AbaNader
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Posts posted by AbaNader
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This talk by Gary Balas is a good indicator of the state-of-the-art in flight control from the perspective of industry.
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There is a big difference between 90% of controls area research and actual industrial practice. Most of the industrially relevant theoretic work in the field was largely completed by the time backstepping came onto the field (early 90's). With flight control, industry is 30-40 years behind the current theoretical state-of-the-art (for a simple reason: if it works, don't break it).
Most control theoretic research is so removed from industrial application that a PhD in control theory will not get you anywhere except academia. Even there, with tightening budgets, there is a reevaluation going on in terms of true value research. The mathematics is beautiful but when it stops bringing in money, you start having trouble.
Your best bet is either to stick to the EE departments and focus more on embedded systems, avionics, and the actually nitty gritty. Otherwise, if you really enjoy the theoretical work, try to make sure you have another card up your sleeve (like fluids, elasticity, EM, etc.) since most "cutting-edge" and applied control work in the future will be highly interdiscplinary/multidisciplinary. Instead of bringing the control guys in the end and giving them a ready mathematical model, more and more work at the cutting-edge is being done with the control experts in from the beginning. These types of control experts are difficult to find because they need to be brilliant in multiple areas and have supple neurons due to the constant learning.
Much more can be said on the topic.
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I have a 3.5 undergraduate GPA from a large state school (top 100, nothing great) and a 4.0 graduate GPA from a top 10 engineering school. I have 2-3 conference papers and a journal paper in a good respected journal on which I am the first author. Two of my three recommendations are solid but not from any particular stalwarts in the field. My third recommendation is good but I doubt great because its someone I took two classes with in my undergrad, only. My GRE I took two years ago gave me a 760 on the quant and 650 on the verbal. I will do it again this fall.
I am applying to the doctoral program. My expertise so far is control but I am more interested in active flow control and fluid-structure interaction. They have professors that exactly match my interests.
Should I bother? Input from current Caltech students and/or current/previous applicants would be great.
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Hello,
I am thinking of doing a Masters of Science in Engineering - Interdisciplinary from Purdue (non-thesis, all course work). Are non-thesis interdisciplinary degrees looked down upon in academia? I am doing this as a stepping stone to getting into a good PhD program of my choice (Caltech hopefully) with funding.
My undergraduate degree is in Mechanical Engineering but I am more interested in Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering. It seems I can't get a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering if I don't have a Bachelors in that field; hence me going for a masters in interdisciplinary engineering.
Also, I want to do this through Purdue's professional education program (100% long distance/online). Does anyone has experience with this or something similar? I'm a little apprehensive about the whole thing because it seems to be "too good to be true" and don't want to get jipped in the long run.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
IH
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easy there...
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WOW, I'm speechless...
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I am fatigued...
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1 reject, waiting for the rest of the 3 to reject me...trust me adam_cs, I know how it feels...keep your head up and hope for the best...
Go outside and do something to make yourself feel better...
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Thanks for all the input everyone. One of the professors I emailed replied to me. I had communicated with him around an year ago about something not related to me applying to his school. He said he remembered me and he said the graduate committee will respond soon. He didn't say anything about whether he wanted me to work with him or not nor anything about my admission. What am I to make of this??
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Tarot Reading
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Vaccination FAIL
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plant feet
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Thanks for the advice everyone. The professor that sent me the above email was from my safety school. You can imagine how I feel about the rest now...
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There aren't any programs with deadlines this late. I contacted a few professors but haven't gotten a response from them yet. I wish I looked at the students these professors had before applying.
Gosh, I'm screwed...
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I emailed all the departments I applied to asking for when they make their decisions. All of the departments replied except one so I emailed a professor I wanted to work with in this department and asked him when to expect a decision. This was the first time I was emailing him and basically told him I am applying to his department for the chance to work with him and that I mentioned his name in my SOP for that school. This is what he replied:
"Dear -----------, thank you for your inquiry.
Graduate admission to our department is HEAVILY based upon having a professor agree to take on a student. We want students to already have a professor assigned BEFORE they get here, so it is highly unusual to admit a student without one.
I myself am not taking any new students this entire year, because I have 10 already and that is too many to work with effectively.
Therefore, you will need to find another professor here to accept you as a new student.
Admission decisions will be made shortly, so you should be hearing from the department soon.
Sincerely,
Dr. -------------"
This really freaked me out and I replied to him asking if there was anyone else I can work with. The thing is, I chose the places I applied to based on the professors I want to work with and didn't end up applying to many places (only four). I already got rejected by my top choice and this one is counting in as a reject as well. I'm panicking now, should I have contacted professors I mentioned in my SOP before I applied? What should I do now? I quickly sent out emails to some of them, but haven't gotten a response yet.
I feel like a rotten tomato.
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Good one, it sure isn't rocket science but sometimes rocket combustion is more predictable... :-)
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I've applied to Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and GA Tech for their MS programs. I already got a nice soft reject from Princeton. Waiting it out very impatiently. Anyone else in the same boat? Any news? Everything is dead on my side, very frustrating.
Aerospace Engineering
in Engineering
Posted
Some interesting recruiter rankings.
UIUC not offering a thesis masters means they expect you to pay. Do not expect a TA position in the first year either.
Purdue is the better school in Aerospace for sure. Again, do not expect a TA position in the first year (but try!). Since you are a thesis student, you may get lucky with an RA.
Getting funding at the MS level, especially at public schools, is usually difficult.