ADMISSION CRITERIA

Formal criteria for admission to the Ph.D. program include:

Previous Degree
Master’s degree in engineering from an ABET accredited institution or an established foreign institution.

Applicants with only a bachelor’s degree in engineering may also apply. If admitted, B.S. only students must complete an additional 24 credits of graduate coursework to complete the PhD program.

GPA
For students applying with either a bachelor’s or master’s degree in engineering, a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a point scale of 4.0 is required in the most recent engineering degree obtained.

TOEFL or IELTS
TOEFL - Score of at least 90 for international applicants is expected with mandatory ESL course.

IELTS - Score of at least 7.0 for international applicants is expected with mandatory ESL course.

The TOEFL / IELTS examination may be waived by the Associate Dean if there is sufficient proof of the candidate’s ability to speak, comprehend, and write high-quality English. An example of this is if the candidate were successfully working for at least several years in an engineering position.

PHD TESTIMONIALS

Aleksandra Mitrovic

Research Focus: Range-based Control of Dual-Stage Systems: Design and Analysis with Applications on Nanopositioning Stages
Job Title: Staff Engineer at Western Digital in San Jose, CA

“Research I conducted at Villanova greatly helped me get my job and impressed all of my colleagues shortly after I started my new position.”

Ronald Warzoha

Research Focus: Nanoscale thermal transport
Job Title: Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, United States Naval Academy

“My Villanova education put me in a position to conduct world-class research and become an award-winning educator at the U.S. Naval Academy. The faculty, in particular, were always eager to put me in a position to succeed, while the courses provided the technical background I needed to perform the research I do now.”

Kamran Makarian

Research Focus: Micromechanics and thermal shock behavior of particle-reinforced ceramic composites
Job Title: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University

“My Villanova University graduate education was life-changing and dramatically improved my critical thinking skills and scientific creativity. I conducted cutting-edge experimental and computational research and obtained skills that I use daily as a postdoc.”

Sergio Yanez

Research Focus: Behavior of composite steel joist systems
Job Title: Professor, University of Santiago, Chile

''From the very first day, I learned valuable lessons from my professors and classmates about commitment and dedication as part of the PhD process. Also, as an international student, I was truly blessed to be surrounded by the Villanova community. They always made me feel at home."

Amal Kalaban

Research Focus: Application of superlattice structures in solar cells
Job Title: Assistant Professor, Bucknell University

"The PhD program at Villanova developed my breadth and depth in engineering knowledge. It allowed me to gain excellent research and teaching skills grounded in an awareness to address important societal needs."

IN THE NEWS

INTERN Supplement Supports PhD Student’s Opportunity with Nokia Bell Labs

An NSF INTERN supplement to an existing Phase II I/UCRC grant for the Center for Energy-Smart Electronic Systems will fund an opportunity at Nokia Bell Labs for Villanova PhD student Li Chen. Li will be working with Dr. Rafaelle Luca Amalfi on electronics cooling projects, which will complement his PhD research on the environmental sustainability of data centers. Li’s advisor is Dr. Aaron Wemhoff

Cutting-Edge Study Reveals Engineering Properties of Enhanced Bentonites

Canadian Geotechnical Journal has published a new paper by PhD candidate Shan Tong and Assistant Professor Dr. Kristin Sample-Lord on the engineering properties of enhanced bentonites. The paper presents the results of Tong’s cutting-edge multi-year experimental study to better understand how polymer addition impacts the rate at which contaminants can move through bentonite barriers and into the environment over time. More.

Doctoral Student Recognized by ASME Fluids Engineering Division

Villanova PhD student Menglong Lei has been selected as an ASME Graduate Student Scholar for the Computational Fluid Dynamics Technical Committee by the ASME Fluids Engineering Division. The award is based on his submitted paper "Effects of Wing Kinematics on Modulating Odor Plume Structures in the Odor Tracking Flight of Fruit Flies.” Lei’s advisor is Dr. Chengyu Li, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering.