I want to do PhD!

The article here is purely focusing on what needs to be done if you want to do and get the PhD degree.

This article will address the following question:

1. With which Institute will I be doing my PhD?

2. Who all can apply for this program?

3. What is the deadline for the application?

4. Whom should I contact in case I have doubts?

5. What is the syllabus for the entrance examination? 

6. How do I choose the section under the entrance exam to appear for?

7. What does this article not cover?

1. With which Institute will I be doing my PhD?

ARAI - The Automotive Research Association of India, Pune https://www.araiindia.com/home - and MIT WPU - MIT World Peace University, Pune have joined hands together on July 4th, 2020 to benefit those from Automotive domain. Please follow this link for more information : https://mitwpu.edu.in/mit-wpu-and-arai-phd-program/

And obviously, the sponsoring/parent company. 

2. Who all can apply for this program?

Those already working with the automotive giants such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Escorts, Volvo Echier, Mercedez Benz, Renault Nissan, Honda, Maruti, Toyota, and organizations such as Tata Consultancy Services, Visteion, Tata Elxsi, Cognizant, Wipro, Accenture, Infosys, Persitent, KPIT and many others who are working in the organization related to Automotive Sector can apply for this PhD program.

This collaboration is also open to fresh candidates who are willing to work full time at MIT WPU or ARAI during their term as PhD candidates. 

The major and important question that the individual needs to answer is - is he/she willing to work on the research problem related to automotive domain.

In short anyone in or aspiring to join the automotive industry can apply for this program. Please refer the link for more information : https://mitwpu.edu.in/mit-wpu-arai-phd-program/

This program is specifically for those from the engineering background with a minimum of masters degree. The admissions is under the Faculty of Engineering & Technology of MIT WPU University. 

We are not accepting applications (at least for this year) from those with only bachelor's degree in engineering or technology (BE or BTech) and also from those with education qualification from non-engineering streams.

3. What is the deadline for the application?

Now the deadline for applications is 25th August, 2020. About eight days (just 8 days from the date of this article going live). 

4. Whom should I contact in case I have doubts?

So, gear up and also ask your questions/queries to Dr Sanjay Patil (SAPATIL.PGA@ARAIINDIA.COM) or Dr Rashmi Phalnikar (Rashmi.Phalnikar@MITWPU.EDU.IN) or Dr Kishnaprasad Gunale (Kishanprasad.Gunale@MITWPU.EDU.IN).

5. What is the syllabus for the entrance examination? 

6. How do I choose the section under the entrance exam to appear for?

In other words, What should be the domain of work?

As these questions are inter-related, both of them are answered together here.

The individual usually as part of their day to day work in the automotive sector may work in either manufacturing side or the design and development side.

For those from the manufacturing side would want to dive deep into the (1) Automotive Materials and Manufacturing Technologies [Syllabus details are given as the last section of this document and also as separate post].

For those of who are into or aspire to go into design and development side of the automotive domain; their work would involve either

(2) Engine and After-treatment

(3) Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Fuel Cells

(4) Automotive Safety, Certification and Vehicle Dynamics

and the last one,

(5) Automotive Embedded Systems and the ADAS - Advanced Driver Assistance System.

So choose one of the five areas were you want to focus on as your research area for your doctoral research; prepare yourself for the entrance examination in one of the five domains above and appear for that section only. Details on the syllabus are mentioned at the last section of this article [Question 5 answered in details].

[6.1] What if you do not know it which domain I should stay around for my doctoral program?

The short and the long answer is: if you are not sure of domain of your research talk to one of individuals mentioned above and sort it out. Because the syllabus for your entrance examination is one of the five segments. So, a little of soul searching, deep diving and a lot of discussions, comtemplation would be required. 

The short answer is: you will have to choose one of the five sections for your entrance examination.

[6.2] Related question would be - why one of the five segments and why not more?

We currently do not feel that we would have any aspirant to venture into any other domain. If you have an idea do let us know and we will sort it out. For this time, you will have to choose one from the above five.

[6.3] Tell me more on the entrance examination?

Entrance examination is online this time (you are aware of the situation, hence I will not go into the details). It is good for you as you do not have to travel down here for the entrance examination. From the comfort of your home, you can appear for the examination.

[6.4] How many marks will the entrance be?

The entrance examination is of 100 marks, multiple choice questions (in which more than one option would be correct, examinee (aspirant) needs to choose all the correct options to score marks).

[6.5] What is the split of the questions?

Out of the total of 100 marks, 50 marks will pertain to research methodology segment. Refer another post of the syllabus for research methodology.

The balance of the 50 marks would pertain to one of the five segments from the automotive segments listed above.

[6.6] But, hold on - do you mean that just by appearing for the entrance examination I become eligible for the course work?

Valid question. No, your application is an entry check point.

You will have to score a minimum of 50 marks to qualify for the next check point.

[6.7] What is the next check point? - Interview.

After you score a minimum of 50 marks or more in the entrance examination, we will invite you for the interview. This time, the interview would be online.

The panel of experts from ARAI and MIT WPU will interact with you and confirm your domain of research and also research facilities that would be available at your company for your work. This check point will look into your inclination, your own preparedness - technical and mental, your company's readiness and so on.

