Wichita State University is among the finest in the country for higher education in Mechanical, Aerospace and related areas. The program from Mechanical dept. has some very nice course for FEA, CAE, Injury biomechanics, Stress analysis and Vibration. We spoke to Nilesh Dhole, who graduated from College of Engineering, Pune and is now pursuing a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Wichita State. Nilesh talks in detail about the kind of profile that is required to get in to Wichita State. And about the funding options at the university. Here is more from his interview:

1) Personal Details

a. Name : Nilesh Dhole

b. University you are studying or studied : Wichita State University

c. Currently pursuing : Masters

d. Department/Program you are enrolled in : Mechanical

e. Specialization, if any: MS in Mechanical Engg.

f. Undergraduate College : Government College of Engineering Pune ( COEP )

g. Undergraduate University : Pune University

2) General profile/background of majority of Indian students who get admitted to your program in Wichita State.

a. Academics - GPA range or % range : As per the academic requirement university generally looks for first class and above,

b. GRE score range : Most of the students have 1100 and above score

c. Do you see more students with some particular research backgrounds or interests getting more admissions in your program? If yes, please enlist the specific research backgrounds. : Most of the students interested in Automotive and Aerospace crashworthiness and Biomechanics try to get admission here.

d. Do you see more students with some particular kinds of work experiences getting more admissions in your program? If yes, please enlist the specific work profiles. Not as specific

e. Do you see more students from some particular undergraduate universities or colleges in India getting more admissions? If yes, please enlist some of the universities or colleges. : I am not sure about this.

3) Funding:

a. Percentage of students getting some sort of financial assistance in the first quarter/semester (whichever applicable)? : On an average 50 to 55% students get funding in the first quarter.

b. If one doesn’t get any funding in the first quarter, how good are the chances of getting funding in the subsequent quarters/semesters? : If students don’t get funding in first quarter then there are still good chances of getting funding……….. almost 75 to 80% students get funding in the next semesters

4) Current research scenario in your program,

a. Please enlist some of the research projects that are currently being undertaken in your program/department? : Automotive and Aerospace Crashworthiness, Human body modeling, Aerospace seating design, Interior design and development for Trams, Birdstrike, Design and development of driver airbags, FE dummy developments for different FE codes

b. Please enlist any particular research area that has been a major focus in your program/department? : The major focus is on Automotive and Aerospace Crashworthiness

5) Which other universities have similar good courses in US? : (If you are interested specifically in CAE/FEM/Crashworthiness/occupant protection then …) Wayne state university and George Washington university also have very good courses

6) What job opportunities are available to students like you after their degree completion? : Students generally get job as stress engr/structural engr/CAE analyst, but this field will open you to lots of opportunities……… so don’t worry

7) What advice would you like to give to the students from India applying to Wichita state for your program? : It will be good for students if they have some sort of experience with FE/CAE or related software.

ALL ABOUT MY UNIVERSITY AND PROGRAM: This program from Mechanical dept. has some very nice course for FEA, CAE, Injury biomechanics, Stress analysis and Vibration. University has a research center – National Institute for Aviation Research (this is the third largest research institute in US as per the money investment in research and most of the students get funding here……) where you can get the latest technologies from aerospace, automotive and composite materials. Most of the projects in the university are from aerospace industry (FYI: Wichita is the Air Capital of the World with most of the aircraft companies like Airbus, Boeing and Cessna). Also living cost in Wichita is also very cheap and students can manage their monthly expenses in $350.