iMechanica - Recruiting PhD students to study Solid Mechanics at Harvard - Comments

Re: study mechanics at Harvard

Zhigang Suo — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:47:06 -0500

Hi: I have not worked in the area you've mentioned. But many areas of theoretical mechanics are interconnected. Skills picked in doing one project will be useful in doing other projects.

Each year we have a large number of applicants, but we only have space to admit a small fraction of applicants. The admission is done on a competitive basis.

Hello Sir, wanting to know about PhD study more

tanmay-mandal — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:21:16 -0500

Hello Sir,

The thread is much more than just useful which prompted me to write in to you.

I will be completing my master's this year and is enthusiastically in search of researchers who are working in theoretical aspect of solid mechanics. What I learn till now is that this field is gradually becoming saturated, though there might be areas that are yet untapped. Do correct me if I am wrong. Sir, my master's thesis focuses on studying the effect of nonlocal elasticity to predict the vibrational mechanics in single-walled carbon nanotubes (cylinder and sphere).

Please let me know of any oppurtunity for me to work on theoretical area at Harvard.

Tanmay Mandal

IIT Kanpur (India)

We only accept applications for admission in the Fall

Zhigang Suo — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:38:56 -0500

We only accept applications for admission in the Fall.

Can I apply for Spring 2013

Harsha Tirumala — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:50:58 -0500

Dear Prof.Suo,

Can I apply for PhD Program at Harvard for the term Spring 2013 ?

Thank you,

Harsha

a hello from PKU

Ruobing Bai — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:00:00 -0400

Dear Prof. Suo,

I am currently a senior undergraduate student in College of Engineering in Peking University in China. Recently I'm preparing to apply to Harvard SEAS's PhD, which is also my dream school in the US.

My interest lies in solid mechanics especially the model formulation and calculation in structures and different physical processes. I have set up a FE model dealing with the topology optimization of heterogeneous materials, in order to decrease the flaws during the fabrication or growth of materials.

I found this web on your page in Harvard. Since I am also from Xi'an and my mother actually works in Jiaotong University, I just want to come here to show my respect sincerely. I wish I will be lucky enough to go to Harvard in Fall 2012 so that I can pay a visit to you directly.

Best wishes!

Ruobing

Re: Prospective Ph.D. Student

Zhigang Suo — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:58:00 -0400

If you are certain of your area of reserch, and no position in the area is available at Harvard, then you should look elsewhere. If you think that you might also be intereted in other areas of reserch, then maybe you should take a look at activities in other groups at Harvard. For example, have you looked at the Rob Wood Group and the Rob Howe group?

Prospective Ph.D. Student

KyoheiOnoue — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:34:40 -0400

Dear Professor Suo,

I am currently a graduate student majoring in
Aerospace Engineering at the University of Southern California. I am
considering applying to Harvard University’s Ph.D. program in Mechanical
Engineering (Fall 2012).

My research interests lie at the
intersections between fluid mechanics, robotics, and biological locomotion. There is a particular professor at Harvard
SEAS with whom I would like to ideally study as a Ph.D. student. However, I
recently found out that he is currently not accepting graduate students. In
this case, do you think it would be better for me to apply elsewhere? Any
suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Kyohei Onoue

Thank you Dr. Suo for your

Mohammad Aramfard — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:53:26 -0400

Thank you Dr. Suo for your reply

Re: Available Ph.D. Position at Harvard

Zhigang Suo — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:19:52 -0400

You might wish to look at the interests of individual faculty members online. Your expereince in continuum mechanics and mathematics should be valuable.

Re: Interested to apply for PhD program

Zhigang Suo — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:14:06 -0400

You have just listed very impressive acomplishments. The admission at Harvard is done at the level of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It is difficult to judge the chance of an individual candidate without comparing to the pool of the candidates.

Yes, you can apply to the PhD program without a master degree.

Interested to apply for PhD program

Harsha Tirumala — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 05:42:28 -0400

I am Sri Harsha T R, currently in my final year of study of the Bachelors of Technology in Mechanical Engineering with Industrial & Production Engineering as Major. My college is Koneru Lakshmaiah College of Engineering (www.klce.ac.in) in India. I will be completing my degree in May 2012.

I have done many govt funded research projects in vast areas such as Biofuels form vegetable oils, algae. crash analysis in LS DYNA, CFD analysis in FLUENT, LMS Virtual.Lab, Projects in the field of Solid Mechanics, Finite Element methods, manufacturing, Production planning, inventory management, supply chain management, JIT production technique etc. I also have knowledge of different software’s such as Altair Hyperworks, Ansys, Pro-Engineer, Catia, LABVIEW. Also programming languages such as C,C++, Microsoft Visual Basic.

I want to apply for PhD. Can you suggest how well do I stand a chance ? Also can I apply to PhD programs directly after my bachelors degree without Masters ?

Available Ph.D. Position

Mohammad Aramfard — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:35:57 -0400

Dear Dr. Suo,

I am a senior student, and I have worked on CNT Composites and I have a good background in continuum mechanics and mathematics and also because I have worked on polymers and shape memory alloys I have a good knowledge about viscoelasticity.

Is there any Ph.D. position available regarding my interests?

Thank you in advance

Re: post doc in Contact Mechanics

Zhigang Suo — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 17:47:00 -0400

You may try to contact professors whom you wish to work with. Some advertisements are available, for example, at the Job Channel of iMechanica. You should also ask your professors for recommendation. It takes some work to find a good match.

