Academics

Master of Engineering Program Overview

Program Overview

Specific Program Requirements and Policies

Program Overview

The ECE MEng degree program is a 26-credit program with the following components:

  1. At least 12 credits in technical courses, of which at least 9 from a set of core courses for a selected MEng concentration; the rest from a set of approved non-core courses.
  2. At least 4 credits in project and design courses in the same concentration.
  3. At least 4 and up to 6 credits in ENTR courses; these are in the areas of entrepreneurship, leadership, communication and project management. This requirement may be waived by the MEng program director or the cognizant faculty, in cases such as continuing education and other warranted circumstances.
  4. An optional summer internship, which can count up to 3 credits, corresponding to a 12-week full-time internship.

Example combinations of these toward program requirement include:

(i) 18 technical (12 in core, 6 in non-core), 4 in project, 4 in ENTR
(ii) 18 technical (9 in core, 9 in non-core), 4 in project, 4 in ENTR
(iii) 15 technical (9 in core, 6 in non-core), 8 in project, 4 in ENTR
(iv) 12 technical (9 in core, 3 in non-core), 8 in project, 6 in ENTR
(v) 15 technical (9 in core, 6 in non-core), 4 in project, 4 ENTR, and 3 in internship
(vi) 15 technical (all in core), 4 in project, 4 ENTR, and 3 in internship

We elaborate on each of the program components below. For MEng students who plan to graduate in 2 semesters, they will need to plan carefully with the ECE  Graduate Office  as courses are not offered every semester.

Core requirement (at least 12 and up to 22 credits total)

The core requirement consists of the core courses in the selected concentration and the design/project courses in the same concentration. These courses will deliver the technical/engineering foundations for the student, with a significant emphasis on hands-on and project experience, all in the concentration area.

Non-core/Electives (up to 9 credits total)

These constitute the flexible component of the program. Approved non-core courses include any “M” course in the ECE Course List – these are courses that count toward fulfilling a major requirement in one of our existing MS major areas, provided they are not simultaneously listed as a core/lab requirement for a concentration. A course not listed as “M” by the ECE Course List may count as an accepted non-core course with pre-approval from the MEng program director.

Communications and e-ship skills

These have become an increasingly important part of any professional training program and reflect our belief that communications, innovation, leadership and management skills are complementary and even critical to a student’s technical training.

Internships

Practical training is recognized as a potentially very critical and beneficial part of a professional degree program and is thus accepted as an option. It is not required, as we do not guarantee such opportunities for all students, particularly international students. To qualify for credit, a report from the student summarizing the internship along with proper documentation from the employer needs to be submitted. An international student is also required to return for the fall term following the summer internship to obtain this credit. To request credit to be approved for the internship, students will need to complete the form found in the Application to receive credits for ECE MEng Internship.

An MEng student will not receive credit for courses outside the above requirement without pre-approval from the program director.

At one end of the extreme, a student can opt to take a total of 22 credits toward their core technical requirement and can in principle take all of them in the major area. This could include possibly 14 credits in technical courses and 8 in design/projects. The student completes the degree requirement with 4 credits in communications.

At the other end of the extreme, a student can opt to take a total of 12 credits toward their core requirement (9 in technical courses and 4 in design/projects). The student completes the degree requirement with at least 3 (thus a total of 16 credits in technical courses) and up to 9 (for a total of 21 credits in technical courses) credits in a minor area and a combination of communications courses and internship.

Full program guidelines can be found here

Specific program requirements and policies

All Concentrations

The following set of entrepreneurship (ENTR) courses are common to all concentrations, along with the semester in which they are offered and the number of credits they carry. 

Communications and e-ship (4-6 credits): 

– ENTR 407 (Entrepreneurship Hour, 1) 
– ENTR 408 (Patent law, 1) 
– ENTR 520 (Tech-inspired business models, 3) 
– ENTR 530 (Innovation & IP strategy, 3) 
– ENTR 550 (Interpersonal skills, 3) 
– ENTR 560 (Project mgmt & consulting, 3) 
– EECS 406 (High-tech entrepreneurship, 4) 

Relevant ECE 598 (Special Topics) courses may be allowed to satisfy any of the requirements noted below per program director’s approval. 

Data Science and Machine Learning (DS/ML)

The ECE MEng concentration in Data Science and Machine Learning aims to train electrical, computer, and systems engineers so that they are equipped with the theory and practice of data science and machine learning to work on modern engineering systems for sensing, control, inference, planning and decision making. The curriculum emphasizes rigorous theory, hands-on practice and developing skills for computational reasoning about large-scale complex engineered systems.

