Ph.D. in Advanced Engineering Sciences (AES)

Degree Program & Research

Research Seminar – Predoctoral Seminar – Research Project I – Research Project II - Research Project III - Research Project IV - Research Project V – Predoctoral Examination – Doctoral

The course is composed of eight semesters or terms. After having successfully completed every module, students are able to defend their Ph.D. thesis. The coursework per semester is as follows:

Semester​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​1

​2

​3

​4

​5

​6

​7

​8

​Research Seminar

​Predoctoral Seminar

​Research Project I

​Research Project II

​Research Project III

​Research Project IV

​Research Project V

​Predoctoral Examination

​

​Thesis

The two seminars must be taken during the first two semesters. The first one has a strong focus on research, while the second is predoctoral. Only one module must be taken every semester, except during the eighth semester, when students must complete two modules. During the whole program, students have the support of a pre-assigned doctoral advisor. If the student’s research project is accepted, the committee will appoint a thesis committee.

Modules description:

• Research Seminar

Literature review and update. Look for congresses and journals akin to the research topic. Identify research problem and field of knowledge. Update initial variables and research questions. Update thesis proposal. Identify research groups akin to the research topic.

• Predoctoral Seminar.

  Literature review and update. Update final thesis proposal. Hand in and defend final thesis proposal in front of a thesis committee.

• Research Project I

  Literature review and update. Reproduce previous research experiments to compare results. Define research methodology. Start dissemination of the research in international congresses. Present and discuss results with the thesis committee.

• Research Project II

  Literature review and update. Make progress in the research methodology. Continue research dissemination in international congresses. Present and discuss results with the thesis committee.

• Research Project III

  Literature review and update. Make progress in research methodology and experimentation. Continue research dissemination. Present research progress, problem statement, and theoretical framework in front of the thesis committee.

• Research Project IV

  Literature review and update. Apply research to cases. Obtain preliminary results. Continue research dissemination. Present research progress in front of the thesis committee.

• Research Project V

  Literature review and update. Continue research application to cases and compare results. Obtain final results. Continue research dissemination. Present research progress in front of the thesis committee.

• Predoctoral Examination

  Research conclusion. Continue research dissemination. Present final research progress in front of a thesis committee.

• Doctoral Thesis

  Finish the thesis document. Thesis defense.

Module Credits Semester

Research Seminar

16

1

Predoctoral Seminar

12

2

Research Project I

16

3

Research Project II

16

4

Research Project III

16

5

Research Project IV

16

6

Research Project V

16

7

Predoctoral Examination

12

8

Thesis

44

8

The Ph.D. in Advanced Engineering Sciences has 164 credits to be covered. Every effective class hour equals 0.0625 credits, which means that one credit is obtained after 16 hours of effective learning activities. This is supported by Articles 13 and 14 from the 279 agreement drafted by the Secretary of Public Education of Mexico (SEP). These Articles set the credit value for every hour of effective learning activities and the minimum number of credits for every undergraduate and graduate program. As regards PhD courses, 150 are the minimum number of credits after a Bachelor's degree and 75 after a Master's degree program. Therefore, the program meets the SEP requirements, since neither UACJ nor SEP establish a maximum number of credits for a Ph.D. program.

According to the syllabus, students must complete one module every semester during the first seven semesters, while two modules must be completed in the last semester. The progresses that students make in every Research Project module seek to help them successfully complete the Doctoral Thesis module. Every semester is composed of 17 weeks of classes, discarding local festivities and days off granted by the University in compliance with Mexico's Federal Labor Law.

A learning activity is understood as "any activity in which students participate in order to acquire the knowledge and skills required by the program." Learning activities may be either lead by professors within the university facilities or performed individually by students as part of autonomous learning. Since Research Project modules are prerequisites one of another, students can take one module only if they have successfully completed the previous module in the previous semester.

As part of their training, students will be encouraged to attend academic activities related to their research topic. Similarly, the University will support student's participation – either as attendees or speakers – in congresses, forums, workshops, conferences, and internships, since this would provide feedback to the research projects. Finally, students will be also encouraged to write and present articles related to their research topic. At all times they will receive the support from their doctoral advisors and other academics.

