PhD in Engineering

Master’s degree from accredited university, excellent GPA, English proficiency test (TOEFL/IELTS), three recommendation letters, research statement, personal interview

Case 1: M.Sc. from AUC

Case 1A: M.Sc. in the same Engineering discipline from AUC.

A candidate may receive up to 24 hours of credit to be counted towards the Ph.D. degree

Case 1B: M.Sc. in a different Engineering discipline from AUC.

A candidate may receive up to 18 hours of credit to be counted towards the Ph.D. degree

Case 2: M.Sc. achieved outside of AUC

Case 2A: M.Sc. in the same Engineering discipline achieved outside of AUC.

A candidate may receive up to 18 hours of credit to be counted towards the Ph.D. degree

Case 2B: M.Sc. in a different Engineering discipline achieved outside of AUC.

A candidate may receive up to 12 hours of credit to be counted towards the Ph.D. degree

A plan of study will be developed under guidance of the academic advisor of the student at the time of admission and may be modified later on by her/his Research Advisory Committee. Courses are to be selected from the following, noting that at least eighteen credit hours of course work must be earned at AUC as earlier indicated:

I – Core Courses
Core courses are selected from an area outside of the specialization of the student.

Admission Cases 1A and 1B: at least 3 credit hours.

Admission Cases 2A and 2B: at least 6 credit hours.

BIOT 521/5206 – Fundamentals of Bioinformatics (3 cr.)
CSCE 565/5261 – Advanced Artificial Intelligence (3 cr.)
CSCE 527/5262 – Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms (3 cr.)
CSCE 561/5263 – Knowledge Engineering (3 cr.)
CSCE 664/6261 – Advanced Data Mining (3 cr.)
ECNG 510/5210 – Advanced Solid-State Devices (3 cr.)
ECNG 522/5230 – Probability and Stochastic Processes with Applications (3 cr.)
ENGR 000/5101 – Cross Talk: Implementation Science and Engineering (3 cr.)
ENGR 511/5202 – Computational Methods in Engineering (3 cr.)
ENGR 518/5204 – Engineering Statistics (3 cr.)
ENGR 512/5210 – Experimental Methods in Engineering (3 cr.)
ENVE 562/5251 – Unit Operations in Environmental Engineering (3 cr.)
NANO 502/5202 – Simulation and Modeling for Nanoscale Materials and Systems (3 cr.)
NANO 503/5203 – Advanced Testing and Characterization Techniques (3 cr.)
NANO 504/5204 – Fabrication of Nanomaterials For Films And Devices (3 cr.)
MACT 604/6111 – Advanced Numerical Methods (3 cr.)
MACT 605/6121 – Advanced Probability with Engineering Applications (3 cr.)
MENG 543/5243 – Systems Modeling and Optimization (3 cr.)
MENG 681/6241 – Stochastic Simulation (3 cr.)
PHYS 502/5023 – Classical Electrodynamics I (3 cr.)
RCSS 504/5204 – Applied Estimation (3 cr.)
RCSS 541/5241 – Smart Systems and Computational Intelligence (3 cr.)
BIOT 621/6207 – Systems and Computational Biology (3 cr.)
PHDS/PHDE 612/6216 – Design and analysis of Experiments (3 cr.)
II- Specialization Courses
Dependent on the admission status, the student will take the following number of credit hours in their relevant area of specialization:

Admission Case 1:

Case 1A: at least 6 credit hours.
Case 1B: at least 12 credit hours.

Admission Case 2:

Case 2A: at least 9 credit hours.
Case 2B: at least 12 credit hours.

5000-level masters courses offered by the graduate programs of Construction Engineering (CENG), Environmental Engineering (ENVE), Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECNG), Mechanical Engineering (MENG) and Nanotechnology (NANO) are considered specialization courses. At least one of the courses taken in the specialization must be a 6000-level course relevant to the student’s specialization from the following list:

• ECNG 619/6219 – Design and Analysis of High-Performance Integrated Circuits (3 cr.)
• ECNG 625/6235 – Detection, Classification, and Estimation Theory (3 cr.)
• ECNG 661/6211 – Nanoscale CMOS (3 cr.)
• ECNG 694/6930 – Advanced Selected Topics in Electronics and Communications Engineering (3 cr.)
• ENVE 662/6250 – Advanced Treatment Processes (3 cr.)
• ENVE 680/6910 – Independent Study in Environmental Engineering (3 cr. Max.)
• ENVE 692/6930 – Advanced Selected Topics in Environmental Engineering (3 cr.)
• CENG 611/6211 – Structural Stability (3 cr.)
• CENG 612/6212 – Structural Dynamics (3 cr.)
• CENG 613/6213 – Earthquake Engineering and Seismic Design (3 cr.)
• CENG 631/6222 – Specialty Materials for Construction (3 cr.)
• CENG 632/6231 – Highways Pavement Systems and Design (3 cr.)
• CENG 679/6223 – Preserving, Repair and Sustainability of Structures (3 cr.)
• CENG 680/6291 – Independent Study in Structural and Material Engineering (3 cr. max.)
• CENG 692/6292 – Advanced Selected Topics in Structural and Material Engineering (3 cr.)
• MENG 615/6255 – Continuum Mechanics (3 cr.)
• MENG 620/6270 – Nonlinear and Adaptive Control (3 cr.)
• MENG 660/6261 – Sustainability of Thermal Systems (3 cr.)
• MENG 670/6262 – Advanced Transport Phenomena (3 cr.)

• MENG 000/6263 – Advanced Measurements in Thermofluids (3 cr.)

• NANO 621/6121 – Nanophotonics (3 cr.)
• NANO 642/6242 – Nanocatalysis (3 cr.)
• RCSS 692/6930 – Advanced Selected Topics in Robotics, Control and Smart Systems (RCSS) (3 cr.)

Environmental Engineering students can also register for online graduate course offerings through a cooperative program between AUC’s Department of Construction and Architectural Engineering and lowa State University’s Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering. A maximum of six credit hours can be earned as such.Sample courses are as follows:

CE 521: Environmental Biotechnology
CE 522: Water Pollution Control Processes
CE 569: Environmental Geotechnology
CE 571: Surface Water Hydrology
III – Dissertation and Seminars (Minimum of 36 credit hours)
Dissertation work includes completion of:

Graduate Thesis Seminar 3cr.
Research Dissertation Guidance, a minimum of 33 cr. (CENG 6290, ECNG 6980, ENVE 6980, MENG 6980 or RCSS 6980)

A student may register for up to 12 research dissertation guidance credits while conducting research at an entity outside AUC. Conducting research outside AUC is subject to recommendation from the research advisory committee of the student, and an approval of the PhD program director,as per the latest PhD guidlines. The dissertation supervisor must be fully involved in any such research. Additionally, evidence of demonstrable collaboration between the dissertation supervisor and the entity outside AUC where this research is to be conducted, as well as the contribution of this external entity to this research, must be provided by the dissertation supervisor to the PhD program director prior to the proposal defense.

After completing 33 credit hours of dissertation, the course may be taken for one credit hour each semester until completion of the program requirements.

A PhD guidelines manual will detail advising, the qualifying examination, the proposal defense, and the dissertation defense.