Return to: School of Graduate Engineering and Applied Science
Electrical Engineering (ece.virginia.edu) is an exciting field involving the design, fabrication, and measurement of devices and systems for applications ranging from information sciences to healthcare. Careers in Electrical Engineering are diverse, including the design of devices and circuits, the automation and adaptive control of complex systems, and the manipulation and processing of images and signals for a variety of applications within information sciences, homeland defense, health-care and environmental monitoring systems. Areas of study and research opportunities are available in the areas of automatic controls, digital systems, VLSI circuit design, design automation, solid state devices, microsystems, microfabrication, nanotechnology, communications, microwave systems, signal processing, and reliable system design and analysis.
Required credits, degree requirements and course requirements
The Electrical Engineering program offers the Master of Engineering (ME), Master of Science (MS), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in electrical engineering. The selection of a degree program depends upon the interest and background of each individual.
The ME degree requires:
- 1 credit of ECE 6505: ECE Seminar (only offered in the Fall semester)
- 30 credits of graded coursework -‐ may include 3 – 6 credits of ECE 6995/ECE 7995–Master’s Project - ‐ A minimum of 18 credits must carry ECE designation -‐ 3 credits of mathematics at, or above, 5000-‐ level are required and may be taken from APMA, MATH, ECE 6711, ECE 7438, MAE 6410and SYS 6005
- No more than 9 credits of 5000-‐level courses are permitted.
- No more than 6 credits of 5000-‐level courses may be in the ECE Dept.
- No more than 3 credits of Independent Study (e.g. ECE 6993, ECE 7993) are permitted
- Assessment forms (http://www.seas.virginia.edu/graduate/assessment.php)
The MS degree requires:
- 1 credit of ECE 6505: ECE Seminar (only offered in the Fall semester)
- 24 credits of graded coursework -‐ A minimum of 12 credits must carry ECE designation -‐ 3 credits of mathematics at, or above, 5000-‐ level are required and may be taken from APMA, MATH, ECE 6711, ECE 7438, MAE 6410 and SYS 6005
- 6 credits of ECE 8999 – Thesis
- No more than 9 credits of 5000-‐level courses are permitted
- No more than 6 credits of 5000-‐level courses may be in the ECE Dept
- No more than 3 credits of Independent Study (e.g. ECE 6993, ECE 7993) are permitted
- Thesis defense (final examiniation)
- 6 credits of a Master’s thesis and a graduate seminar course are required.
The Ph.D. degree requires the following.
A) Students entering without a Master’s degree:
- 36 hours of graded coursework
- Graded coursework must include 3 credits of mathematics at, or above, 5000- level taken from APMA, MATH, ECE 6711, ECE 7438, MAE 6410and SYS 6005
- No more than 9 credits of 5000-level courses are permitted
- No more than 6 credits of 5000-level courses may be in the ECE Dept
- No more than 3 credits of Independent Study (e.g. ECE 6993, ECE 7993) are permitted
- 9 hours of coursework and/or research
- 24 hours Dissertation Research ECE 9999
- 3 hours Supervised Teaching Experience ECE 6996 or 1 semester as a paid teaching assistant
- 1 hour of ECE 6505: ECE Seminar
- Qualifying Examination
- Dissertation Proposal
B) Students entering with a Master’s degree:
- 36 hours of graded coursework (up to 24 of these credits may be transferred, based on department approval. This form must be submitted in order to have the previous Master’s degree applied to the current course of study:
http://www.seas.virginia.edu/graduate/pdfs/form_request_requirement_change_waiver.pdf.)
- No more than 9 credits of 5000-level courses are permitted
- No more than 6 credits of 5000-level courses may be in the ECE Dept
- No more than 3 credits of Independent Study (e.g. ECE 6993, ECE 7993) are permitted
- 9 hours of coursework and/or research
- 24 hours Dissertation Research ECE 9999
- 3 hours Supervised Teaching Experience ECE 6996 or 1 semester as a paid teaching assistant
- 1 hour of ECE 6505: ECE Seminar
- Qualifying Examination
- Dissertation Proposal
The department also offers a part-time program in which an employed engineer is able to work toward a Master’s degree in electrical engineering with a minimum of absence from work. A minimum of two-thirds (and possibly all) of the master’s degree requirements can be completed through courses offered by the University of Virginia Commonwealth Graduate Engineering Program (CGEP). These courses are also available to those who wish to increase their knowledge of electrical engineering but do not wish to enroll in a formal degree program.
