M.S. Degree Program – Plan A

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Students must take a minimum of 30 credits in the program. Typically, this consists of 9-12 credits each semester. The requirements consist of:

  • At least 21 credits of graduate course work – some students may need more than seven courses to complete Plan A of study. Final determination is made by the student and student’s advisory committee.
  • Students in the Information, Communication, Decision, and Biosystems area may include no more than 3 credits of ECE 6099 (Independent Study) courses; students in the Electronics and Phontoics area may include no more than 6 credits of ECE 6099
  • At least 9 credits of Master’s Thesis Research, GRAD 5950
  • a Master’s thesis
  • One (1) credit of ECE 6094 seminar work
  • Oral presentation of thesis work

The courses required of M.S. candidates depend on their area of concentration.

 

Information, Communication, Decision, and Biosystems: 

The following courses are required of all M.S. degree candidates (Plan A) in the Information, Communication, Decision, and Biosystems area.

  1. ECE 5101: Introduction to Systems Theory
  2. ECE 6111: Applied Probability and Stochastic Processes
  3. ECE 6122: Digital Signal Processing
  4. ECE 6151: Communication Theory
  5. ECE 6439: Estimation and Filtering Theory

It is not necessary that the remaining courses taken be in the Information, Communication, Decision, and Biosystems, although generally they tend to be.

 

Electronics, Photonics, and Biophotonics: 

The following course requirements apply to all M.S. degree candidates (Plan A) in the Electronics, Photonics, and Biophotonics area, except those pursuing the Nanotechnology track (see below).

At least one course from each of the three areas (EM/Photonics, Semiconductor/Optoelectronic Devices and Applications) is required of all M.S. degree candidates (Plan A) in the Electronics, Photonics, and Biophotonics area.

AREA ONE: EM/Photonics (choose at least one course)

  1. ECE 5201: Electromagnetic Wave Propagation / Bansal
  2. ECE 5231: Fundamentals of Photonics / Taylor

AREA TWO: Semiconductor/Optoelectronic devices (choose at least one course)

GROUP 2.A (intended primarily for electronics/photonics students)

  1. ECE 5211: Semiconductor Devices and Models / Ayers, Anwar
  2. ECE 6222: Advanced Semiconductor Devices / Donkor
  3. ECE 5225 Electron Device Design and Characterization / Gokirmak
  4. ECE 5212: Fundamentals of Optoelectronic Devices / Jain
  5. ECE 5232: Optoelectronic Devices/ Taylor

OR GROUP 2.B (intended primarily for Bio-Photonics students)

  1. ECE5101: Introductions to Systems Theory/ Luh
  2. ECE6111: Applied Probability and Stochastic Process/ Pattipati
  3. ECE6122: Digital Signal Processing/ Willett
  4. ECE6439: Estimation and Filter Theory/ Bar-Shalom
  5. ECE6121: Advanced Signal Processing/ Willett
  6. ECE 6125: Digital Image Processing/Javidi
  7. ECE/BME 6143: Image Recognition/Javidi
  8. BME 5210: Biomedical Optics/ Zhu

AREA THREE: Applications (choose at least one course)

  1. ECE 6243: Nanotechnology/ Jain
  2. ECE 5223: Nanophotonics/ Donkor
  3. ECE 6242: VLSI Fabrication Principles/ Ayerr
  4. ECE 6211: Antenna Theory and Applications / Bansal
  5. ECE 6212: Microwave Techniques / Bansal
  6. ECE/BME 6126: Optics for Biomedical Engineers/ Javidi
  7. BME 6420  Medical Imaging Systems/ Zhu
  8. ECE 6421 Advanced VLSI Design / Wang
  9. ECE 6095 Special Topics: Memory Devices and Technology / Silva
  10. ECE 6095 Special Topics: Solar Photovoltaic Energy Conversion / Bazzi
  11. ECE 6095 Special Topics: Metamaterials/Tonn

It is not necessary that the remaining courses taken be in the Electronics, Photonics, and Biophotonics area, although they generally tend to be.

 

Nanotechnology track: 
The following courses are required of all M.S. degree candidates (Plan A) in the Nanotechnology track.

Select 3 or 4 from this group

  1. ECE 6242: VLSI FAB
  2. ECE 5211/ECE 6222: Semiconductor Devices
  3. ECE 6212: Microwave Techniques/ECE 5201: Electromagnetic Wave Propagation
  4. ECE 5212/ECE 5231/ECE 5232: Optoelectronics/Photonics
  5. ECE 6421: Advanced VLSI Systems
  6. ECE 5234: Optical Waveguides (or Independent Study ECE 6099 on Nanophotonics)

Select 3 or 4 from this Specialization

  1. ECE 6243: Nanotechnology-I
  2. ECE 6244: Nanotechnology-II
  3. ECE 6099: Special Topics/Independent Study in Nanotechnology (up to 6 credits)
  4. ECE 6126: Optical Information Processing

 

STANDARD FOR MAINTENANCE OF ACADEMIC STATUS

Each student must maintain a 3.0 overall GPA to remain in good standing. Each student must also be registered for 9 credits or more to be considered full-time unless authorized by their academic advisor for approved research.

STANDARDS FOR ACADEMIC PROBATION

Students who drop below a 3.0 overall GPA in any semester are informed by the Graduate School and the Electrical Engineering Program that they are on academic probation. They then have one semester to raise the GPA to 3.0 or better. Failure to do so will result in academic dismissal. A student cannot earn the M.S. degree with a final GPA below 3.0

READMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS

If a student has withdrawn from the program in good standing, then they may be readmitted in the future without a formal application. If more than 5 years have elapsed, the student must obtain permission from the Dean or Program Director.

If a student has withdrawn or been dismissed because of academic probation, the student must obtain permission from the Dean before being re-admitted.

All readmitted student must satisfy the academic standard and curriculum in effect at the time of readmission.

PROGRAM COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS

To earn the Electrical Engineering M.S. (Plan A) degree, all students must:

  • have at least one conference paper (not abstract) or journal paper submitted [ For all MS defenses after January 1 2009, the new minimum publication requirement will be 1 conference proceedings (CP) (full) paper accepted by the time of graduation.  (A journal paper may be substituted for the CP.)]
  • have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above
  • have completed a minimum of 21 credits of coursework
  • have completed a Master’s thesis
  • have completed one (1) credit of ECE 6094 seminar work
  • have completed an oral presentation of thesis work