M.S. Program

Master’s Degree Program

The master’s degree will be granted to degree candidates who complete a program of studies approved by a faculty advisor. The program must consist of a minimum of  46 units, and a 3.000 cumulative GPA (B average) must be earned in all coursework taken at Santa Clara University. Residence requirements are met by completing no less than 37 units of the graduate program at Santa Clara University. A maximum of nine quarter units (six-semester units) of graduate-level coursework may be transferred from other accredited institutions at the discretion of the student’s advisor. All units applied toward the degree, including those transferred from other institutions, must be earned within six years from initial enrollment. The program may include a thesis or a research component of smaller scope that does not require a thesis.

The program requires that students select one of these defined focus areas within electrical and computer engineering.

Power Systems and Control

Faculty Advisors: Maryam Khanbaghi, Burak Kurkcu, Aleksandar Stankovic, Aleksandar Zecevic

Autonomous cars, space shuttles, robots, IoT and airplanes all have sophisticated control strategies. The electric utility industry is probably the largest and most complex industry in the world. How this network operates, and how it can be controlled, and how to integrate renewable energies into the grid in order to have cleaner and more sustainable energy are major challenges. 

IC Design and Technology

Faculty Advisors: Shoba Krishnan, Mahmudur Rahman, Cary Yang

The study of integrated circuits (IC) (generally known as semiconductors or chips) consists of three interconnected areas of pedagogy, Circuit Design, Device Physics, and Fabrication Process Technology. One cannot imagine the world now and in the future without chips, which are in your home, in your workplace, in your automobile, and in all your electronic devices. With worldwide chips revenue projected to approach $1 trillion by 2030, the semiconductor industry, not unlike its energy counterpart, supplies the critical goods and services that sustain and advance human civilization.

RF and Applied Electromagnetics

Faculty Advisors: Adham Naji, Kurt Schab

From 5G and the internet of things to automotive radar, high frequency and wireless systems are pervasive in nearly every aspect of modern technology. To prepare engineers for careers in these contemporary fields, the RF and Applied Electromagnetics program provides the fundamental theoretical and applied knowledge for design, analysis, and implementation of high frequency circuits and systems.

Signal Processing and Machine Learning

Faculty Advisors: Maria Kyrarini, Tokunbo Ogunfunmi, Sally Wood

Signal processing algorithms, architectures, and systems are at the heart of modern technologies that generate, transform, and interpret information across applications as diverse as communications, robotics and autonomous navigation, biotechnology and entertainment. This focus area includes courses in theory, architectures, implementations, and specific applications including computer vision and speech processing.

Digital Systems

Faculty Advisor: Hoeseok Yang

Digital systems include the three broad areas of computer architecture, digital design principles, techniques and verification, and embedded systems. Systems that execute software, whether they be general-purpose computers or computing platforms (digital platforms) embedded into a targeted application, fall into the category of digital systems, as do special purpose hardware implementations that might be realized with an FPGA or manufactured as an ASIC.

Communication Systems and Information Theory

Faculty Advisor: Anoosheh Heidarzadeh, Adham Naji

Information systems are vital to modern technology, driving a broad spectrum of applications from wireless networks and internet security to machine learning and AI. Our Communication Systems and Information Theory program prepares engineers for impactful careers in these rapidly evolving fields. The program offers both theoretical foundations and practical applications of storage, networking, and computing systems to meet the dynamic demands of security, privacy, and reliability in today's interconnected world.

Master Degree Requirements

Students must develop a program of studies with an academic advisor and file the approved program during their first quarter of enrollment at Santa Clara University. The program of studies must contain a minimum of 46 units of graduate-level engineering courses which include at least 27 units of courses offered within the electrical and computer department and no more than four units of engineering management courses.

The Master’s degree program of studies must include the following:

Graduate Core (minimum 4 units): Students must take a minimum of 4 units of the Graduate Core

• One course must be from the “Engineering and Society” area.
• One course must be from the “Professional Development” area.  

For additional information please see Chapter 6 which includes lists of courses which can satisfy the area requirements.

Applied Mathematics (4 units)

Electrical and Computer Engineering primary focus area (minimum 6 units). Students must select and meet the requirements of one of the six focus areas listed below:

• Power Systems and Control Either 236 or 281E and two courses selected from either 231, 232, 237, 333 for a total of at least 6 units.
• IC Design and Technology Three courses selected from 252, 261, 270, 387
• RF and Applied Electromagnetics At least 6 units selected from 201, 706, 715E
• Signal Processing and Machine Learning At least 6 units selected from 233, 233E, 234, 421, 431, 520, 640, 644 (Note: 233E is the equivalent of both 233 and 234, and credit will be allowed for only one equivalent courses.)
• Digital Systems 501, 511, and 603
• Communication Systems and Information Theory 241E, and four units selected from 244, 244E, 444 (Note: 244E is the equivalent of both 244 and 444, and credit will be allowed for one of equivalent courses.)

Electrical and Computer Engineering breadth: (minimum 4 units)
Two other focus areas must be selected as breadth areas. For each breadth area, one course must be taken from the list of required courses for that area.

Additional graduate courses recommended and approved by the graduate program advisor.
This may include up to 6 units of Directed Research (299) and/or up to 9 units of Master’s Thesis Research (297), but cannot exceed 9 units in total. More detailed information about the Master’s Thesis can be found below.

These M.S. degree requirements may be adjusted by the advisor based on the student’s previous graduate work.

Alterations in the approved program, consistent with the above departmental requirements, may be requested at any time by a petition initiated by the student and approved by the advisor.

Students with relevant technical backgrounds may be admitted to the master’s program without an undergraduate degree in electrical or electrical and computer engineering from an accredited program. In order to guarantee prerequisites for graduate courses, those students must take sufficient additional courses beyond the 46-unit minimum to ensure coverage of all areas of the undergraduate EE or ECE core requirements. A student who has earned a Fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering Certificate will have satisfied these background requirements.

The advisor will determine which courses must be taken to meet these requirements. Undergraduate core courses will not be included in the 46 units required for the master’s degree.