ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

The coursework options available in this field include:

• Fluids
• Structural Analysis
• Guidance and Control
• Propulsion
• Spacecraft design and testing
• Control system design and theory
• Applied aerodynamics, compressible flow, applied aeronautics
• Mechanics of composites
• Classical dynamics and space mechanics

The research options in Aeronautical Engineering that are available in various

universities can be classified broadly as below:

Development and application of numerical techniques in the

design of aerospace products. Methods are developed to solve
mathematical models of fluid flow ranging from the linearized
Aerospace Computing potential flow equations to the fully non-linear unsteady
Navier-Stokes equations.

Systems are used to analyze and design vehicles ranging from

sailboats to commercial airliners.
Involves the study of the interaction of compressible vortices
with aerodynamic surfaces, with emphasis on the noise
generated by such interactions.
Aero Fluid Mechanics
Also dedicated to basic studies of the fundamental properties
of turbulent flow. Areas of interest include measurements of
the structure of turbulent flames, direct numerical simulation
of free shear flows, and use of topological methods for
interpretation of complex three-dimensional vector fields.

Involves creation of experimental systems for developing

Aerospace Robotics advanced robot systems and new control techniques with
applications to free-flying space robots, to undersea and air
systems, to mobile ground robots, and to industrial
automation. Basically an interdepartmental program, with
specific application into aerospace.
 Basic research in applied aerodynamics and aircraft design.
Aircraft Work ranges from the development of computational and
Aerodynamics and experimental methods for aerodynamic analysis to studies of
Design unconventional aircraft concepts and new architectures for
multidisciplinary design optimization. Involves studies of
unusual aircraft configurations and novel flight control
concepts.
It is a multidisciplinary research field to develop new
turbulence models and associated numerical simulation
methodologies that will enable a new paradigm for the design
Turbulence of advanced systems in which turbulence plays a controlling
Simulations role. Research aims to develop simulation technology capable
of dealing with systems as complex as a full jet engine and
phenomena as complex as the plasma turbulence of a Hall
thruster.

Involved is studying and building systems for vehicle

navigation and attitude determination. Since the GPS satellite
GPS & Navigation navigation system became operational in 1993, there is
increasing interest in an array of applications for this
technology.

Guidance and Control includes a wide spectrum of specialized

research for making and testing novel instruments and control
systems of extremely high precision. Applications include
aerospace vehicle guidance and control, sensing instrument
Guidance and Control
development and applications, internal combustion engine
feedback for improved efficiency and reduced pollution,
robotics for manufacturing and operations in space, precision
engineering and fabrication, and ultraprecision machine tool
design and development.

Hybrid Systems Research involves designing algorithms for

the analysis and control of complex aerodynamic systems.
Research ranges from systems design and control for the next
Hybrid Systems generation of Air Traffic Systems, through the development of
algorithms for automatic flight-mode switching in flight-
management systems, to the design and control of a team of
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Research encompasses composite structural design, including

Structures and vibration, stability, impact damage, and environmental effects;
Composites biological applications of composites; grid structures;
composites in sports equipment; composite manufacturing;
fiber optic and piezoelectric sensors; structural health
monitoring; and smart structures.
 BIOMEDICAL OR BIOENGINEERING, BIOINFORMATICS

Biomedical engineering integrates physical,

chemical, mathematical, and computational
sciences and engineering principles to study
biology, medicine, behavior, and health. It
advances fundamental concepts; creates
knowledge from the molecular to the organ systems level; and develops innovative
biologics, materials, processes, implants, devices and informatics approaches for the
prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, for patient rehabilitation, and for
improving health.

There are 2 MS programs of note, one in bioengineering and the other in bioinformatics.

The coursework options available in this field include:

• Cardiovascular mechanics and biology

• Biomaterials and tissue engineering
• Neuro-engineering
• Biomedical imaging and informatics
• Cellular and biomolecular engineering
• Informatics

The research options are very specialized and the most commonly available ones are:

New computational approaches to gathering and analyzing data

must be developed to take advantage of our wealth of biological
Biomedical
information. Integrating this information into models of
Computation
biological activity and interaction will increase our predictive
capacities, and enable us to control, manipulate, and create
biological systems.

