Doctor of Philososphy [Ph.D] [Agricultural, Biosystems and Mechanical Engineering] From South Dakota State University

• All students will be required to complete 14 credits of core course work shown below. Core courses will provide a broad foundation covering basic graduate concepts in A.B.M.E., compliance and research ethics. Several core courses are unique in the nation and make this program novel and highly integrated. Elective coursework will provide students with the opportunity for greater depth in a topical area and will usually be directly related to their dissertation research topic. Students entering with a Bachelor’s degree must complete 90 credits (30 coursework and 60 dissertation) and students entering with a master’s degree must complete 60 credits (20 coursework and 40 dissertation).
• Students who undertake this graduate degree normally have as their goal a better understanding of the current theories, principles, issues, and problems in agricultural, biological, thermal, fluid, control, and mechanical systems. Graduate studies improve the student’s ability to think critically and creatively, and to synthesize, analyze, and integrate ideas for decision-making and problem solving.

This program offers students an opportunity to undertake research and advanced study in specialization areas such as:

• biorenewable energy and bioresource conversion technologies,
• engineering of advanced precision agriculture systems used in production agriculture,
• natural resources engineering for utilization and conservation of soil and water resources,
• advanced manufacturing and quality control technologies focused on composition, properties, and integrity of materials,
• advanced thermal-fluid systems,
• advanced composites, and
• systems modeling.