The MS degree requires at least 30 credit hours of graduate courses. In addition, each MS candidate must: (a) write a master's thesis and include from 6 to 12 credit hours of research in the 30-hour program or (2) take an MS exam.

At least 20 credit hours of the overall 30 must be at the 400 level or higher; and at least 12 of these credit hours must be in Electrical and Computer Engineering, exclusive of research or reading courses.

At least 18 credit hours must be earned in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the 200 level or higher.

To be successful in the graduate program, the student must have a strong background in mathematics. If you think that you need more mathematics work, please consult with an ECE faculty member before proceeding with the formal program of study.

All part-time, 3-2 program, and non-thesis option full-time students must must pass an MS exam, which can be a term project OR an essay OR an oral exam. The exam must be conducted by a committee of no less than two ECE faculty members. Make sure to complete the MS exam by the end of November for Fall graduation or by the end of April for Spring graduation. Check with the Department about specific dates -- the deadlines vary each year.

MS students should view the ECE Exam Flowchart for exam requirements.

Each MS candidate, including students who plan to pursue a PhD, must also declare a concentration of study. Concentrations are organized as three-course sequences. The goal is to provide depth in the MS education, as opposed to a random sampling of courses, with the expectation that students are able to follow the literature in at least one research concentration upon graduation. The areas of concentration are: Signal/Image Processing, Biomedical/Ultrasound, Superconducting Electronics, Solid-State Electronics, Optoelectronics, VLSI/IC Microelectronics Design, Computer Design, Fields and Waves, and the new MSEE with a Concentration in Musical Acoustics and Signal Processing.

At the bottom of this page is the list of approved courses required for the successful completion of each concentration. We recommend that you also refer to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Bulletin or ask your advisor for the latest information.

Areas of Concentration and Research

The Department's graduate research is partitioned roughly into a few categories, many of which overlap depending on the type of research that the student undertakes. As examples, signal and image processing projects are important in biomedical ultrasound and implemented in VLSI technology, and opto-electronics and solid-state electronics often overlap.

Biomedical Ultrasound and Biomedical Engineering

High-frequency sound (ultrasound) is used in many areas of medicine to obtain images of soft organs of the body. High-intensity ultrasound is used to destroy kidney and gallstones without surgery (lithotripsy). Basic scientific investigations focus on the interactions of ultrasonic energy with biological materials ranging from heart and liver tissues, to bones and kidney and gallstones. Studies are also underway to demonstrate applications of ultrasonic contrast-producing agents similar to radiological contrast and tracer techniques. The results from these efforts are used to improve or extend clinical applications of ultrasonic techniques, both in diagnosing diseases of the heart and liver, and in therapeutic users such as lithotripsy. This work is also used to set standards for exposure of patients during examination and to improve the application of high-intensity sound for therapy.

Signal and Image Processing and Communications

Research in this area includes studies of wide-band radar and sonar systems design, digital image and video processing, very low bitrate video compression, and medical image processing. Communications research focuses on frequency hop codes for multiple-access-spread-spectrum communications, designed to minimize interference in radar and sonar systems. Among the digital image processing projects are image enhancement and restoration, image segmentation/recognition, and processing of magnetic resonance images. Active research is being conducted on all aspects of digital video processing, including 2-D and 3-D motion estimation techniques, deformable motion analysis, stereoscopic image analysis, standards conversion and high-resolution image reconstruction, and object-based methods for very low bitrate video compression. The emphasis of biomedical signal processing is on applications in ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. Research projects include spectral analysis in one, two, and three-dimensional spaces, analysis and algorithms for computed tomography, and inverse scattering techniques for imaging tissue characterization.

Integrated Electronics and Computer Engineering

Department research in VLSI and CAE addresses topics in integrated circuit design methodologies and automation. Specific system-oriented research includes an analytical model for multi-access protocols with prioritized messages and distributed control architecture. Design for testability studies are exploring operational parallelism in any testing process to determine the set of automated test procedures which minimizes the silicon area consumed by the built-in self-test structures. A program in Low Temperature Superconducting Digital Electronics, described in more detail below, is applying VLSI design and analysis techniques to the development of new ultrafast superconducting digital integrated circuits. Other research in this area focuses on the design and analysis of high performance VLSI-based digital and analog integrated circuits and their systems. Specifically, speed, area, and power dissipation tradeoffs are investigated in terms of application-specific constraints and their fundamental circuit level limitations. System architectural issues which directly affect performance are considered, such as pipelining, retiming, and the design of clock distribution networks. System performance can also be improved by applying innovative technologies. Thus, specialized circuits, developed using advanced technologies, and their related design techniques and methodologies are investigated to permit the development of high-speed and low-power integrated systems.