Re: PhD study of Computational Mechanics

Zhigang Suo — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 17:37:00 -0400

It is not too early to contact professors now. Since each professor may recieve a large number of emails from prospective students, such emails will get lost. You may consider contacting the professor again once you have applied.

post doc in Contact Mechanics

rdalmeya — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 06:24:17 -0400

Dear sir

I am doing phd from IITK (India).My branch is Mechanical Engineering (Solid Mechanics) and I am working on Contact Mechanics and my work is related to adhesive elastic thin film.I am using FEM software (abaqus ) and matlab for computational work and wants to do post doc related to my field (experimental ) .Can you suggest me how to apply for Post doc and Professor related to my work.

Recruiting PhD students to study Solid Mechanics at Harvard

Zhigang Suo — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 16:11:35 -0400

Each year, several new students begin their studies of Solid Mechanics for PhD degrees at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The students come from all over the world. We have no constraint on where they come from.

Faculty members in Solid Mechanics. The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is not divided into departments, but faculty do assemble into programs. Faculty members directly responsible for the program of Solid Mechanics are

Please look at the above websites, and feel free to contact us for any question.

Application. We will be delighted if you find that your interest matches ours. In the application form, please check the “Solid Mechanics” box. If you are interested in working with a particular professor, please list the name of the professor in your application. In the statement of purpose, please indicate your experience or aspiration relevant to Solid Mechanics. If you have done research, please tell us details. Please mention in your statement of purpose the name of the professor and your reasons. We read each statement of purpose with care, and look for good matches. So, please help us.

Mentioning the name of a professor does not bind you with the professor. You can choose to work with anyone at Harvard once you are here.

Admission. Individual faculty members can make recommendations, but cannot determine which student to admit. All students are admitted through the Graduate Admissions Committee in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, on a competitive basis. Please learn more about application. If you have any question regarding admission, please write to our Director of Graduate Admissions: Ms. Julie Holbrook, holbrook@seas.harvard.edu

Financial support. Every PhD student receives a fellowship, which is sufficient to cover all expenses to study and live in Cambridge. The fellowship, however, is rarely offered to a Master student. If your final goal is to obtain a PhD degree at Harvard, you may not wish to apply for admission as a Master student. Instead, you may apply for admission as a PhD student: you only need a Bachelor degree to do so.

Your program of study. We are flexible. Once you come to Harvard, you and your advisor will work together to define a program of study specifically suitable to you.

If you absolutely cannot wait to plan ahead, here is what you need to get started. The PhD degree requires that you take 10 courses. You may look at the catalogue of courses at Harvard. Harvard students can also take courses at MIT. Here is a very short list of Harvard courses popular among students of Solid Mechanics:

Engineering Sciences 240. Solid Mechanics
Engineering Sciences 241. Advanced Elasticity
Engineering Sciences 242r. Solid Mechanics: Advanced Seminar
Engineering Sciences 246. Plasticity
Engineering Sciences 247. Fracture Mechanics
Engineering Sciences 216. Biological Dynamics
Engineering Sciences 220. Fluid Mechanics
Engineering Sciences 262. Advanced Hydrology and Environmental Geomechanics
Earth and Planetary Sciences 263. Earthquake Source Processes
Earth and Planetary Sciences 201. Physics of the Earth's Interior
Earth and Planetary Sciences 204. Global Sesmology
Applied Mathematic 201. Physical Mathematics I
Applied Mathematics 202. Physical Mathematics II
Applied Physics 282. Solids: Structures and Defects
Applied Physics 292. Kinetics of Condensed Phase Processes
Applied Physics 293. Deformation of Solids

A short list of other Harvard faculty members who have strong interests in Solid Mechanics or closely related fields. Once you come to Harvard to study Solid Mechanics, you are likely to encounter the following professors:

Joanna Aizenberg (biophysics)
Michael J. Aziz (materials science)
Debra T. Auguste (bioengineering)
Michael P. Brenner (applied mathematics, fluid mechanics)
David A. Edwards (bioengineering)
Robert D. Howe (bioengineering, robotics)
David J. Mooney (bioengineering)
Richard J. O'Connell (theoretical geophysics)
Kit Parker (disease biophysics)
Shriram Ramanathan (materials science, mechanical behavior of materials)
Frans Spaepen (materials science)
David A. Weitz (soft matter)
George M. Whitesides (physical chemistry, bioengineering, soft matter)
Robert J. Wood (microrobotics)

Questions and answers. I'll try to anwser your questions if you post them as comments below. I'll also update this list as questions come to me through phone calls and emails. You can also direct your questions to Julia Holbrook (holbrook@seas.harvard.edu), Director of Graduate Admissions, of SEAS.

Q: Can I apply for enrollment in Spring?

A: No. We admit students once a year. All students are enrolled in Fall.

Q: If I can obtain external funding, will my chance for admission improve?

A: Yes. Admissions are principally based on two factors: (1) An applicant is competitive in the pool of applicants, without the consideration of funding; (2) A professor is willing to support the applicant. By obtaining external funding, you help to resolve (2).

Q: I attach my resume. Can you tell me if I am likely to be admitted?

A: Usually No. An applicant is admitted on a competitive basis within a pool of applicants. It is hard for me to give you a useful reply without going through the pool.

Q: My scores for the English tests are below the levels set by your school. What is the chance for me to be admitted?

A: Very low. An applicant is admitted by a committee of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It takes an extraordinary effort for a member of the faculty to persuade the committee to accept an applicant with very low scores.