Researchers working in biomedical design invent new

technologies for life sciences research and clinical applications.
Biomedical Devices Bioengineers are helping to translate advances in the life
sciences into devices that directly impact human welfare and the
future of scientific research. Examples include MEMS and
microfluidic devices, synthetic bone materials, neural
prosthetic systems, Computer assisted surgery, etc.
 Imaging enables researchers to track the movements of
molecules, cells, fluids, gases, or sometimes even whole
Biomedical Imaging organisms. Imaging techniques such as x-ray crystallography
and magnetic resonance imaging can also yield information
about important biological structures from single proteins to the
human brain. The frontiers of biomedical imaging promise to
make diagnosis of disease more accurate and less invasive, and
to improve our understanding of disease.

Molecular and Cellular Engineering uses engineering principles

to understand and construct cellular and molecular circuits with
useful properties and can also be used to enhance the cellular
Cell & Molecular
production of pharmaceuticals, delivery of genes to a particular
Engineering
cell type and tissue production. At the cellular level, metabolic
engineering can create cellular biosensors that can monitor the
environment for toxins or other specific molecules.

Regenerative medicine seeks to understand how and why stem

cells differentiate into specialized tissues and to harness this
potential for a wide variety of medical applications. Advances in
Regenerative Medicine regenerative medicine have the potential to prevent birth
defects, retard damage to diseased tissues, repair injured tissues,
enhance the metabolic or biomechanical function of tissues, and
manipulate normal and abnormal tissue growth processes.
Research in regenerative medicine occurs from the molecular
level to clinical applications.

Recent advances in molecular biology, genomics and

proteomics have resulted in high-throughput technologies that
generate vast amounts of data. This data can enable the
invention of new drugs and therapies to fight human diseases.
Informatics Computational methods of bioinformatics are being developed
to organize, mine, and interpret these overwhelming amounts of
data. Specialized research includes gene finding, gene regulation
and protein trafficking to metabolic networks and processes of
cell-cell adhesion and cell deformation to blood flow dynamics,
atherosclerotic plaque mechanics, bone mechanics, and drug
delivery in the eye.
 CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Varying from uni to uni, the various concentrations in this

field are either offered as separate programs or as major
tracks under the MS in Civil Engineering. or MS in
Environmental Engineering. Some schools offer an MS in
architecture under the civil dept. also. We have categorized
it separately.

The major coursework highlights include:

• Environmental and Water Studies

• Construction Engineering and Management
• Structural Engineering and Geomechanics

Specialized Research areas have been classified as under:

The program emphasizes managing the close relationship

Construction
among activities throughout the life-cycle of a project, from
Engineering and
initial planning to ultimate disposal, decommissioning and/or
management
rehabilitation. Involves building construction, architecture, and
city planning programs.

Research opportunities in air, land and water science &

Environmental engineering. The principal focus areas include: environmental
planning and biotechnology; water quality and treatment; wastewater
management reclamation and reuse; hazardous and solid waste engineering;
ground water modeling and treatment; air quality monitoring,
pollution control and modeling; environmental sciences; and
industrial ecology.

Environmental fluid
The focus of the Environmental Fluid Mechanics & Water
mechanics and water
Resources Program is on water, air, and land systems, with
resources
emphasis on the science and engineering applications of
environmental transport processes and sustainable resource
management.
 Geosystems engineering merges geotechnics, geophysics,
geomechanics, and geology and focuses on the behavior of
natural materials in engineered systems. Research includes
Geosystems advanced techniques for site and material characterization;
Engineering constitutive and micromechanical modeling; natural and man-
made hazard mitigation; engineered soils; biotechnology;
geotechnical aspects of resource recovery; and foundation
design, slope stability, and excavation support.

Structural This program offers graduate instruction and research in

Engineering, structural analysis and design, behavior of structural systems,
mechanics and earthquake engineering, engineering science and mechanics,
materials high-performance materials, computer-aided engineering, and
intelligent engineering learning environments.

