Areas of Focus

The department offers five areas of focus for graduate study. Course requirements and electives are listed below each area of focus.

Communications and Networks

Required courses:

ECE 6015 Stochastic Processes in Engineering
ECE 6035 Introduction to Computer Networks
ECE 6510 Communication Theory

At least two of the following:

ECE 6500 Information Theory
ECE 6505 Error Control Coding
ECE 6520 Mobile and Wireless Communication Systems
ECE 6525 Satellite Communication Systems
ECE 6530 Electronic Warfare
ECE 6550 Network Architectures and Protocols
ECE 6560 Network Performance Analysis
ECE 6565 Network Security
ECE 6570 Telecommunications Security Protocols
ECE 6575 Optical Communication Networks
ECE 6580 Wireless Networks
ECE 6715 Antennas
ECE 6720 Remote Sensing
ECE 6725 Electromagnetic Radiation and Scattering
ECE 6730 Waves in Random Media
ECE 6750 Modern Radar
ECE 6760 Propagation Modeling in Wireless Communications

For thesis option

ECE 6998 Thesis Research I
ECE 6999 Thesis Research II

Electives
Non-thesis option—15 credits in elective courses; thesis option—9 credits in elective courses. For either option, at least 3 credits must come from outside of the area of focus list.

Computer Architecture and High-Performance Computing

Required courses:

ECE 6005 Computer Architecture and Design

At least five of the following courses:

ECE 6105 Introduction to High-Performance Computing
ECE 6120 Advanced Microarchitectures
ECE 6125 Parallel Computer Architecture
ECE 6130 Big Data and Cloud Computing
ECE 6140 Embedded Systems
ECE 6150 Design of Interconnection Networks for Parallel Computer Architectures
ECE 6160 Secure Computer Architecture
ECE 8150 Advanced Topics in Computer Architecture

For thesis option

ECE 6998 Thesis Research I
ECE 6999 Thesis Research II

Electives
Non-thesis option—12 credits in elective courses; thesis option—6 credits in elective courses. For either option, at least 3 credits must come from outside of the area of focus list.

Cyber-physical Security (Electrical Engineering)

Required courses:

ECE 6134 Cloud Computing and Security
ECE 6565 Network Security
ECE 6669 Smart Power Grids

At least four of the following:

ECE 6005 Computer Architecture and Design
ECE 6035 Introduction to Computer Networks
ECE 6070 Electrical Power Systems
ECE 6130 Big Data and Cloud Computing
ECE 6160 Secure Computing Systems
ECE 6570 Telecommunications Security Protocols
ECE 6666 Power System Transmission, Control, and Security
ECE 6691 Power Systems Reliability

For thesis option

ECE 6998 Thesis Research I
ECE 6999 Thesis Research II

Electives
Non-thesis option – 9 credits in elective courses.
Thesis option – 3 credits in elective courses.
For either option, at least 3 credits must come from outside of the area of focus list.

Electric Power and Energy

Required course:

ECE 60700 Electrical Power Systems

At least two of the following:

ECE 6010 Linear Systems Theory
ECE 6020 Applied Electromagnetics
ECE 6025 Signals and Transforms in Engineering

At least three of the following:

ECE 6660 Electrical Power Generation
ECE 6610 Electrical Energy Conversion
ECE 6662 Power Electronics
ECE 6666 Power System Transmission, Control, and Security
ECE 6667 Nuclear Power Generation
ECE 6668 Power Distribution Grids
ECE 6669 Smart Power Grids
ECE 6670 Power System Protection
ECE 6690 Power Systems Economics
ECE 6691 Power Systems Reliability
ECE 6699 Energy and Sustainability

For thesis option

ECE 6998 Thesis Research
ECE 6999 Thesis Research

Electronics, Photonics, and MEMS

Required course:

ECE 6030 Device Electronics

At least four of the following:

ECE 6020 Applied Electromagnetics
ECE 6210 Machine Intelligence
ECE 6213 Design of VLSI Circuits
ECE 6214 High-Level VLSI Design Methodology
ECE 6215 Introduction to MEMS
ECE 6216 RF/VLSI Circuit Design
ECE 6217 Neural Networks and Hardware Implementations
ECE 6218 Advanced Analog VLSI Circuit Design
ECE 6221 Introduction to Physical Electronics
ECE 6240 VLSI Design and Simulation
ECE 6245 Microfabrication and Nanofabrication Technology
ECE 6250 ASIC Design and Testing of VLSI Circuits
ECE 6255 Sensors, Networks, and Applications
ECE 6260 Introduction to Nanoelectronics
ECE 6710 Microwave Engineering
ECE 6745 Analysis on Nonlinear and Multivalued Devices
ECE 6761 Light and Information
ECE 6765 Photonics and Fiber Optics
ECE 6770 Applied Magnetism

