PhD Engineering – Electrical & Computer Engineering Emphasis

The ECE Emphasis further defines and focuses the student’s Program of Study for the Ph.D. in Engineering through the requirements below:

If entering with BS degree, a minimum of 73 hours beyond the bachelors is required as follows:

  • ENGR 6910 Foundations for Engineering Research (3 credit hours).
  • 2 semesters of ENGR 8950 Graduate Seminar (2 credit hours).*
  • 12 credit hours of ECE Area of Emphasis coursework at the 8000 level (see list below).
  • 21 additional credit hours must be taken exclusive of research and dissertation credit. At least 9 hours must be at the 8000 level. The remainder must be at the 6000 level or higher.
  • A minimum of 35 credit hours of doctoral research and dissertation.
    • A minimum of 32 credit hours of research (ENGR 9000 or 9010). A typical student’s research hours will exceed this minimum.
    • 3 hours of ENGR 9300 Doctoral Dissertation must be listed on the program of study.
  • View the Direct Ph.D. curriculum checklist.

If entering with MS degree, a minimum of 43 hours beyond the masters is required as follows:

  • 2 semesters of ENGR 8950 Graduate Seminar (2 credit hours).*
  • 9 credit hours of ECE Area of Emphasis at the 8000 level (see list below) .
  • 6 additional credit hours of coursework at the 8000 level.
  • A minimum of 26 hours of doctoral research and dissertation:
    • A minimum of 23 hours of research (9000 or 9010). A typical student’s research hours will exceed this minimum.
    • 3 hours of 9300 Doctoral Dissertation must be listed on the program of study.
  • View the PhD. with M.S. curriculum checklist.

* Only 3 hours of Graduate Seminar may apply on the Ph.D. Program of Study. Students are strongly encouraged to continue regular attendance of speaker series presentations even if not formally registered in the seminar.

Emphasis Area Courses

Coursework fulfilling the ECE Emphasis Area credit hour requirement for the Ph.D in Engineering or M.S. in Engineering degree may be chosen from one or more of the areas below. Courses will be reviewed each academic year and updated as needed to reflect new areas in the field.

Note: All 8000 level courses with the following prefixes will be accepted for the area of emphasis: CSCI, PHYS.

Track 1: Robotics and Automation

Through this track, students can gain expertise in the analysis and design of controllers for complex, large scale robotics and automation systems. As the costs of robotics and automation continue to decrease, the demand for advanced robotics in manufacturing will increase. The need for improved safety and a cleaner environment will further drive the need for advanced automation and robotics.

  • ELEE 8240 – Instrumentation Programming
  • ELEE 8220 – Nonlinear Control Systems
  • ELEE 8410 – Advanced Motor Drives
  • ELEE 8XXX – Autonomous Mobile Robots and Manipulation
  • ENGR 8930 – Optimization Theory and Engineering Applications

Track 2: Electronics & Photonics

Students develop an understanding of the design and analysis of systems involving electromagnetic waves from RF electronics to photonic systems for signal processing and communication and optical systems for image capture and processing. High-speed communication and signal processing at gigabit speeds requires sophisticated electro-optic systems that must be understood at both the device and the systems level. Modern optical imaging systems use a wide variety of electrical and photonic technologies to achieve everything from imaging biological systems at the nanometer scale to imaging distant galaxies.

  • CSEE 8840 – Advanced Image Analysis
  • ELEE 8320 – Fiber Optic Sensors
  • ELEE 8510 – Microwave Photonics
  • ELEE 8530 – Advanced Optics and Photonics
  • ELEE 8580 – Biological Microscopy
  • ELEE 8745 – Advanced Power Electronics
  • ENGR 8310 – MEMS Design
  • ENGR 8570 – Advanced topics in Microscopy

Track 3: Intelligent and Cyber-physical Systems

This track develops in students an understanding of engineered systems that are built from, and depend upon, the seamless integration of computational algorithms, networks, and physical components. Advances in Intelligent and Cyberphysical Systems (ICPS) will enable capability, adaptability, scalability, resiliency, safety, security, and usability that will far exceed the simple embedded systems of today. CPS technology will transform the way people interact with everything from their refrigerator to the city they live in. New smart ICPS will drive innovation and competition in sectors such as agriculture, energy, transportation, building design and automation, healthcare, and manufacturing.

  • CSEE 8300 – Principles of Cyber Physical Systems
  • CSEE 8310 – Security in Cyber Physical Systems
  • CSEE 8830 – AR/VR 3D user interface design
  • INFO 8000 – Foundations of Informatics for Research and Environmental Sciences

Selected Course Offerings

Students may want to consider the following courses in building their Programs of Study, as appropriate:

Selected Course Offerings

Students may want to consider the following ECE courses in building their Program of Study, as appropriate:

  • CSEE 6240 – Wireless Sensor Networks
  • CSEE 6260 – Microcontroller Interfacing
  • CSEE 6290 – Computer Architecture
  • CSEE 6530 – Introduction to Optical Engineering
  • CSEE 6620 – Biomedical Imaging
  • ECSE 6410 – Pattern Recognition
  • ECSE 6420 – Deep Learning
  • ECSE 6610 – Error Control Systems and Applications
  • ELEE 6145 – Principles of Lasers and Photonics
  • ELEE 6210 – Linear Systems
  • ELEE 6220 – Feedback Control Systems
  • ELEE 6230 – Sensors and Transducers
  • ELEE 6235 – Industrial Control Systems
  • ELEE 6250 – Advanced Microcontrollers
  • ELEE 6260 – Introduction to Nanoelectronics
  • ELEE 6275 – Advanced Control Systems
  • ELEE 6280 – Introduction to Robotics Engineering
  • ELEE 6540 – Applied Machine Vision
  • ELEE 6215 – Optoelectronic Devices
  • INFO 6150 – Engineering Informatics
  • INFO 6160 – Introduction to Industrial Internet of Things


Join a cutting-edge engineering program at a time-honored university

Apply Today Make A Gift