Doctor of Philosophy

Testamur Title of Degree:	Doctor of Philosophy
Abbreviation:	PhD
Home Faculty:	Informatics (School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering)
Duration:	3 years full-time or part-time equivalent
Total Credit Points:	48 cp per year
Delivery Mode:	Face-to-face or a combination of Face-to-face/Distance
Starting Session(s):	Autumn/Spring
Location:	Wollongong
UOW Course Code:	201
CRICOS Code:	001244E

Overview

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) candidates undertake in-depth research in order to make an original and significant contribution to the body of knowledge in their chosen studies. This qualification can lead to or enhance an academic career and is highly regarded by private and public sector employers.

Entry Requirements/Assumed Knowledge

A four-year Honours Bachelor of Engineering degree (minimum Class II, Division 2 or higher); or a Master of Engineering Studies (at the required level); or a Master of Engineering - Research, in one of the following areas: Computer, Electrical, Electronic or Telecommunications Engineering; or equivalent.

The School normally requires students to register initially for the Masters by Research program. Subject to satisfactory progress, including the presentation of a report and seminar, a student's candidature may be transferred to Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) after one year, without penalty.

Course Requirements

This program is by 100% thesis. Students may be required to attend lectures in relevant topics from time to time throughout the program.

All new students enrolling in a research degree are expected to prepare and defend a research proposal early in their candidature. Normally, the degree will be completed in not less than four, and not more than eight, academic sessions of full-time study, or six to 16 sessions of part-time study.

Current Research Areas

The following areas of research are available to candidates undertaking the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy or Master of Engineering - Research:

Intelligent Mechatronics: Automation

Advanced control systems

Control networks

Haptic rendering

Machine tool design

Precision position and speed control

Robotics and sensors

Telerobotics

Virtual manipulation

Intelligent Mechatronics: Applications

Arc welding control

Medical image processing

Renewable energy sources

Superconducting magnetic energy storage

Virtual surgery

Power: Quality and Reliability

Conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI)

Data mining

Distribution system reliability

Harmonic management

Power electronics and drives

Power quality monitoring and data analysis

Power quality indices and reporting

Standardisation

Voltage fluctuations and flicker

Telecommunications: Digital Signal Processing

Adaptive filtering

Blind signal processing

Coding for error-prone channels

Computational auditory scene analysis

Data mining

Filter banks and wavelets

Image and video segmentation, compression and retrieval

Internet access technologies (xDSL)

Low-rate speech coding

Multirate signal processing

Wideband speech/audio coding

3D Audio objects and environments

Telecommunications: Network Services

Internet and WWW services

Internet telephony

Multimedia databases

Network games

Video on demand

Virtual reality

Telecommunications: Photonics

Bragg grating sensing system

Fibre Bragg grating design and writing

FBG devices for optical communication systems

Optical fibre

Telecommunications: Switched Networks

Active networks

Ad hoc multi-hop networking

Closed loop control in packet networks

Location aware networking

Network dimensioning

Network management

Network traffic modelling and control

Wireless internet protocols

Telecommunications: Wireless Communications

Code division multiple access systems

Microwave propagation and channel modelling

Mobile ad hoc networks

Sequence design

Smart antennas

Space-time coding

Ultra wideband communications

Note: Not all areas are available for research at all levels, nor at all times.