The study of transportation, must not only focus on efficient and

Transportation safe design and operations but also on the link between travel
systems engineering behavior, urban form, and environmental quality. The technical
core courses include urban transportation planning, traffic
engineering, design of highway and transit facilities,
transportation administration, and transportation statistics.

• Hazardous substance research

Misc. specialization list
under Civil and
Environmental engg.
• Environmental biotechnology
• Water quality control
• Building energy – design and management
• Maintenence systems
• Earthquake engineering
• Marine science and technology
• Particulate media research
• Oceanography
 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

The major coursework options available in Chemical

Engineering are:

• Complex Fluids
• Environmental studies
• Biochemistry
• Materials
• MEMS-Nano based studies
• Modeling and simulation
• Reaction engineering
• Thermodynamics

The research work options widely available are highly inter-disciplinary. They are:

Processes as diverse as chemical production, bioreaction,

creation of advanced materials, protein separation, and
Thermodynamics and
environmental treatment are governed by classical concepts of
molecular
thermodynamics. Research is involved in predicting material
computation
properties from molecular structure, applying quantum
mechanics to catalyst design, supercritical fluid processing, the
behavior of complex fluid structures, etc

The research includes experimental testing and analytical and

computational modeling; the applications range among an
enormous variety of mechanical, chemical, and biological
Chemical transport processes. Related to polymer flow and processing, diffusion in
processes complex fluids, defect formation and evolution in near-
crystalline materials, microfluidics, fluid instability, transport in
living tissue, numerical solution of field equations, and many
other areas of transport phenomena.

Research focus is mainly in catalyst design, complex chemical

Catalysis and reaction synthesis, bioreactor design, surface chemistry, miniature
engineering reactors, chemical reaction networks, and many other areas of
chemical reaction engineering.

Materials related research field with work in polymer kinetics,

rheology, processing, compounding, specialized applications,
Polymers
biodegradable polymers, self-assembly and patterning, and
many other areas of polymer (material) engineering.
 The inorganic compounds found in nature are the basis for new
materials made by modifying molecular composition. Research
Materials involved in plasma etching, thin-film chemical vapor deposition,
crystal growth, nano-crystalline structure, molecular simulation,
scaffolds for bone and soft tissue regeneration, biocompatible
polymers and related fields.
Structure is the basis for function, and by manipulating tiny
length scales, the resulting nanostructure makes available new
Surfaces and capabilities, and thus new technologies and products. Related
structures research in colloids, emulsions, surfactants, structured fluids,
thin films, liquid crystals, sol-gel processing, surface patterning,
nanostructured materials, surface chemistry, and many other
areas of nanotechnology and surface science.

• Energy and Environmental engineering

Misc. specialization list • Chemical systems design and engineering
under Chemical
• Cryogenics
Engineering
• Combustion research
• Air control and aerosol technology
• Application of MEMS to chemical sensing devices

ARCHITECTURE

The related coursework and project-work

options at the Graduate level in M.Arch are:

• Structures
• Modern architecture
• Architecture design
• Urban design
• Contemporary construction
• Environmental technology

Architecture allows a lot of Co-op opportunities and for students to work on related
projects. M.Arch prepares grad students for architectural practice and licensing. An M.S
in architecture is also available for people without an undergraduate architecture degree
and is basically a theoretical degree. The research concentrations include architectural
theory; computer visualization, historical interpretation, human-environment studies,
interior design, urban design studies.
 ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER
COMPUTER ENGINEERING

ECE is one of the vastest fields available in the US,

especially at the Graduate level. As specializations
are many, please find the coursework tracks and
research options listed together. I have tried to
categorize all the specializations into 10 broad areas,
with details listed next to them.

