A PhD in Aviation?

[The Old Fogducker]

TS .... I can add is a hearty "Well said!"

The level of ignorance is astounding ... dictionary meaning ...

–noun
the state or fact of being ignorant; lack of knowledge, learning, information, etc.

The level of contempt for someone contemplating increasing their knowledge is astounding.

Dictionary meaning of contempt ....
–noun
1. the feeling with which a person regards anything considered mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn.
2. the state of being despised; dishonor; disgrace.
3. Law.
a. willful disobedience to or open disrespect for the rules or orders of a court (contempt of court) or legislative body.
b. an act showing such disrespect.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME (< AF) < L contemptus a slighting = contemn(ere) to despise, scorn (see contemn ) + -tus suffix of v. action (with loss of n and intrusive p)

Synonyms:
contempt, disdain, scorn imply strong feelings of disapproval and aversion toward what seems base, mean, or worthless. contempt is disapproval tinged with disgust: to feel contempt for a weakling. disdain is a feeling that a person or thing is beneath one's dignity and unworthy of one's notice, respect, or concern: a disdain for crooked dealing. scorn denotes open or undisguised contempt often combined with derision: He showed only scorn for those who were not as ambitious as himself.

[outsider]

isnt that what message boards are for, hahaha, seems like this one is anyway, it why in 3 or 4 years I hardly ever post

[Phenom]

A PHD in aviation, what a joke, how about a PHD in truck driving or bus driving. This industry needs to realize how ridiculous it is at times.

You're an embarassment.

Thank you!

You don't know much about aviation if you can't understand how PhD's contribute to the efficiency of the industry. Seneca College just got a huge research grant to study the effects of higher levels of simulation in ab initio pilot training - with the help of people with aviation PhDs from Western (this work is supported by Transport, ATAC, and more than 10 of the major flight schools & colleges across Canada).

No, getting a PhD in aviation if you're planning on being pilot doesn't necessarily make sense. But the world of aviation involves a lot more people than just pilots - in fact, there's a need for more aviation PhDs in Canada to work on more research projects like this...

Let's expand our horizons a bit and try to understand the benefits of this expertise in our field...

[frontside_air]

the more i thought about panning this "aviation phd" idea the more i want to do it because of what a juicy, low hanging fruit it must be. the coursework is probably a low impact cakewalk of interdisciplinary grab-baggery: a book report on "CARs in plain english", a case study on southwest, watching the DVD box set of "mayday", a field trip to gimli, and a bunch of research methodology crap aka using excel to plot a bunch of data that flightaware.com will probably sell to you. the dissertation committee is probably made up of an ex royal exec, a disbarred lawyer, someone with star alliance gold frequent flyer status and some silly idiot who was foolish enough to spend a decade earning a real phd in something requiring a modicum of academic rigor like transportation logistics and a soft discipline post-doc in infrastructure mgmt.

the beauty of aviation is that if you plan to research anything other than de-ice boots on a dc3 or aileron horn ice accumulation on an ATR you'll be blazing a new trail and will probably receive a billion grants and tenures to do it all. this means everything you write will get published, not in small part because you'll probably be the only "aviation phd" around to peer evaluate your own submission to your own journal. you could write a book about the detrimental physiological/cognitive effects of steamed fish as the in-flight meal on flightcrew performance citing "airplane!" as your primary reference. then when cnn/cbc/ctv/fox/etc call you every week to comment on the latest *breaking news* unsafe-gear-indication emergency you can just say "well, they should have read my book 'mayday en papillote' available at aviationworld and participating home depots"

[outsider]

Ph.D. - a doctorate usually based on at least 3 years graduate study and a dissertation; the highest degree awarded graduate study

how are you not embarrassed. Now I'm all about learning new things , but to take a few courses and call yourself a PH.D , is like taking advanced math in high school and calling yourself a mathematician. If you want a PH.D then go and get a REAL one from a university. From my point of view you are the one's who are the embarrassment by trying to pass yourselves off as legitimate PH.D's. The truth is sometimes offensive I know , but that does not make it any less true.

[Glory.]

the more i thought about panning this "aviation phd" idea the more i want to do it because of what a juicy, low hanging fruit it must be. the coursework is probably a low impact cakewalk of interdisciplinary grab-baggery: a book report on "CARs in plain english", a case study on southwest, watching the DVD box set of "mayday", a field trip to gimli, and a bunch of research methodology crap aka using excel to plot a bunch of data that flightaware.com will probably sell to you. the dissertation committee is probably made up of an ex royal exec, a disbarred lawyer, someone with star alliance gold frequent flyer status and some silly idiot who was foolish enough to spend a decade earning a real phd in something requiring a modicum of academic rigor like transportation logistics and a soft discipline post-doc in infrastructure mgmt.

the beauty of aviation is that if you plan to research anything other than de-ice boots on a dc3 or aileron horn ice accumulation on an ATR you'll be blazing a new trail and will probably receive a billion grants and tenures to do it all. this means everything you write will get published, not in small part because you'll probably be the only "aviation phd" around to peer evaluate your own submission to your own journal. you could write a book about the detrimental physiological/cognitive effects of steamed fish as the in-flight meal on flightcrew performance citing "airplane!" as your primary reference. then when cnn/cbc/ctv/fox/etc call you every week to comment on the latest *breaking news* unsafe-gear-indication emergency you can just say "well, they should have read my book 'mayday en papillote' available at aviationworld and participating home depots"

lmao

Anyway, theres alot of big words in that description of the course. What actual subjects are they gonna cover?

[The Old Fogducker]

Oh yes .... lots and lots of big words ... really, really big words all right ... some actually have 3 syllables.

Heaven forbid.

[mcrit]

I don't think the hostility on this thread is directed at people that want to get more education. I think it's more a reaction to the dilution (or maybe only the apparent dilution) of academic rigor that this PhD program represents. I just don't see the study of aviation in and of itself as being a university level program.

[Dash-Ate]

Were is Hedley to give up his educational wisdom? although...he is only an undergrad

[glidepath]

"A PhD won't help anyone land their first job"


must be stupidest thing i read all day

[AEROBAT]

The University of Alberta has an aeronautical engineering course. This Embry Riddle one looks more like a liberal arts program. You don't end up with an actual engineering degree from what I can see.

[C-FABH]

"A PhD won't help anyone land their first flying job"


must be stupidest thing i read all day

corrected.

[frontside_air]

I don't think the hostility on this thread is directed at people that want to get more education. I think it's more a reaction to the dilution (or maybe only the apparent dilution) of academic rigor that this PhD program represents. I just don't see the study of aviation in and of itself as being a university level program.

this is pretty much what i think of when i hear "doctor, aviation":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLM8xpsAURc