diff --git a/IPython/kernel/scripts/ipcluster.py b/IPython/kernel/scripts/ipcluster.py
index 06d79d7..4d8442a 100644
--- a/IPython/kernel/scripts/ipcluster.py
+++ b/IPython/kernel/scripts/ipcluster.py
@@ -331,15 +331,11 @@ class PBSEngineSet(BatchEngineSet):
     def __init__(self, template_file, **kwargs):
         BatchEngineSet.__init__(self, template_file, **kwargs)
 
-class SGEEngineSet(BatchEngineSet):
-    
-    submit_command = 'qsub'
-    delete_command = 'qdel'
-    job_id_regexp = '\d+'
-    
+class SGEEngineSet(PBSEngineSet):
+
     def __init__(self, template_file, **kwargs):
         BatchEngineSet.__init__(self, template_file, **kwargs)
-        self.num_engines = None
+        self._temp_file = None
 
     def parse_job_id(self, output):
         m = re.search(self.job_id_regexp, output)
@@ -347,48 +343,42 @@ class SGEEngineSet(BatchEngineSet):
             job_id = m.group()
         else:
             raise Exception("job id couldn't be determined: %s" % output)
-        self.job_id.append(job_id)
-        log.msg('Job started with job id: %r' % job_id)
+        self.job_id = job_id
+        log.msg('job started with job id: %r' % job_id)
         return job_id
-    
-    def kill_job(self, output):
-        log.msg(output)
-        return output
-    
-    def write_batch_script(self, i):
-        context = {'eid':i}
-        template = open(self.template_file, 'r').read()
-        log.msg('Using template for batch script: %s' % self.template_file)
-        script_as_string = Itpl.itplns(template, context)
-        log.msg('Writing instantiated batch script: %s' % self.batch_file+str(i))
-        f = open(self.batch_file+str(i),'w')
-        f.write(script_as_string)
-        f.close()
-        
+
     def start(self, n):
-        dlist = []
-        self.num_engines = 0
-        self.job_id = []
-        for i in range(n):
-            log.msg("starting engine: %d"%i)
-            self.write_batch_script(i)
-            d = getProcessOutput(self.submit_command,
-                                 [self.batch_file+str(i)],env=os.environ)
-            d.addCallback(self.parse_job_id)
-            d.addErrback(self.handle_error)
-            dlist.append(d)
-        return gatherBoth(dlist, consumeErrors=True)
-    
-    def kill(self):
-        dlist = []
-        for i in range(self.num_engines):
-            log.msg("killing job id: %d"%self.job_id[i])
-            d = getProcessOutput(self.delete_command,
-                                 [self.job_id[i]],env=os.environ)
-            d.addCallback(self.kill_job)
-            dlist.append(d)
-        return gatherBoth(dlist, consumeErrors=True)
-    
+        log.msg("starting %d engines" % n)
+        self._temp_file = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile()
+        regex = re.compile('#\$[ \t]+-t[ \t]+\d+')
+        if self.template_file:
+            log.msg("Using sge script %s" % self.template_file)
+            contents = open(self.template_file, 'r').read()
+            if not regex.search(contents):
+                log.msg("adding job array settings to sge script")
+                contents = ("#$ -t 1-%d\n" % n) + contents
+                self._temp_file.write(contents)
+                self.template_file = self._temp_file.name
+        else:
+            log.msg("using default ipengine sge script: \n%s" % 
+                    (sge_template % n))
+            self._temp_file.file.write(sge_template % n)
+            self.template_file = self._temp_file.name
+        self._temp_file.file.flush()
+        d = getProcessOutput(self.submit_command,
+                             [self.template_file],
+                             env=os.environ)
+        d.addCallback(self.parse_job_id)
+        d.addErrback(self.handle_error)
+        return d
+
+sge_template="""#$ -V
+#$ -t 1-%d
+#$ -N ipengine
+eid=$(($SGE_TASK_ID - 1))
+ipengine --logfile=ipengine${eid}.log
+"""
+
 sshx_template="""#!/bin/sh
 "$@" &> /dev/null &
 echo $!
@@ -696,6 +686,10 @@ def main_sge(args):
     # See if we are reusing FURL files
     if not check_reuse(args, cont_args):
         return
+
+    if args.sgescript and not os.path.isfile(args.sgescript):
+        log.err('SGE script does not exist: %s' % args.sgescript)
+        return
     
     cl = ControllerLauncher(extra_args=cont_args)
     dstart = cl.start()
@@ -877,7 +871,7 @@ def get_args():
         type=str, 
         dest='sgescript',
         help='SGE script template',
-        default='template.sge'
+        default='' # SGEEngineSet will create one if not specified
     )
     parser_sge.set_defaults(func=main_sge)