Recive a PhD in 3 (years)

As I am nearing the end of my first semester in the PhD program at UMass Lowell, I have been looking forward to what requirements I would need to fill to graduate. The idea is that if I stay on track, I can graduate in 3 years. Basically, there are three major steps in the PhD program:

1. The Qualifying Exam
2. Research Proposal
3. Research Defense

As these steps need to be done in order, the idea to the fast track is getting the Qualifying Exam out of the way ASAP. This is probably not good advice for most situations. A good idea is to take at least one class from every professor in the department. Since I have my bachelor's degree in the same department, I have already taken classes from most of the professors.

I hope to take the qualifying exam next spring or next fall. The qualifying exam is two four hour tests, one open book, and one closed book. These exams are comprised of questions from every major topic area. For plastics engineering, they are: processing, materials, properties and design.

Here is a better description from the UML Website:


"The qualifying examination will be administered in January (and in May if there is sufficient demand for a second exam). It will be a two day examination covering the following topics: plastics processing, design, properties, and materials. Any changes to the format will be indicated by the doctoral coordinator when the specific examination date is announced. The student will receive a grade of pass or fail. A student who fails the exam on a marginal basis may make a second attempt with permission of the Graduate Study Committee. All decisions of the Plastics Engineering Department regarding passing of the qualifying exam are final."

http://www.uml.edu/college/engineering/Plastics/Programs%20of%20Study/Graduate/deng.html

I will give more details about the other two steps once I get past the qualifying exam.

Thanks for reading!

I'm back on the blog...

It's been a little while since my last post. I have stepped away from blogging for a bit, but I think I'm ready to get back to it. Things have certainly changed a bit, here is a summary of what has happened in the past 7 months.

I finished up my bachelor's degree in plastics engineering. I was offered a fantastic position as a research assistant. I stopped searching for industry positions. I applied for graduate school at UMass Lowell. I was accepted into the PhD program in plastics engineering. I extended my co-op over the summer. Came back to school, I am only taking 3 classes per semester now. Now, I am getting into the home stretch of my first semester in grad school.
I am really excited about my research; I am working on a multivariate in mold sensor for injection molding. I will explain my project in more detail in the future. Being a research assistant is the best job I have had to this date. It is like taking school and work and mashing them into one.

I am really excited that winter is right around the corner, I can't wait to get out snowboarding! I am currently looking into classes for next semester and internships for the summer, so things are looking pretty promising so far.
Look forward to more posts in the future!