University of Washington A&A plasma physics master's degree focus

[Experience111]

Hi,

I'm interested in this master's degree with a concentration in plasma physics at the University of Washington. However, I realized that the Aeronautics and Aerospace department department is part of the College of Engineering and I don't really want to follow engineering centric courses as I am more interested in academic coursework and research.

Does anyone know what the courses are like in this department at UW ? Are they more engineering courses or 'scientific' courses (by that I mean courses with more fundamental concepts and more rigorous explanations).

Thanks for the replies

 

[member 428835]

Hi Experience111

Regarding your post:

However, I realized that the Aeronautics and Aerospace department department is part of the College of Engineering and I don't really want to follow engineering centric courses as I am more interested in academic coursework and research.

Does anyone know what the courses are like in this department at UW ? Are they more engineering courses or 'scientific' courses (by that I mean courses with more fundamental concepts and more rigorous explanations).

have you ever taken graduate level engineering courses? I can tell you with certainty the line between physics and engineering, at the graduate level, is non-existent. I'm not sure about plasma, but regarding fluids, which is what I studied, all work was incredibly theoretical. A deep understanding of tensor calculus, PDEs, and laws of physics was required. I think if you do more research you'll see that graduate engineering courses have the "fundamental concepts and more rigorous explanations" you crave, which is good news for you because it opens more doors! :)

While I didn't answer your question, hope this helps