Electrical Engineering, M.S.
Degree Requirements (30 Hours)
The Master of Science (M.S.) degree in electrical engineering (ELCT) requires 24 course credit hours of graduate level work and 6 hours of thesis preparation, for a total of 30 credit hours, beyond the B.S. degree.
Among the 24 required course credit hours, students must complete a minimum of 12 hours in approved ELCT courses (700 or above, excludes ELCT 797 and ELCT 899). No more than 6 credit hours from ELCT 897 (Directed Individual Study) can be used to meet the 24-hour requirement. All MS students must have a thesis director from the department faculty who will direct their MS thesis.
Among the 24 required course credit hours, 12 credit hours can be completed from a mixture of approved ELCT and non-ELCT courses at the 500-level or above. Of these 12 credit hours, no more than 6 hours can be met using non-ELCT courses. Non-ELCT courses may include but not limited to courses with prefixes CSCE, EMCH, MATH, CHEM, PHYS. Courses with other prefixes than those listed above may also be taken in consultation with and approval of the student's thesis director and the graduate director.
Students must take and complete 6 credit hours of ELCT 799, thesis preparation which includes the writing and defending of their thesis.
The completed thesis must be submitted electronically with appropriate signatures to the Dean of the Graduate School.
The Program of Study (POS) must be defined in consultation with the student’s thesis director and approved by the graduate director. Changes in the POS require permission of the student’s advisor and approval of the Graduate Director. Any such changes must be approved before the beginning of a student’s final semester.
Additional Degree Requirements
The Comprehensive Exam consists of a public presentation of the thesis followed by a private oral examination administered by the student’s Thesis Advisor and Second Reader.
Disciplinary Pathways
The following guidelines are not prescriptive, and students can complete the 24 hours of course work in consultation with their thesis director from approved ELCT and non-ELCT courses delineated under the header “Additional Degree Requirements.”
However, since typically an MS degree seeking student would like to gain specialized knowledge within a disciplinary pathway of electrical engineering they may wish to take more courses in a specific electrical engineering disciplinary pathway.
Power, Energy, and Control Systems
Students wishing to specialize in the power, energy, and control systems area may consider taking majority of their courses from that disciplinary pathway area which include but are not limited to the following courses.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ELCT 531 | Digital Control Systems | 3 |
| ELCT 553 | Electromechanical Energy Conversion | 3 |
| ELCT 554 | Integration of Photovoltaics in Modern Power Systems | 3 |
| ELCT 572 | Power Electronics | 3 |
| ELCT 751 | Advanced Power Systems Analysis | 3 |
| ELCT 753 | Electrical Drives | 3 |
| ELCT 772 | Advanced Power Electronics | 3 |
| ELCT 782 | Power Semiconductor Devices | 3 |
| ELCT 837 | Modern Control Theory | 3 |
| ELCT 838 | Optimal Control and Estimation | 3 |
| ELCT 839 | Robust Adaptive Control | 3 |
| ELCT 883 | Power Systems Stability and Control | 3 |
Radio Frequency Systems and Wireless Communication
Similarly, students wishing to specialize in the radio frequency systems and wireless communication area may consider taking majority of their courses from that disciplinary pathway area which include but are not limited to the following courses.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ELCT 521 | Introduction to Microwave Engineering | 3 |
| ELCT 562 | Wireless Communications | 3 |
| ELCT 563 | Semiconductor Devices for Power, Communications and Lighting | 3 |
| ELCT 564 | RF Circuit Design for Wireless Communications | 3 |
| ELCT 732 | Radio Propagation & Wireless Channel Modeling | 3 |
| ELCT 761 | Fundamental Electromagnetics | 3 |
| ELCT 861 | Special Topics in Communications and Electromagnetics | 3 |
| ELCT 862 | Antennas and Radiation | 3 |
| ELCT 864 | Microwave Devices and Circuits | 3 |
Semiconductors
And finally, students wishing to specialize in the semiconductor area may consider taking majority of their courses from that disciplinary pathway which include but are not limited to the following courses.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ELCT 510 | Photovoltaic Materials and Devices | 3 |
| ELCT 563 | Semiconductor Devices for Power, Communications and Lighting | 3 |
| ELCT 574 | Semiconductor Materials and Device Characterization | 3 |
| ELCT 763 | Semiconductor Device Modeling and Simulation | 3 |
| ELCT 766 | Solid-State Lighting | 3 |
| ELCT 774 | Advanced Semiconductor Characterization | 3 |
| ELCT 864 | Microwave Devices and Circuits | 3 |
| ELCT 874 | Advanced Semiconductor Materials | 3 |