Superconductivity and Solid-State Electronics

A major focus for research in the Department involves design, fabrication, and testing of ultrafast superconducting digital integrated circuits. This is carried out under the auspices of the University research initiative in Low-Temperature Superconducting Digital Electronics. This research is leading toward the development of integrated circuits that can carry out digital signal processing and analog-to-digital conversion at unprecented rates, using the new "single-flux quantum logic." In the area of ultrafast electronics, picosecond electrical and optical pulses probe the transient response of semiconducting and superconducting devices, such as Metal-Semiconductor-Metal (MSM) photodiodes and tunnel junctions. Research in high-temperature superconductivity is concentrated on developing thin-film devices based on Y-Ba-Cu-O for applications including high-speed electronic interconnects, passive microwave circuits, high-frequency Josephson junctions, and optoelectronic hybrid and monolithic devices. Also under study is a superconducting implementation of quantum computation, in which Josephson-junction based circuits may manipulate quantum superposition states to efficiently perform specialized computational tasks. Formerly believed intractable, computational problems such as factoring large numbers may eventually be implemented in such quantum computers.

Opto-Electronics

Information processing with optical pulses offers data rates much in excess of what is available with electronic signals. Examples are long-haul and local-area-fiber networks, and optical computing. Optoelectronics research is directed at obtaining a detailed understanding of ultrafast phenomena and ultrafast nonlinearities in semiconductors and high-temperature superconductors, and at using silicon quantum dots and nanometer-size objects in optoelectronics and biosensing. Using these basic results, novel optoelectronic and opto-optic devices are designed. This work is a combination of laser technology, solid-state physics, materials science, and device physics and engineering. Recent research includes the study of electron and hole thermalization and recombination in semiconductors and semiconductor quantum wells, and the optoelectronic properties of porous silicon, which unlike crystalline silicon emits light efficiently at room temperature. Studies span the range from fundamental materials characterization to device fabrication and testing. In the area of superconducting optoelectronic devices, studies have included laser processing of Y-Ba-Cu-O epitaxial thin films into oxygen-rich (superconducting) and oxygen-poor (semiconducting) regions, together with pump-probe femtosecond reflectivity measurements of both phases to determine relevant response times.

Microelectromechanics and Electrostatics

Research in the microelectromechanics area is directed to the development of small integrated sensors and transducers, using microfabrication techniques developed for silicon microelectronic circuits. Efforts are focusing on issues of noise and sensitivity in displacement sensors and accelerometers. Cryogenic electro-mechanical transducers and vacuum tunneling transducers sensitive to sub-Angstrom displacements are also being developed. Research on particle electro-mechanical interactions exhibited by particles in the size range from 5 to 500 microns when electric or magnetic fields are present. Dielectrophoretic levitation techniques have been developed for investigating di-electric properties of individual metallic or dielectric particles or even biological cells. The levitation systems used are based on a variety of custom-designed controller boards that interface a computer to various video cameras and linear diode arrays. These unique facilities can perform automated variable-frequency measurements upon individual particles. The flow of powders and granular media under the influence of electric or magnetic fields is another topic of interest. A 2-D flow visualization technique is being applied to the study of 100 micron magnetic carrier particles in realistic models for magnetic brush xerographic devices. Some very practical research on electrostatic hazards is driven by the needs of industry to avoid serious explosions that may plague liquid and dry chemical and electronic production facilities. Recent effort has been devoted to development of a very general model for predicting the relaxation and dissipation of electrical charge within insulating materials such as liquids and dry powders.

MSEE with a Concentration in Musical Acoustics and Signal Processing

In this new program, students can earn their Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) with a concentration in Musical Acoustics and Signal Processing. This 30-credit-hour program may be completed in one calendar year. Students may opt to complete 30 credit hours of course work and pass an exit exam or they may perform research leading to a Master's thesis that can count for up to 12 credit hours of their program of study.

