The Donald W. Clayton Graduate Program in Engineering Science allows students to pursue graduate study and research in interdisciplinary areas that cross two or more disciplines in different departments or in program areas not currently associated with an existing department.

The interdisciplinary program spans the fields of engineering, science, business, and even law. In principle, a program of study in almost any imaginable concentration area in engineering can be designed. In practice, many students have developed programs in one of three concentration areas: materials science and engineering, environmental & technological hazards engineering, and information technology & engineering. Another area of specialization, bioengineering, is currently attracting student interest and encompasses the interface between engineering and biological science.

The concentration area in materials science & engineering involves course work in mechanical, electrical, chemical and civil engineering, computer science, chemistry, and physics. The environmental & technological hazards engineering concentration area has components primarily from chemical and civil engineering, and environmental science, and secondarily from industrial, biological, and petroleum engineering, chemistry, business and sometimes law. The information technology & engineering concentration area encompasses the disciplines of industrial, electrical and mechanical engineering, and computer science, information systems and decision science, library information systems, and others. Likewise, bioengineering concentration area involves agricultural, civil, mechanical, chemical, and industrial engineering, chemistry, and the biological sciences.

The Ph.D. in Engineering Science with a concentration in biological engineering is the terminal degree in this field which includes bioprocess, biotechnical, biomedical, agricultural, bioenvironmental engineering and related areas. The concentration in construction management includes research in several major areas: advanced material and sustainability, building science for disaster-resistant communities, build environment informatics, capital facility management, and interdisciplinary research in construction.

Degrees awarded through this program do not provide a direct route to professional engineering registration and practice. Students with degrees in a pure or applied science, who are considering registration as professional engineers, are advised to consider pursuing a second baccalaureate degree in engineering.