Electrical Engineering, M.S.

Contact Information

Dr. Kazem Sohraby
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Electrical Engineering/Physics 311
(605) 394-1219
E-mail: Kazem.Sohraby@sdsmt.edu

Faculty

Steven P. Miller Endowed Chair and Professor Whites; Professor Sohraby; Associate Professors Montoya and Tolle; Assistant Professors Anagnostou and Hoover; Instructor Linde.

Electrical Engineering

The mission of the electrical and computer engineering graduate program is to provide quality student learning at an advanced level and to disseminate new knowledge in electrical engineering, while at the same time working to increase resources in support of these objectives.

The graduate program in electrical engineering consists of research and study leading to the master of science degree in electrical engineering (M.S. EE) and multidisciplinary Ph.D. degrees in materials engineering and science, nanoscience and nanoengineering, and biomedical engineering. In special cases, with the consent of the graduate committee of the electrical and computer engineering department, students may elect to do research in association with another engineering or science department.

The prospective student should have completed a baccalaureate degree in electrical engineering or computer engineering. Applicants from universities that are not accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) are generally required to submit Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores from the General Test with their application.

Depending on the student‘s undergraduate background, and at the discretion of the electrical and computer engineering graduate committee, graduates of other institutions may also be required to take one or more courses of preparatory undergraduate work in addition to their graduate program of study.

The M.S. EE degree is available with thesis and non-thesis tracks. The course requirements for these tracks are as follows:

Thesis option

The thesis M.S. EE degree consists of a program of graduate coursework and thesis research. Candidature for the M.S. EE degree with Thesis is contingent on an aptitude to do research. A limited number of students are accepted into the M.S. EE Thesis option, on the recommendation of a major professor. The requirements for the M.S. EE Thesis degree are as follows:

1. A program of at least 30 credit hours of coursework and research.
2. At least 15 credit hours of graduate coursework (500 level courses and above).
3. At least 6 credit hours of thesis research. (No more than 9 credit hours of thesis research will count toward degree requirements.)
4. A satisfactory thesis based upon individual research.
5. Meeting or exceeding prescribed academic standards.
6. Passing an examination on general knowledge and successfully defending the thesis.

Non-Thesis option

The non-thesis MSEE degree consists of a program of graduate coursework. A project is not required and normally is not encouraged for the M.S. EE non-thesis option. The requirements for the M.S. EE non-thesis degree are as follows:

1. A program of at least 32 credit hours of coursework.
2. At least 20 credit hours of graduate coursework (500 level courses and above).
3. Meeting or exceeding prescribed academic standards.
4. Passing an examination on general knowledge in the field.

Language Requirements

1. Students whose native language is not English are generally required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language Test (TOEFL).
2. Graduate students with a TOEFL score below 560 are required to attend a remedial course in English.
3. Meeting or exceeding prescribed academic standards.
4. Passing an examination on general knowledge in the field.

Research Areas and Resources

The M.S. EE degree offers emphases in the areas of communications and applied electromagnetics, and embedded systems and control systems. In addition to the more discipline-specific equipment listed below, the ECE department has well-equipped laboratories of networked PCs, general purpose test and measurement equipment such as high-speed oscilloscopes, arbitrary function generators, logic analyzers, and printed circuit board prototyping machines and software.

Research activities in the communications and applied electromagnetics area include: compact and reconfigurable antennas, electromagnetic propulsion of space sailcraft, engineered electromagnetic materials using active and passive circuit particles, and ultra-wideband and ground penetrating radar. Resources in support of this program include a number of vector network analyzers, impedance analyzers, Agilent Advanced Design System, Microwave Studio, and IE3D. In addition, the Steven P. Miller Endowed Chair in electrical engineering was established in 2001 to support telecommunications in the ECE department.

Research activities in the embedded systems and signal processing area include: neural network and fuzzy logic chips, computationally intelligent systems, FPGA- and CPLD-based embedded system design, fault tolerant computer systems, residue and pseudo-floating point number architectures, pattern recognition, system identification, wavelet signal processing and adaptive signal processing. Resources in support of this program include logic analyzers, a variety of microcontroller and microprocessor development systems, FPGA and CPLD prototyping boards, VHDL and Verilog compilers, Analog Devices DSP development tools, Mentor Graphics Computer Aided Design Toolset, a variety of microchip fabrication equipment, and printed circuit board manufacturing equipment.

Research activities in the area of control systems include: robotics, machine control, fuzzy logic control, nonlinear and adaptive control, modeling of power systems, power systems stability, generator dynamics, fault analysis, and wind power. In addition, a number of robotics projects are performed in association with the School of Mines Center of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing and Production (CAMP).