For the DS/ML concentration, the list of accepted courses in each category is as follows. 

Core requirement (>=9 credits) 

– ECE 501 (Probability and Random Processes, 4)
– EECS 504 (Foundations of CV, 3) 
– ECE 551 (Matrix Methods in SIPML, 4) 
– EECS 542 (Advance Topics in Computer Vision, 3) 
– EECS 553*1 (Machine Learning ECE, 3) 
– ECE 556* (Image Processing, 3) 
– ECE 559* (Optimization methods in SIPML, 3)
– ECE 564 (Estimation, Filtering, and Detection, 3) 
– EECS 568 (Mobile Robotics, 4) Valid as Core for Fall 2022 admits only

Accepted non-core courses

An “M” course on the ECE Course List – these are courses that count toward fulfilling a major requirement in one of our existing MS major areas. A course not listed as “M” on the ECE course list may count as an accepted non-core course with pre-approval from the MEng program director. 

Project/Design/Lab requirement (>=4 credits): 

– Python for Everybody Specialization (5-course sequence on Coursera, taught by C. Severance at SI, 2) 
Other acceptable project based course(s) include:
– EECS 553* (Machine Learning ECE, 3)
– ECE 556* (Image Processing, 3) 
– ECE 559* (Optimization methods in SIPML, 3)
– ECE 599 (Independent or directed study, credits determined in consultation with advisor depending on number of hours committed to study per week).
– Any other ECE 500+ level special topics course with a project component- ask the instructor whether a project is a component of the course.
– Directed study or independent research involving DS/ML with a non-ECE UM faculty member – the advisor will have to submit a letter indicating the nature of the project work, the number of credits and how the project helps to showcase existing and acquired new DS/ML skills.

* EECS 553, ECE 556, and ECE 559 may be used to satisfy either the core course requirement or project requirement but not both.

1 We recommend that EECS 553 be taken after ECE 551

 

Examples of course choices and pathways to completion are as follows (numbers in parentheses denote credit hour counts): 

Example 1: all courses, no intern; 4-credit ENTR; 22-credit core 

– Fall: 501 (4), 504 (3), 551 (4) ENTR 407 (1) – 12 total 
– Winter: Two of (559, 542, 556) (6), 553 (3) as Project course with Python (2), ENTR 550 (3) – 14 total

Example 2: all courses, no intern; 4-credit ENTR; 16-credit core; 7-credit minor 

– Fall: 501 (4), 551 (4), a 1st course in VLSI (3), ENTR 550 (3) – 14 total 
– Winter: 553(3) or 542 (3), 559 (3) as Project course with Python (2), a 2nd course in VLSI (4), ENTR 407 (1) – 13 total

Example 3: mix; 4-credit ENTR; > 16-credit core; 3-credit intern 

– Fall: 501 (4), 504 (3) , 551 (4) ENTR 407 (1) – 12 total 
– Winter: 553(3) or 542 (3), 559 (3) or directed study 599 (3) as Project course with Python (2), ENTR 550 (3) – 11 total
– SS: qualified internship (3) 

Example 4 mix (for international students); 4-credit ENTR; >16-credit core; 3-credit intern 

– Fall: 501 (4) or 504 (3), 551 (4), ENTR 407 (1) – 8 total
– Winter: 553 (3), 559 (3) as Project course with Python (2), 542 (3) – 11 total
– SS: qualified internship (3) 
– Fall: another approved ECE course (3) or directed study/research (3), ENTR 550 (3) – 6 total

Autonomous Systems (AS)

The concentration in Autonomous Systems focuses on the design and engineering aspects of autonomous systems and operations. Students will gain knowledge in sensors, sensing, signal processing, and control, and apply that knowledge to the broad family of autonomous systems that includes robots, autonomous driving, and any engineering system that can be made to operate independently.

For the AS concentration, the list of accepted courses in each category is as follows. 

Core requirement (>=9 credits): 


– EECS 453 (Principles of Machine Learning, 4)
– EECS 460 (Control Sys Analysis & Design, 4)
– ECE 501 (Probability & Random Processes, 4)
– EECS 504 (Foundations of CV, 3)
– EECS 542 (Vision Processing, 3)
– ECE 551 (Mathematical Methods for SP, 4)
– ECE 556 (Image Processing, 3)
– ECE 560 (Linear Systems Theory, 4)
– EECS 567 (Intro to Robotics, 3)
– EECS 568 (Mobile Robotics: Methods and Algorithms, 4)
– ECE 561 (Design of Digital Control Systems, 3)
– ECE 562 (Nonlinear Sys Control, 3)
– ECE 563 (Hybrid Control, 3)
– ECE 564 (Estimation, Filtering, and Detection, 3)
– ECE 565 (Linear Feedback Control Systems, 3) 

Accepted non-core courses

An “M” course on the ECE Course List– these are courses that count toward fulfilling a major requirement in one of our existing MS major areas. A course not listed as “M” on the ECE course list may count as an accepted non-core course with pre-approval from the MEng program director. 

