/ School of Engineering / Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering /

Master of Science in Computer Engineering

Mission

The graduate program in Computer Engineering strives to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and research competencies necessary for pursuing professional careers or doctoral studies.

Program Educational Objectives

The M.S. program in Computer Engineering provides a learning centered environment where accomplished faculty share their experience and knowledge with students so that:

  1. Graduates will be capable of integrating undergraduate fundamentals to solve complex electrical and computer engineering problems. They will have comprehension of advanced topics in several areas, with depth in at least one area.
  2. Graduates will have the ability to conduct research or execute development projects and to proficiently document the results.

Student Outcomes

Graduates are expected to be able to demonstrate:

  • an ability to apply knowledge from undergraduate and graduate education to identify, formulate, and solve new and complex electrical and computer engineering problems;
  • the ability to plan and conduct an organized and systematic study on a significant topic within the field;
  • an ability to communicate both orally and in writing at a high level of proficiency in the field of study.

Emphasis Areas

The course work for the master’s program in Computer Engineering can be grouped into the following two emphasis areas:

  1. Computer Engineering
  2. Computer and Communication Engineering

Computer Engineering (COE) focuses on the design, analysis and application of computers, and on their applications as components of systems. Computer and Communication Engineering (CCE) focuses on the design, analysis and application of communication and telecommunication systems, as well as systems in computer engineering.

Admission Requirements

Applicants for admission to this program must have a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, or a Bachelor of Engineering Degree from a recognized college or university, with a minimum general Grade Point Average (GPA) equivalent to 2.75, on a 4-point scale, or 2.75 in the major. If the bachelor’s degree is not in the field to be pursued, and/or if the GPA is less than 2.75, the applicant may be admitted as “special,” as described in the Academic Rules and Regulations for Graduate Programs.

The GRE general exam is required of all applicants (GRE subject exams are not required). All applicants must submit scores for the GRE general exam (includes verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing scores). Your GRE test scores are an important part of your application. GRE test scores that are more than 5 years old will not be accepted.

The admissions committee considers several factors when making admission decisions: your academic performance at prior institutions (grades, rankings, and GPAs) and your GRE test score. The rate of graduate assistantship (GA), when requested, is directly related to your GPA and GRE scores. Letters of recommendation are optional; however, three letters are recommended, two of which to be completed by faculty who are familiar with your academic performance.

Graduation Requirements

The graduate courses have been grouped into the following four concentration areas:

  1. Hardware
  2. Software and Theory
  3. Communications
  4. Systems Engineering

The proposed graduate curricula for each of the two programs are based on the breadth and depth requirements. The breadth requirements consist of six courses (18 credit hours) for both programs.

In order to satisfy the requirements for the MSE in Computer Engineering with emphasis on:

Computer Engineering, the student is required to complete at least:

  • Four courses from Hardware,
  • One course from Software and Theory, and
  • One course from either Communications or Systems Engineering.

Computer and Communications Engineering, the student is required to complete at least:

  •  Two courses from Hardware,
  •  One course from Software & Theory
  •  Two courses from Communications, and
  •  One course from Systems Engineering

The remaining courses may be chosen, without restriction, from any of the four concentration areas, and counted toward the depth requirement. It is recommended that these courses be chosen in the thesis area, in consultation with the student’s advisor.

Course Listings

The following is a list of selected courses (three credits each) in the four concentration areas:

(Other topic courses might be offered in these areas)

Systems Engineering Track:

  • ELE724 / Faulted Power Systems (3 cr.)
  • ELE726 / Renewable Energy Sources (3 cr.)
  • ELE742 / Linear Systems (3 cr.)
  • ELE753 / Reliability Evaluation of Engineering Systems (3 cr.)

Hardware Track:

  • COE721 / Embedded Systems (3 cr.)
  • COE723 / High Performance Computer Architecture (3 cr.)
  • COE725 / VLSI Design (3 cr.)
  • COE726 / VLSI Design Automation (3 cr.)
  • COE728 / ULSI Testing (3 cr.)                 

Communications Track:

  • ELE731 / Optical Fiber Communications  (3 cr.)
  • ELE735 / Information and Coding Theory (3 cr.)
  • COE733 / Optical Networks (3 cr.)                       

Software & Theory Track:

  • COE732 / Networks Security  (3 cr.)
  • COE741 / Artificial Intelligence (3 cr.)
  • COE743 / Intelligent Data Processing and Applications (3 cr.)
  • COE752 / Design and Analysis of Algorithms (3 cr.)
  • COE753 / Heuristic Optimization (3 cr.)
  • COE755 / Queuing Theory (3 cr.)
  • ELE757 / Simulation of Electronic Circuits (3 cr.)

NOTE: Students with a Bachelor of Engineering Degree, and who are pursuing a Master of Science Degree, may transfer the following courses (provided the student has scored at least a “B”): ELE538 / Noise in Communication Systems and ELE539 / Telecommunication Systems

Other Courses

  • Special Topics courses  (3 cr. each)
  • COE898 / Project (3 cr.)
  • COE899 / Thesis (6 cr.)

Topics Courses

When offered, advanced topic courses can count toward the breadth or depth requirements, upon the approval of the student’s advisor. Topic courses are three-credit courses, and might not be offered every year.

Project Courses

A three-credit project course, in any of the concentration areas, can also be considered as a regular course, only for the non-thesis option. The student is limited to at most one project course.

Remedial Courses

Remedial courses may be required from students seeking a degree not in their undergraduate field of specialization.