2020-21 Academic Catalog

Electrical and Computer Engineering

This is an archived copy of the 2020-21 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.msstate.edu.

Department Head: Dr. Samee Khan
Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Qian (Jenny) Du, Interim
216 Simrall Building
Box 9571
Mississippi State, MS 39762
Telephone: 662-325-3912
Fax: 662-325-2298
E-mail: eegpd@ece.msstate.edu
Website: http://www.ece.msstate.edu

Graduate study is offered in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering leading to the degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Both the M.S. and Ph.D. are available via BCoE Learning (online). Major areas of study include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Communications
  • Controls
  • Computer Architecture and Digital Computing
  • Electromagnetics
  • Power and High Voltage
  • Microelectronics and VLSI
  • Signal, Image, and Speech Processing

Research facilities include the following:

  • High Performance Computing Collaboratory (HPCC)
  • Geosystems Research Institute (GRI)
  • Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS)
  • MSU High Voltage Laboratory
  • Emerging Materials Research Laboratory
  • Microsystems Prototyping Laboratory

Note: Effective Fall 2012 semester, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering no longer offers separate electrical engineering (EE) or computer engineering (CPE) degrees at the graduate level.

Admission Criteria

In addition to meeting the requirements set forth by the Graduate School in the admission section of this publication, the basic requirements of the department for admission to the graduate program include the following:

  • 3.00/4.00 GPA on a B.S. degree for admission to the M.S. degree program
  • 3.50/4.00 GPA on a B.S. or M.S. degree for admission to the Ph.D. degree program
  • 550 PBT TOEFL score (79 iBT) or 6.5 IELTS score for the student whose native language is not English (unless he/ she earned a degree from a U.S. institution)
  • Satisfactory performance on the GRE for students with a degree from a program that is not EAC/ABET accredited

In addition to the requirements set forth by the Department for admission to the graduate program, highly qualified undergraduate students may be directly admitted to the Ph.D. program. Such direct admission requires a minimum undergraduate equivalent GPA of 3.50/4.00 on the last 60 credit hours of undergraduate courses, or a first class with distinction degree classification for students whose degrees are from institutions where no GPA is reported, and a satisfactory performance on the GRE for students with a degree from a program that is not  EAC/ABET-accredited.

ECE M.S. students who wish to transfer to the Ph.D. program prior to completing the requirements for the Master of Science degree must submit a new application provided that they have a minimum graduate GPA of 3.80 on the first 15 credit hours of graduate courses taken at MSU.

Provisional Admission

Provisional admission is not typically available to applicants to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Conditional Admission

Students who are fully funded by some external source (typically a scholarship program sponsored by the government of the student's home country) and who meet all other admission requirements, but lack only the TOEFL/IELTS score required for admission, may apply to be admitted conditionally, provided that the student's funding source will cover one year of English as a Second Language (ESL) study. After one year of ESL study, the student can apply for regular admission into the graduate program in Electrical and Computer Engineering providing that a TOEFL/IELTS score meeting admission requirements (79 TOEFL, 6.5 IELTS) has been obtained. Conditional admission is available only for the fall semester. During the time of ESL study, a conditionally admitted student may only take ESL courses; a conditionally admitted student may not take courses other than ESL courses, or engage in research activities, during the time of ESL study.  To be considered for conditional admission, the student must include in their statement of purpose submitted with their application for admission a statement that they wish to be considered for conditional admission. Documentation of the source of funding indicating that the funding will cover a year of ESL study must also be submitted with the application materials.

Accelerated Program

Highly qualified MSU undergraduates in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering are encouraged to consider applying to the Accelerated Program. This program permits students to earn up to 9 hours of graduate-level coursework during their final year of undergraduate studies.  Students in the Accelerated Program take graduate-level courses and earn both undergraduate credit and graduate credit simultaneously.  Students need to consult with a potential graduate advisor to ensure graduate credit could be applied to a program of study for the graduate degree.  Application to this program is made in the junior year (i.e., after completion of 60 or more hours of graded undergraduate courses). Students interested in applying should see Accelerated Programs for complete information and contact the department's graduate coordinator, Dr. James E. Fowler, for more details.

Academic Performance

To be in good academic standing, a student is expected to maintain a cumulative graduate GPA of 3.00 after admission to the program. If a graduate student's cumulative GPA falls below 3.00, the student will be placed on probation. While on probation, a student will not receive any type of financial support (TA, RA, fellowships, wages, etc.) and is required to raise his/her cumulative GPA to 3.00 by the end of the following semester of enrollment.  While on probation, the student must enroll in 9 credit hours of coursework; Directed Individual Study courses are excluded.

A student will be dismissed from the graduate program if:

  • in any semester subsequent to being on probation, the student's cumulative GPA falls again below a 3.00;
  • a student makes grades of D, F, or more than two Cs;
  • a student makes a grade of U in two consecutive semesters;
  • a student fails twice the oral examination (M.S. level) or the preliminary examination (Ph.D. level);
  • a student does not pass the Ph.D. qualifying exam in four attempts, within the first four semesters;
  • a student receives an unsatisfactory evaluation of a thesis or dissertation;
  • a student fails to take a remedial course in the required semester.

In case of a dismissal from the graduate program, a student may appeal his/her academic dismissal according to the following procedure:

  • Within four weeks of being notified of the official dismissal, the student must present the request and related explanation in writing to the department head and/or graduate coordinator. The department head/coordinator will review the appeal with the departmental graduate committee and render a recommendation.
  • If the appeal at the departmental level is unsuccessful, a student may then appeal to the college dean.
  • If the appeal at the college level is unsuccessful, the student may then appeal to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Prerequisite and Core Courses

It is required that all graduate students take the following courses for credit as required remedial undergraduate coursework unless the transcript shows equivalent credit. Additional courses may be required.

ECE 3413Introduction to Electronic Circuits3
ECE 3424Intermediate Electronic Circuits4
ECE 3443Signals and Systems3
ECE 3714Digital Devices and Logic Design4
ECE 3724Microprocessors3-4
or ECE 4743 Digital System Design