Project/Design/Lab requirement (>=4 credits)

– EECS 461 (Embedded Control Systems, 4) 
– EECS 452 (DSP Design Lab, 4) 
– EECS 464 (Hands-on Robotics, 4) 

Examples of course choices and pathways to completion are as follows: 

Example 1: all courses, no intern; 4-credit ENTR; 22-credit core 

– Fall: 560 (4), 542 (3), 453 (4), ENTR 407(1) – 12 total 
– Winter: 565 (or 562/563) (3), two of (461, 452, 464) (8), ENTR 550 (3) – 14 total 

Example 2: all courses, no intern; 4-credit ENTR; 23-credit core 

– Fall: 501 (4), 460 (4), 453 (4), ENTR 407 (1) – 13 total 
– Winter: 556 or 564 (3), two of (461, 452, 464) (8), ENTR 550 (3) – 14 total 

Example 3: mix; 4-credit ENTR; >15-credit core; 3-credit intern 

– Fall: 560 (4), 453 (4), ENTR 407 (1) – 9 total 
– Winter: 565 (3), one of (461, 452, 464) (4), ENTR 550 (3) – 10 total 
– SS: qualified internship (3) 
– Fall: another ECE course (3-4) 

Microelectronics and Integrated Circuits (MI)

The concentration in Microelectronics and Integrated Circuits prepares our students for a career in the semiconductor industry. Students will gain knowledge in integrated circuit design (digital, analog, microwave), semiconductor manufacturing, device physics and design principles (electronic, optoelectronic, sensing, organic, quantum), and microelectromechanical systems. The curriculum emphasizes rigorous foundational knowledge, state-of-the-art applications, hands-on projects, teamwork, communication, and entrepreneurship skills. 

For the MI concentration, the list of accepted courses in each category is as follows. A minimum of 9 credits in the core and 12 credits in the core, non-core, and project combined must be at a 500-level or above.

Core requirement (>=9 credits)

– EECS 414 (Introduction to MEMS, 4)
– EECS 418 (Power Electronics, 4)
– EECS 421 (Properties of Transistors, 4)
– EECS 429 (Semiconductor Optoelectronic Devices, 4)
– ECE 506 (Design of Power Electronics, 3)
– *ECE 511 (Integrated Analog/Digital Interface Circuits, 4)
– ECE 514 (Advanced MEMS Devices and Technologies, 4)
– ECE 515 (Integrated Microsystems, 4)
– ECE 517 (Physical Processes in Plasmas, 3)
– ECE 520 (Solid State Physics, 4)
– ECE 521 (Solid State Devices, 3)
– *EECS 522 (Analog Integrated Circuits, 4)
– EECS 523 (Digital Integrated Technology, 4)
– ECE 524 (Organic Electronics, 3)
– ECE 525 (Advanced Solid State Microwave Circuits, 3)
– ECE 528 (Principles of Microelectronics Process Technology, 3)
– ECE 529 (Semiconductor Lasers and LEDs, 3)
– ECE 540 (Applied Quantum Mechanics I, 3)
– ECE 620 (Electronic and Optical Properties of Semiconductors, 4)
– *EECS 627 (VLSI Design II, 4)

The following can satisfy the core requirement when they are offered.

– ECE 509 (BioMEMS, 3)
– EECS 510 (RF MEMS, 4)
– ECE 512 (Amorphous and Microcrystalline Semiconductor Thin Film Devices, 3)
– ECE 513 (Flat Panel Displays, 3)

Accepted non-core courses

An “M” course on the ECE Course List – these are courses that count toward fulfilling a major requirement in one of our existing MS major areas. A course not listed as “M” on the ECE course list may count as an accepted non-core course with pre-approval from the MEng program director.

Project/Design/Lab requirement (>=4 credits):

– EECS 411 (Microwave Circuits I, 4)
– EECS 413 (Monolithic Amplifier Circuits, 4)
– EECS 423 (Solid-State Device Laboratory, 4)
– EECS 425 (Integrated Microsystems Laboratory, 4)
– EECS 427 (VLSI Design I, 4)

* ECE 511, EECS 522 & 627 can also be used to satisfy the project/design/lab requirement. However, the same course cannot be used to satisfy both the core and project requirements.