4. Whom should I contact in case I have doubts?

Because we have come to end of the article (almost, refer syllabus details below), it is necessary to have these details again.

All the best - I hope that this article cleared most of your doubts. If there are any remaining, do contact me and we will go over them. Sanjay Patil - +919604492023, SAPATIL.PGA@ARAIINDIA.COM.

[7] What did this article NOT do?

I am sure you will have plenty of the questions such as:

* But, wait, what about my bachelor's engineering degree?

* What would be my specialization degree awarded?

* what if my bachelor's degree does not appear in one of the degree options available under the collaboration?

* how do I find the guide?

* what facilities would be available for me to conduct my research? 

* minimum requirement once I get admitted for the PhD program after I clear the entrance examination (equal to or more than 50 marks at the entrance examination & the interview)?

* many more

This article was purely focused on introducing the programme and giving details on the entrance examinations. That is it.

4. What is the syllabus for the entrance examination? 

As mentioned earlier: the entrance examination is split into two parts:

(1) Research Methodology (50 marks) [mandatory section]

(2) Research Specific (50 marks). [choose 1 out of the five listed]

The details of the syllabus are as follows:

Research Methodology (50 marks)

1. Introduction to Research and Research Problem: Meaning of research, types of research, Objectives of research, Research and Scientific Method, Sources of research problem, Criteria / Characteristics of a good research problem, Errors in selecting a research problem, Scope and objectives of research problem, defining a research problem (Real life example or case study), formulation of research hypotheses, Qualities of a good Hypothesis.

2. Research Design and Literature Review: Research Design- Concept and Importance in Research, Features of a good research design, research designs – Experimental & Analytical research designs (informal and formal), Literature survey- Definition of literature and survey, need of literature survey, objectives of literature survey, sources of literature review. Critical literature review–Identifying gap areas from literature review and strategies of literature survey, Errors in research.

3. Data collection, measuring, sampling and scaling: Classification of data, benefits and drawbacks of data, evaluation of data, qualitative methods of data collection, types of data analysis, Sampling, sample size, sample design- concept of probability sampling and non-probability sampling, attitude measurement and scaling, types of measurements, criteria of good measurements, classification of scales.

4. Data Analysis: Testing of hypothesis and Goodness of Fit: Definition of null and alternative hypothesis, students ’t’ distribution, Chi-square distribution, F-test, analysis of variance techniques, introduction to non-parametric tests. Regression Analysis – Simple Linear Regression, Multiple linear Regression, Correlation and Regression Analysis. Introduction to factor analysis, discriminant analysis, cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling, Multidimensional measurement and factor analysis.

5. Report, Research Proposal and Funding Agency: Need of effective documentation, types of reports and their format. Essentials of a research proposal. Different funding agencies for research. Research briefing, presentation styles, elements of effective presentation, writing of research paper, presenting and publishing paper, patent procedure, ethical issues.

Reference Books:

• Dr. C. R. Kothari, Research Methodology: Methods and Trends, New Age International Publishers, 3rd Edition, 2014.

• Ranjit Kumar, Research Methodology: A Step by Step Guide for Beginners, SAGE Publications Ltd., 2014.

• Wayne Goddard and Stuart Melvill, Research Methodology: An Introduction, Juta and Company Ltd. 2004.

(2) Research Specific (50 marks). [choose 1 out of the five listed]

[2.1] Automotive Materials and Manufacturing Technologies

[2.2] Engine and After-Treatment

[2.3] Automotive Safety, Certification and Vehicle Dynamics

[2.4] Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Fuel Cells

[2.5] Automotive Embedded Systems and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

Syllabus for each research specific domain is:

[2.1] Automotive Materials & Manufacturing Technologies 

• Material Characterization & Failure Analysis 

BIW, Chassis, Bumpers, roof compartment cover, hood and bonnet, Material and its applicable properties (monotonic and dynamic properties), ferrous and non-ferrous materials (steel, aluminium, magnesium, copper, and others), plastics and carbon fiber, reinforced plastic (CFRP), ceramics and forms, DFMEA, DVP, fatigue analysis, structural dynamics, light weighting of vehicle, life-cycle analysis of body structure and materials –End-of-life of Vehicle (ELV) & recyclability, toxicity of material (RoHS), renewable organic material, HSS, HSLA, ULSAB, nanomaterials, smart materials. Time and frequency dependent material properties. 

• Manufacturing Process & State of Art Instruments for Material Analysis 

• Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM & EDAX Analysis), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Fractography Analysis, residual stress analysis (X-Ray Diffraction), FTIR, TGA, surface engineering, Forging, heat treatment & case hardening, steel making, forming, foundry, welding technology, corrosion study. advanced manufacturing technology for composite materials – carbon fiber, epoxy polymer.

• Finite Element Analysis & Computational Fluid Dynamics

Navier-Stokes Equation and simplified forms, Solution Methodology: FDM and FVM with special emphasis on FVM, Stability, Convergence and Accuracy. Discretization, meshing techniques, Practical aspects of computational modeling of flow domains, Grid Generation, Types of mesh and selection criteria, Mesh quality, Key parameters and their importance. 

