Program Structure and Requirements (with M.Sc. Degree)
The Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering (AERO) program (for Candidates with a Master’s Degree) consists of a minimum of 60 credit hours. The required program credits are distributed as follows: 3 credits of Program Core courses, 21 credits of Program Elective courses, 36 credits for a PhD Research Dissertation and two zero-credit PhD Research Seminar courses. The table below presents a summary of the Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering program structure and requirements. All the Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering program courses, with the exception of the Seminar in Research Methods and the PhD Research Dissertation, have a credit rating of three credits each.
Summary of Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Degree Program Structure and Requirements (for Candidates with a Master’s Degree)
|
Category
|
Credits Required
|
|
Program Core
|
3
|
|
Program Electives
|
21
|
|
CEPS 703 PhD Research Seminar I
|
0
|
|
CEPS 704 PhD Research Seminar II
|
0
|
|
AERO 795 PhD Written Qualifying Exam
|
0
|
|
AERO 796 PhD Research Proposal Exam
|
0
|
|
AERO 799 PhD Research Dissertation
|
36
|
|
Total
|
60
|
Program Core (3 credit hours)
Students must complete the core courses listed below.
Core Courses
Program Electives (21 credit hours)
Students must complete a minimum of seven technical elective courses from the list below. Subject to the the Advisor’s approval, up to two elective courses (6 credit hours) can be taken from another relevant PhD program at KU.
Electives
| AERO 701 | Nonlinear Structural Dynamics | 4 |
| AERO 702 | Advanced Composite Materials and Structures | 3 |
| AERO 703 | Numerical Methods in Aerofluids | 3 |
| AERO 711 | Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue | 3 |
| AERO 712 | Damage Mechanics of Solids and Structures | 3 |
| AERO 722 | Theories of Plates and Shells | 3 |
| AERO 723 | Advanced Combustion | 3 |
| AERO 761 | Advanced Process Dynamics and Control | 3 |
| AERO 764 | Optimal Control | 3 |
| AERO 765 | Advanced Orbit Design for Planetary Missions | 3 |
| AERO 771 | Engineering Sustainability in Aerospace Systems | 3 |
| AERO 777 | Aeroelasticity and Flight Loads | 3 |
| AERO 794 | Selected Topics in Aerospace Engineering | 3 To 4 |
PhD Research Dissertation (minimum 36 credit hours)
The PhD in Aerospace Engineering program requires students to complete a minimum of 36 credit hours of PhD Research Dissertation that involves novel, creative, research-oriented work under the direct supervision of a full-time faculty advisor from the Department of Aerospace Engineering and at least one other full-time faculty member who serves as a co-advisor. The outcome of research should demonstrate the synthesis of information into knowledge in a form that may be used by others. The research findings must be documented in a formal Dissertation and defended successfully in a viva voce examination. Furthermore, the research must lead to publishable quality scholarly journal articles.
Dissertation
Total Credit Hours: 60