Certificate Programs
The James Worth Bagley College of Engineering offers certificates in the following areas.
- Automotive
- Computational Biology
- Information Assurance
- Materials
Certificates are available to students who meet all admission requirements; students must be admitted to Mississippi State University in order to pursue certificates. Prerequisite courses are required in order to qualify for the certificate programs (normally satisfied at the undergraduate level). Some engineering certificate programs may be available to non-engineering graduate students. Please refer to the specific certificate of interest for prerequisite requirements and certificates available to non-engineering graduate students.
All certificates require that a student take a minimum of 15 hours of academic credit (five courses) in an approved certificate area and may be earned by completing selected courses from a list of qualifying courses designated by a representative faculty member or committee. Hours earned in acquiring a certificate may be counted toward completion of an advanced engineering degree. A graduate student must achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on courses taken to acquire a certificate. Upon satisfactory completion of the required coursework, the student will become a candidate for certification. The MSU transcript will indicate successful completion of the certificate program. Contact information is provided below for each certificate program.
Automotive Engineering
The Automotive Engineering Certificate enhances the education of a student in topical subject matter related specifically to automotive engineering. This certificate was developed in support of the automotive manufacturing companies in the State of Mississippi to provide students an opportunity to focus on engineering knowledge and issues related to the design of vehicle systems and their production. The program is multi-disciplinary, allowing students from all areas of engineering to participate. Coursework will be selected from Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. All students are required to participate in a vehicle design/construction experience which must be approved by the director of the Automotive Engineering Certificate and will be designated as a 3-hour Directed Individual Study (4000 for undergraduate students/7000 for graduate students) course. Membership in the student section (or appropriate level) of the Society of Automotive Engineers is strongly encouraged. An Automotive Engineering Committee comprised of faculty members from various engineering departments who have an interest in the automotive industry will administer the certificate in conjunction with the Office of the Dean of Engineering. For additional information, contact Dr. Randy Follett at follett@ece.msstate.edu.
Computational Biology
The Computational Biology Certificate combines coursework in computer science and biology to offer students a formal program of study to address how biological systems work by analyzing the data made available with high throughput biology. Students will gain fundamental skills in computing integrated with biology (i.e., application techniques to understand the structures, functions, dynamics, and evolution of living organisms) and will become competitive for high-end employment in emerging technical fields. The well-defined program will provide students with recognition of their training in the area and will allow students from diverse disciplines to learn together. The program will be administered by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Office of the Dean of Engineering. The certificate is awarded by the Bagley College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. For additional information, contact Dr. Andy Perkins at perkins@msstate.edu.
Information Assurance
The Information Assurance Certificate provides educational coursework in the areas of information assurance and data security. MSU is certified as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance (IA) by the National Security Agency; the IA program of instruction has been certified by the Committee on National Security Standards (CNSS) against the National Training Standard for Information Systems Security (INFOSEC) Professionals—NSTISSI No. 4011 and the National Training Standard for Information Systems Security Officers (ISSO)—NSTISSI No. 4014. The curriculum for the certificate conforms to the Federal training standards in this area. A faculty member from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering’s Center for Computer Security Research (CCSR) will be appointed annually to administer the program. The certificate is jointly administered through the CCSR, the Dean of Engineering, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. An application form is available at http://security.cse.msstate.edu/IAcertificateappl.pdf. For additional information, contact Dr. Drew Hamilton at hamilton@cci.msstate.edu.
Materials
The Materials Certificate recognizes the completion of an organized plan of study in the interdisciplinary materials related areas. Courses for the certificate cover topics on advanced composites, biomaterials, materials processing, polymers, and electrical materials. Through the combination of research and engineering, students may choose to specialize their certificate in any two additional areas of study that include: aerospace, biomedical, chemistry, computer, environmental, forest products, mechanical, and physics. The Materials Engineering Working Group (MWG) will serve as the advisory committee to oversee and recommend courses in the certificate group. The Materials Certificate is administered by the Dean of Engineering. Additional information, including course selection, may be accessed at http://www.bagley.msstate.edu/research/materials. For specific information, contact Dr. Rooban Thirumalai, Materials Engineering Coordinator, at rthirumalai@i2at.msstate.edu.