[2.2] Engine and After-treatment 

• Engine 

Fuel delivery and injection (MPPI, DI) systems; PV diagram, CI and SI combustion, Rate of heat release, BSFC, Engine efficiencies, propagation of flame, knocking, various configuration for efficient/optimal combustion; dilute (or lean-burn) gasoline combustion, engine design and development, Supercharging, Turbocharging, swirl optimization, homogenous and heterogeneous combustion, GDI, Low temperature combustion (LTC), HCCI, PCCI, RCCI. 

• Powertrain 

Gears, clutch, torque converter, flywheels, propeller shaft, transfer box, front & rear axles, drive shafts, U-joints, CV-joints, differential, hybrid vehicle drivetrain, two-wheel drive, four-wheel and other configurations; Transmission systems, DCT, CVT, AMT, AT. 

• After-treatment 

Pollution, green-house gases, BS norms, emission formation, emission control and measurement, smoke, soot, particulate matter, particulate number, Exhaust gas recirculation, variable geometry turbocharger, selective catalyst reduction, DPF, DOC, Catalytic Convertors, LNT, GPF, principle of working of various sub-systems. 

 [2.3] Automotive Design, Dynamics, Safety and Testing 

• Automotive Design and Dynamics 

Function and design requirements of various vehicle systems such as chassis, body, steering, suspension, braking, axles and tyre etc., tyre dynamics, vehicle ride comfort, vehicle stability & handling, control systems, vehicle aerodynamics & styling, ADAS, hardware-in-loop, driver & traffic simulation and structural dynamics, Automotive NVH and modal analysis. 

• Automotive Safety  

Vehicle safety components and systems (active & passive), restraints systems: seat, seatbelt and air bags, energy absorbing systems, requirement of survival space, under run protection devices, crashworthiness, design requirements and characteristics of vehicle structure, anthropometry, ergonomics, injury evaluation and automotive lighting systems. 

• Automotive Testing 

Classification of vehicles, homologation, certification, regulations overview, type approval scheme, homologation for export, conformity of production, various parameters, instruments, test tracks, vehicle static tests, vehicle dynamic tests, vehicle crash tests, vehicle components testing and photometry. 

[2.4] Electric & Hybrid Vehicles 

• Electric & Hybrid Electric Vehicles: 

Introduction, History, social and environmental importance, impact of modern drivetrains on energy supplies, Basic concept of electric traction, Comparison between Conventional Vehicles, HEVs and EVs, transmission characteristics, Hybrid Electric Drivetrains: concept, types and power flow control, Traction force, traction power and range calculation. 

• Energy Storage & Charging Infrastructure: 

Energy Storage: Energy Storage Requirements in Hybrid and Electric Vehicles, Battery based energy storage, types and its analysis, Fuel Cell based energy storage: types, analysis, Super Capacitor based energy storage and its analysis, Flywheel based energy storage and its analysis, Hybridization of different energy storage devices. Battery Management System, Cell Balancing, EV Charging: Types of charging stations and their subsystems, AC charging station, DC charging stations, on-board charger, off-board charger, domestic charging system, micro grid, smart grid and vehicle-to-grid technology. 

 • Electric Motors & Drives: 

Electric Propulsion unit, Principle of electromechanical energy conversion, motors and generator operation, types of electric machine, Characteristics, performance, control and applications of DC motors, induction motors and synchronous motors, permanent magnet motors, BLDC, switched reluctance motors. Power Electronics Drives: Power electronics switches (Diodes, Thyristors, BJTs, MOSFETs, IGBTs): types, characteristics, applications, DC-DC, AC-DC and DC-AC converters and types, Inverter, BLDC Motor and Control, AC Induction Motor and Control. 

[2.5] Automotive Embedded Systems 

• Electronic Control Unit 

Microprocessor, Microcontroller, Peripherals (Digital I/O, Pull-up circuits, ADC, DAC, Serial interface, PWM, SPI, SCI), Electronic Control Unit. Electronic engine control, X-by-wire control and automotive safety systems. Automotive embedded system and OBD. RTOS, sensor interfacing and signal conditioning circuitry, actuator driver circuitry, sensors and actuators for automotive applications, smart sensors. Software & hardware architecture, model based design. 

• Advanced Driver Assistance Systems & Driver Modeling 

Sensors for ADAS (LIDAR, RADAR, Camera), Principle of working and operation, governing equations, Signal processing (analog and digital), Automotive Intelligence - multi-modal user interface, Cruise Control, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping, Collision Avoidance, human factors assessment - driver attention, drowsiness, inattention, driver workload management; Journey Risk Assessment.  

 • Communication Protocols 

ISO 26262, MISRA C, TCP/IP & OSI Model, Vehicle Control Protocols - CAN Protocol, Drive Train CAN, Convenience CAN, Flexray, Local Interconnect Network (LIN), Media Oriented System Transport (MOST), Unified Diagnostic Service (UDS); Connected Vehicles, V2V communication, V2X Communication, Intelligent Transport System (ITS).