In addition to taking a set of core courses in Digital Signal Processing, Musical Acoustics, Computational Music, Recording Arts, and Audio Signal Processing for Analysis and Synthesis of Music students may complete advanced course work in Acoustics, Music Perception and Cognition, or other areas of Electrical Engineering such as Digital and Analog IC Design, Computer Architecture, Communications or other directed independent studies.

Instructors will include faculty from both the ECE Department and the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester.

Students entering the program typically will have completed an undergraduate degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering. For students with alternative technical or science backgrounds (such as other Engineering Disciplines, Physics and other Physical Sciences, Math, or Computer Science) a core set of undergraduate electrical engineering courses (worked out in consultation with a faculty advisor) will prepare the student for graduate studies in EE. For students with a background in Music or other fields who have the requisite natural science and mathematics preparation e.g., college-level calculus and physics, an expanded set of background courses may be required and the program may extend beyond 30 credit hours - individual programs of study should be worked out in consultation with a faculty advisor.

Students are able and encouraged to participate in one of the many ongoing research areas in the Music Research Laboratory including projects on Internet enabled music telepresence and immersive audio environments, musical source separation and automated music transcription, physical modeling musical sound synthesis, music representations, audio watermarking, quantitative studies of musical timbre and audio embedded music metadata. Research in other allied laboratories is being conducted in the areas of music perception and cognition and music and language.

Applications for the program will be accepted until April 15, 2008. Partial tuition scholarships are available.

MS Curriculum

Approved three-course sequences are shown below.

SIGNAL/IMAGE PROCESSING

ECE 446 Digital Signal Processing

Add two of the following:

ECE 440 Random Processes
ECE 447 Digital Image Processing
ECE 449 Digital Video Processing
ECE 450 Information Theory
CSC 449 Computer Vision

BIOMEDICAL/ ULTRASOUND

Three of the following:

ECE 452 Medical Imaging
ECE 446 DSP
ECE 432 Fundamentals of Acoustic Waves
ECE 447 Digital Image Processing
BME 451 Biomedical Ultrasound
BME 453 Advanced Biomedical Ultrasound

SOLID STATE ELECTRONICS

ECE 420 or ECE 423

Add two of the following:

ECE 425 or ECE 426
ECE 431 or ECE 434
ECE 435 or OPT 421
ECE 466 RF and Microwave Integrated Circuits

VLSI/IC MICROELECTRONICS DESIGN

Three of the following:

ECE 461 Digital Integrated Circuit Design
ECE 462 VLSI Design Project
ECE 464 Fundamentals of VLSI Testing
ECE 465 Performance Issues in VLSI/IC Design
ECE 466 RF and Microwave Integrated Circuits

COMMUNICATIONS

ECE 444 Digital Communications

Add two out of the following:

ECE 437 Wireless Communications
ECE 440 Random Processes
ECE 441 Detection and Estimation Theory
ECE 446 Digital Signal Processing
ECE 450 Information Theory
CSC 457 Computer Networks

FIELDS AND WAVES

ECE 431 Microwaves and Wireless

Add two out of the following:

ECE 432 Fundamentals of Acoustic Waves
ECE 434 Microelectromechanical Systems
ECE 435 Introduction to Optoelectronics
ECE 437 Wireless Communications
ECE 466 RF and Microwave Integrated Circuits

OPTO-ELECTRONICS

ECE 435 Introduction to Optoelectronics

Add two out of three choices:

ECE 420 or ECE 423
OPT 421 or OPT 425
ECE 431 or any OPT course with advisor approval

COMPUTER DESIGN

ECE 401 Advanced Computer Architecture

Add two out of the following:

ECE 404 High Performance Microprocessor-Based Systems
CSC 455 Advanced Programming Systems
CSC 456 Operating Systems
CSC 458 Parallel and Distributed Systems

New: MSEE WITH A CONCENTRATION IN MUSICAL ACOUSTICS AND SIGNAL PROCESSING

Typical Curriculum

Fall Term

ECE 446 - Digital Signal Processing (4 credit hours) required
ECE 432 - Musical Acoustics (4 credit hours) required
ECE 471 - Computational Music (4 credit hours) required
ECE 541 - Recording Arts (2 credit hours)

Spring Term

ECE 453 - Audio Signal Processing for Analysis and Synthesis of Music (4 Credit hours) required
     AND EITHER:
       ECE 495 - MS Thesis (8 - 12 Credit hours)
     OR:
      elective courses to make up the balance of 30 credit hours