Electrical Engineering (PhD)

Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering 
Unit: Speed School of Engineering (GS)
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Academic Plan Code(s): EE_ _PHD

Program Information

General Information

The PhD degree program is intended for persons having an accredited master's and/or baccalaureate degree in electrical engineering. Students interested in the PhD degree program should consult the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. 

Degree Requirements

The award of a Doctor of Philosophy degree indicates that a student has attained mastery of a field and has demonstrated the capacity to perform independent scholarly research. Candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy degree must have a minimum final cumulative grade point average of 3.00 for all academic coursework attempted in Graduate Studies. 

The requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree are explained in more detail in the Degree Requirements section of this catalog.

Admission Standards

The admission standards for the PhD program in electrical engineering are as follows:

1. All admission applications for the program shall include:
   1. A completed graduate application for the Graduate School
   2. An application fee
   3. Results from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
   4. At least two letters of recommendation
   5. Official transcript(s) for all previous post-secondary coursework.  All transcripts not in English must be certified as authentic and translated verbatim into English.
2. The minimum degree requirement for admission is an accredited baccalaureate degree in electrical engineering or closely related field.
3. The successful applicant will typically have an undergraduate grade point average of 3.00 or above (on a 4.00 scale).
4. The successful applicant will typically have a GRE combined Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning score of 295 or above.
5. International students whose primary language is not English must show English language proficiency by either TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo score or demonstration of a degree awarded from an acceptable English language institution.  The successful applicant will typically have a TOEFL score of 79 or higher or overall IELTS score of 6.5 or higher or a Duolingo score of 105 or higher.

Program Requirements

Normally, it is expected that the student will complete a master's degree before being admitted to the PhD Program. However, qualified applicants may be admitted directly to the doctoral program after receiving a baccalaureate degree.  These students will be required to complete an additional 30 credit hours of coursework at the 500 and 600 level under an individual plan developed in conjunction with the department's Director of Graduate Studies.  Also, remedial work may be specified for those applicants who, in the opinion of the faculty, do not have a sufficient background.

The minimum curricular requirements for the doctoral program are:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Courses - Post Bac
Approved Master’s Level Course Work		30
ECE 695	Graduate Research Seminar in Electrical and Computer Engineering	3
Focus Area (Required Course + 1 Elective Course from approved list)		6-8
Technical Electives 1		6
ECE 700: Dissertation Research in EE 2		15
Minimum Total Hours		60-62

Candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy degree must have a minimum final cumulative grade point average of 3.00 for all academic work attempted in Graduate Studies 

¹

Technical electives can be ECE, non-ECE courses, or non-engineering courses and are approved by the candidates advisor. 

²

Candidates can take fewer than fifteen (15) credit hours of ECE 700 and more technical elective hours beyond six (6) credit hours, so as not to exceed 30 credit hours total for technical elective credit hours and ECE 700 credit hours.

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Focus Areas 

Power and Energy Systems

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Course
ECE 582	Power System Analysis	3
Elective Courses (Select one)
ECE 531	Power Electronics	3
ECE 569	Intermediate Electromagnetic Fields and Waves	3
ECE 581	Electric Machines and Drives	3
ECE 682	Advanced Power System Analysis	3

Microelectronics and Nanotechnology

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Course
ECE 542	Semiconductor Device Fundamentals	3
Elective Courses (Select one)
ECE 510 & ECE 511	Computer Design Computer Design Laboratory	4
ECE 516	Microcomputer Design	4
ECE 515 & ECE 514	Introduction to VLSI Systems Introduction to VLSI Systems Laboratory	4
ECE 533 & ECE 534	Analog Integrated Circuit Design Analog Integrated Circuit Design Laboratory	4
ECE 543 & ECE 544	Fundamentals of Microfabrication Microfabrication Laboratory	4
ECE 547	Semiconductor Photonic Devices	3
ECE 548	Electron Microscopy	3
ECE 549	Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)	3
ECE 569	Intermediate Electromagnetic Fields and Waves	3
ECE 611	Computer Architecture	3
ECE 632	Semiconductor Principles	3
ECE 633	Microelectronics Design and Fabrication	4
ECE 636	MEMS Design and Fabrication	4
ECE 638	The MOSFET	3

Communications and Signal Processing

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Course
ECE 520 & ECE 521	Digital Signal Processing Digital Signal Processing Laboratory	4
Elective Courses (Select one)
ECE 518	Fundamentals of Computer Communications and Networks	3
ECE 545 & ECE 551	Optical Signal Processing Communication Systems Laboratory	4
ECE 555 & ECE 556	Digital Image Processing Digital Image Processing Laboratory	4
ECE 613	Computational Intelligence Methods for Data Analysis	3
ECE 651	Communication System Design	3
ECE 652	Information Theory and Coding	3
ECE 653	Digital Communications	3
ECE 654	Advanced Voice/Data Networks	3
ECE 656	Wireless Communications and Mobile Radio Networks	3

Controls, Robotics, and Automation

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Course
ECE 560 & ECE 561	Control Systems Principles Control Systems Laboratory	4
Elective Courses (Select one)
ECE 526	LabVIEW for Electrical Engineers	3
ECE 564 & ECE 565	Fundamentals of Autonomous Robots Fundamentals of Autonomous Robots Lab	4
ECE 660	Introduction to Robust Control	3
ECE 661	Sampled-Data Control Systems	3
ECE 662	Introduction to Optimum Control	3
ECE 664	Modern Adaptive Control	3
ECE 665	Theory of Nonlinear Systems	3
ECE 668	Advanced Robotic Manipulation	3
ECE 669	System Identification and Estimation	3

Artificial Intelligence and Imaging

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Course
ECE 528 & ECE 529	Deep Learning and AI Tools Deep Learning and AI Tools Laboratory	4
Elective Courses (Select one)
ECE 520 & ECE 521	Digital Signal Processing Digital Signal Processing Laboratory	4
ECE 523	Introduction to Biometrics	3
ECE 530	Introduction to Random Processes and Estimation Theory	3
ECE 546	Introduction to Medical Imaging	3
ECE 555 & ECE 556	Digital Image Processing Digital Image Processing Laboratory	4
ECE 613	Computational Intelligence Methods for Data Analysis	3
ECE 618	Artificial Intelligence Systems	3
ECE 619 & ECE 645	Computer Vision Computer Vision Laboratory	4
ECE 620 & ECE 655	Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence Laboratory	4
ECE 640	Introduction to Biomedical Engineering	3
ECE 641	Medical Imaging Systems	3
ECE 643	Introduction to Biomedical Computing	3