For thesis option

ECE 6998 Thesis Research I
ECE 6999 Thesis Research II

Hardware and Systems Security (Computer Engineering)

Required course:

ECE 6005 Computer Architecture and Design
ECE 6045 Operating System Engineering
ECE 6125 Parallel Computer Architecture
ECE 6150 Design of Interconnection Networks for Parallel Computer Architectures
ECE 6160. Secure Computing Systems

At least four of the following:

ECE 6105 Introduction to High-Performance Computing
ECE 6120 Advanced Microarchitecture
ECE 6130 Big Data and Cloud Computing
ECE 6134 Cloud Computing and Security
ECE 6565 Network Security
ECE 6570 Telecommunications Security Protocols
ECE 8150 Advanced Topics in Computer Architecture

For thesis option

ECE 6998 Thesis Research I
ECE 6999 Thesis Research II

Electives
Non-thesis option – 6 credits in elective courses; at least 3 credits must come from outside of
the area of focus list.

High-Performance Data Analytics (Computer Engineering)

Required course:

ECE 6005 Computer Architecture and Design
ECE 6105 Introduction to High-Performance Computing
ECE 6120 Advanced Microarchitecture
ECE 6125 Parallel Computer Architecture
ECE 6130 Big Data and Cloud Computing
ECE 6150 Design of Interconnection Networks for Parallel Computer Architectures

At least four of the following:

ECE 6045 Operating System Engineering
ECE 6160 Secure Computing Systems
ECE 6210 Machine Intelligence
ECE 8150 Advanced Topics in Computer Architecture

For thesis option

ECE 6998 Thesis Research I
ECE 6999 Thesis Research II

Electives
Non-thesis option – 6 credits in elective courses. At least 3 credits must come from outside of
the area of focus list.

Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems (Computer Engineering)

Required courses:

ECE 6005 Computer Architecture and Design
ECE 6105 Introduction to High-Performance Computing
ECE 6130 Big Data and Cloud Computing
ECE 6160 Secure Computer Architecture
ECE 6210 Machine Intelligence
ECE 6882 Reinforcement Learning

At least two of the following:

ECE 6015 Stochastic Processes in Engineering**
ECE 6120 Advanced Microarchitecture
ECE 6125 Parallel Computer Architecture
ECE 6150 Design of Interconnection Networks for Parallel Computer Architectures

For thesis option

ECE 6998 Thesis Research I
ECE 6999 Thesis Research II

Electives
Non-thesis option—6 credits in elective courses, 3 of which must come from outside of the area of focus list; thesis option-0 credits in elective courses.

**Required for students who have not taken a course in probability and random processes at the undergraduate level or above

Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems (Electrical Engineering)

Required courses:

ECE 6210 Machine Intelligence
ECE 6217 Neural Networks and Hardware Implementations
ECE 6850 Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning
ECE 6882 Reinforcement Learning

At least three of the following:

ECE 6010 Linear Systems Theory
ECE 6015 Stochastic Processes in Engineering
ECE 6035 Introduction to Computer Networks
ECE 6255 Sensors, Networks, and Applications
ECE 6510 Communication Theory
ECE 6580 Wireless Networks
ECE 6761 Light and Information
ECE 6800 Computational Techniques in Electrical Engineering
ECE 6845 Image Synthesis
ECE 6880 Adaptive Signal Processing
ECE 6885 Computer Vision

For thesis option

ECE 6998 Thesis Research I
ECE 6999 Thesis Research II

Electives
Non-thesis option—9 credits in elective courses; thesis option-3 credits in elective courses. For either option, at least 3 credits must come from outside of the area of focus list.

Signal and Image Processing, Systems and Controls

Required course:

ECE 6015 Stochastic Processes in Engineering

At least four of the following:

ECE 6005 Computer Architecture and Design
ECE 6010 Linear Systems Theory
ECE 6025 Signals and Transforms in Engineering
ECE 6666 Power System Transmission, Control, and Security
ECE 6800 Computational Techniques in Electrical Engineering
ECE 6810 Speech and Audio Processing by Computer
ECE 6815 Multimedia Processing
ECE 6820 Real-Time Digital Signal Processing
ECE 6825 Computer Control Systems
ECE 6830 System Optimization
ECE 6835 Nonlinear Systems
ECE 6840 Digital Image Processing
ECE 6842 Image Engineering
ECE 6845 Image Synthesis
ECE 6850 Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning
ECE 6855 Computer Vision
ECE 6860 Compression Techniques for Data, Speech, and Video
ECE 6865 Statistical Signal Estimation
ECE 6875 Wavelets and Their Applications
ECE 6880 Adaptive Signal Processing
ECE 6885 Computer Vision

For thesis option

ECE 6998 Thesis Research I
ECE 6999 Thesis Research II