• Biosensors/BioMEMS
Bioengineering • Neuroengineering
• Medical Imaging and Signal Processing

• Computer Architecture
• Embedded Systems and Software
• Design Tools, Test and Verification
Computer Engineering
• Computer Networks and Internetworking
• Distributed Systems and Software
• VLSI Design

• DSP Theory
• Image and Video Signal Processing
• Multimedia Signal Processing and Networking
Digital Signal • Signal Processing for Communications and Security
processing • Radar and Array Processing
• Speech and Audio Processing
• Statistical Signal Processing
• Hardware/Software Systems for Signal Processing
• Power System Monitoring, Analysis Protection,
Operation and Control
• Distributed Generation
• Power System Simulation and Visualization
• High Voltage Engineering and Power System
Electric power
Components
• Electric Machine Control, Condition and Monitoring and
Protection
• Power Electronics
 • Microwave Circuits
• Remote Sensing of Obscured Targets
• Radio Science, Planetary Remote Sensing, and Space
Communications
Electromagnetics • Analysis and Design of Antennas
• Computational Techniques for Electromagnetics
• Signal Integrity in Digital and Mixed Signal Systems
• Terrestrial Radio Wave Propagation

• MEMs Circuit Technology

• Analog VLSI
Electronic design and • Radio Frequency/Wireless Integrated Circuits (RFIC)
technology • High Speed Mixed Signal
• Analog

• Microsystems and Nanosystems

• Photovoltaics
Microelectronics and • Microelectronics Systems Packaging
Microsystems • Manufacturing and Gigascale Integration
• Compound Semiconductors
• Biomedical Microsystems

• Optical Communication Networks

• Nonlinear Optics
Optics and Photonics
• Photonics and optoelectronics
• Diffractive and holographic optics

• Mathematical systems theory

• Discrete event systems and hybrid system
Systems and Controls • Nonlinear control
– Robotics application • Computer vision
• Intelligent control
• Sensor technologies

• Wireless Communications and Networking

• Communication Theory
• Information Theory and Adaptive Systems
• Multimedia Networking
Telecommunications
• Inter-networking, Network Management, and Network
Security
• Optical Networks
 COMPUTER SCIENCE

CS has a wide range of specializations available

at the graduate level. Herein I have classified the
coursework options into 10 broad categories and
the research areas into 12 categories. The research
specializations have been listed along each of the
broad classifications.

The coursework options can be broadly classified as:

• Numerical Analysis/Scientific computation

• Systems
• Software theory
• Theoretical CS
• Artificial Intelligence
• Human computer interaction
• Real world computing
• Information systems
• Graphics & visualization
• Networks, communications and security

• High Performance Parallel Architectures

Hardware/Computer • Concurrent VLSI Architecture
Architecture • High level design
• Neural prosthetic systems

• Database Systems Implementation

• Object-Oriented Database Models and Systems
• Temporal, Spatial, and Active Databases
Database Systems
• Parallel and Distributed Database Systems and
Applications
• Large scale interpolation and composition

• Basic graphics
• Visualization techniques
• 3D modeling techniques and systems
Graphics and
• Medical imaging and processing
visualization
• Computer vision
• Animation
• Virtual Reality
 • Mobile and ubiquitous computing
• Conventional HCI
• Collaborative computing
Human Computer
• User interface design
Interaction
• GUI design
• Information visualization

• Cryptography
• Network security
Information security • Secure computer systems
• Information security system design

• Computer vision
• Pattern recognition
• Cognitive modeling
• Machine learning
Intelligent systems – • Autonomous systems
AI and robotics • Mobile Robotics
• Distributed Control Algorithms
• Artificial intelligence
• Knowledge systems
• Geometric computation

• Internetworking architecture and protocol

Networking and • Broadband networking systems
communications • Performance evaluation of communication systems
• Networks in information systems
• Multimedia networking

• Design and implementation of compilers

Programming • Programming language design
language and • Advanced compiler analysis and optimization
compilers • Object oriented systems and languages
• Parallel computing

• Program analysis
• Software generating, testing and maintenance
Software methodology
• Software architecture and design
and engineering
• Software infrastructures
• Software development – processes and systems
 • Advanced operating systems
• High performance computer architectures
Systems • CIS circuits and design
• Reliable computing systems

• Computability, Algorithms, and Complexity

• Design and Analysis of Algorithms
Algorithms & Theory • Graph Algorithms
• Approximation Algorithms
• Randomized Algorithms

Probabilistic methods
and game theoretic • Theoretical methods and systems
methods