesis

Students completing their project must follow GE policy in regard to Approval of Technical Papers and Presentations. Publication and review requirements for projects may dictate restrictions on content. Projects or theses requiring disclosure of GE proprietary information to non-GE personnel will require a Proprietary Information Agreement.

Summary of minimum credit hour requirements (quarter credits)

A total of 45 graduate-level credits are required to earn a Master's degree at Ohio State. For the MS non-thesis degree available through the GE-ACE program, these 45 credits are to be arranged as follows:

Graded graduate credits

Description	Credits
MSE 693A (A Course)	6
MSE 693A (B Course)	6
MSE courses > 700 level	6
MSE courses > 600 level	12
Add'l grad credit (may be out of MSE)	3

Non-graded graduate credits

Description	Credits
MSE 795, Seminars in MSE	2
MSE 793 Individual Study (project work)	10

Summary of minimum credit hour requirements (semester credits)

A total of 30 graduate-level credits are required to earn a Master's degree at Ohio State. For the MS non-thesis degree available through the GE-ACE program, these 30 credits are to be arranged as follows:

Graded graduate credits

Description	Credits
MSE 5193 (A & B course)	9
MSE courses ≥ 6000 level	6
MSE courses ≥ 5000 level	6
Minimum graded graduate credits	21

Non-graded graduate credits

Description	Credits
MSE 7895, Seminars in MSE	1 per sem
MSE 6193 Individual Study (project work)	8

Minimum total semester credits required = 30

Questions and petitions

Questions about the GE-ACE program in MSE should be directed to Mark Cooper, Graduate Studies Coordinator for the MSE department. Please contact Mark as well for guidance in the petition of the MSE Graduate Studies Committee to deviate from these instructions. Mark may be reached at:

• (614) 292-7280
• E-mail
• Office: 477 Watts Hall