There are two research areas to be followed: signals processing and production processes.

1. Signal processing:

This area focuses on the creation, processing, and amplification of signals for their manipulation and interpretation. Signals sources are many; they may come from sensors measuring physical signals such as pressure, temperature, and humidity, or they may originate from a video camera, in which case signals processing will depend on the nature of such signals.

The fields of application for signal processing include mechatronics, biomedicine, telecommunications, and automotive and industrial systems, to mention but a few. Students choosing this research line will be able to focus their research on robotics, image and speech processing, random processes, and digital filters, among others, in order to propose quality solutions in the aforementioned application fields.

• Image processing: it involves the application of signal processing techniques to any type of image or video sequence. Some applications of image processing include X-rays, CT scans, and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), which are helpful in timely diseases diagnosis.

• Computer vision: also known as machine vision. It aims to give eyesight to computers and other machines. Most of the literature refers to it as the construction of explicit descriptions of 3D scenes from their 2D images in terms of the properties of the structures present in these scenes.
• Pattern recognition: it assigns a category to objects or events depending on their characteristics. Recognizing implies associating an object with a label. For instance, the label "cat" is associated with all cat breeds in such a way that, when we see a Turkish Angora cat, a Bengal cat, or a Russian Blue cat, we associate (recognize) them all with the cat label, even without really knowing which breed it is.
• Automatic control: it studies preset closed-loop systems that do not require direct operator intervention, so the process remains in the normal range for the control system. Automatic control focuses its research on teleoperation, motion control, and robotics. Bilateral control systems optimize position and force feedback, and they offer systems with high fidelity in haptic sensations. Also, this branch develops motion control systems in electromechanical actuators and/or pneumatics. Control systems use disturbance observers to control speed, position, and force. Finally, automatic control also develops algorithms to control industrial robots used in production processes.
• Teleoperation: it is applied to remote handling systems, which implies being in hazardous, non-invasive, and unreachable environments. In the control area, teleoperated systems can be governed by bilateral control strategies, which include force and position feedback of the master-slave system. Application areas of teleoperation include the industrial sector, medicine, construction, and archeology, among others.
• Robotics: in the industrial sector, robots are present in automated lines or processes. Industrial robotics focuses on the design and control of robotic mechanisms. Its applications include assembly and hazardous material handling, among others. Therefore, the design and simulation of position control, speed, and force strategies are needed.

Researchers:

Vianey Guadalupe Cruz Sánchez 


Humberto de Jesús Ochoa Domínguez 


Osslan Osiris Vergara Villegas


Vicente García Jiménez 


Manuel de Jesús Nandayapa Alfaro


Ángel Flores Abad

2. Production processes:

Production process refers to a series of activities combined in order to transform raw materials into finished products. This implies a raw materials procurement process, a raw materials transformation process, and a finished product distribution to customers. Since there are several stages in a production process, this research line is divided into five sub-areas.

• Lean manufacturing: it refers to a series of techniques applied to a production system to increase its efficiency. Even though there are more than 26 reported techniques, research in this course focuses on lean manufacturing models and critical success factors of manufacturing techniques.

• Human factor and ergonomics: ergonomics is the science that studies the integration of the human factor into production systems. It aims at adapting production processes to the human factor, and not the other way around.

• Supply chain: it comprises all activities by which materials are supplied along the production process. The most common studied phenomena in supply chain include lean thinking, supply chain design, and sustainable supply chain.

• Industrial sustainability: sustainability is a discipline that seeks to balance production systems with the environment. Several approaches exist to achieve such a balance, including the ISO 1400 family of standards. Industrial sustainability studies the industrial impact, industry clusters, and mechanisms for industry clusters.

• Production technologies: they include production methodologies or methods, such as statistical process control, Kaizen, and Kanban. Many soft production technologies studied are part of lean manufacturing, while hard production technologies involve physical elements, including machinery and equipment, automated systems, computer-aided manufacturing, technology groups, and robots, among others.

Researchers:

Jorge Luis García Alcaraz

Juan Luis Hernández Arellano

Aidé Aracely Maldonado Macías

Liliana Avelar Sosa