The
M.S.C.E. is an interdisciplinary degree program jointly administered by the
faculty members from the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and
Computer Science (see Electrical Engineering and Computer Science sections for
listing of faculty).
The
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Engineering emerged as a bridge between the
increasingly overlapping disciplines of Computer Science and Electrical
Engineering. The M.S.C.E. degree program provides intensive preparation for
engineers who seek knowledge and skills necessary for the design of complex
systems comprised of both hardware and software components. It has a heavy
emphasis on the design of high speed and complex hardware and highly reliable
and time critical software systems.
Computer
Engineering at UTD is a broadly based engineering discipline dealing with the
sensing, processing, and transmission of information by making extensive use of
electrical engineering and computer science principles. The CE program at UTD
also encourages students and faculty to develop synergies with disciplines
outside of engineering, such as medicine and the life sciences. CE faculty
members are actively involved in advanced research and teaching in all major
areas of computer engineering. The Erik Jonsson
School is home to several research centers, and promotes graduate and
undergraduate curriculum innovation. It is the driving force behind computer
engineering�s rapid success and growth. The Erik Jonsson
School has a large infrastructure of computing and other laboratory resources.
The M.S.C.E. degree program provides intensive preparation for engineers who
seek knowledge and skills necessary for the design of complex systems comprised
of both hardware and software components. It has a heavy emphasis on the design
of high speed and complex hardware and highly reliable and time critical
software systems. It is designed to serve the needs of engineers who wish to
continue their education. Courses are offered at a time and location convenient
for the student who is employed on a full-time basis.
The
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer
Science has developed a state-of-the-art computational
facility consisting of a network of Sun servers and Sun Engineering
Workstations. All systems are connected via an extensive fiber-optic Ethernet
and, through the Texas Higher Education Network, have direct access to most
major national and international networks. In addition, many personal computers
are available for student use.
The
Engineering and Computer Science Building provides extensive facilities for
research in electrical engineering, telecommunications, and computer science
and engineering.
The
Center for Integrated Circuits and Systems (CICS) promotes education and
research in the following areas: digital, analog and mixed-signal integrated
circuit design and test; multimedia, DSP and telecom circuits and systems;
rapid-prototyping; computer architecture and CAD algorithms. There are several
laboratories affiliated with this center. These laboratories are equipped with
a network of workstations, personal computers, FPGA development systems,
prototyping equipment, and a wide spectrum of state-of-the-art commercial and
academic design tools to support graduate research in circuits and systems.
The
Center for Systems, Communications, and Signal Processing, with the purpose of
promoting research and education in general communications, signal processing,
control systems, medical and biological systems, circuits and systems and
related software, is located in the Erik Jonsson
School.
In
the Digital Signal Processing Laboratory several multi-CPU workstations are
available in a network configuration for simulation experiments. Hardware
development facilities for real time experimental
systems are available and include microphone arrays, active noise controllers,
speech compressors and echo cancellers. The Distributed Computing Laboratory
has a network of personal computers running Linux to support network simulation
using discrete-event simulation packages. The Hardware/Software Co-design
Laboratory has many workstations and PCs with DSP modules to support the
experiments for various implementations in DSP and communications.
In
addition to the facilities on campus, cooperative arrangements have been
established with many local industries to make their facilities available to
U.T. Dallas graduate engineering students.
The
University�s general admission requirements are discussed here.
A
student lacking undergraduate prerequisites for graduate courses in electrical
engineering and computer science must complete these prerequisites or receive
approval from the graduate advisor and the course instructor. A diagnostic exam
may be required. Specific admission requirements follow.
The
student entering the M.S.C.E. program should meet the following guidelines:
�
An
undergraduate preparation equivalent to a baccalaureate in computer science or
electrical engineering from an accredited engineering program.
�
A
grade point average in upper-division quantitative course work of 3.0 or better
on a 4-point scale.
�
GRE
scores of 500, 700 and 4 for the verbal, quantitative and analytical writing
components, respectively, are advisable based on our experience with student
success in the program.
Applicants
must submit three letters of recommendation from individuals able to judge the
candidate�s probability of success in pursuing master�s study. Applicants must
also submit an essay outlining the candidate�s background, education and
professional goals.
Students
from other engineering disciplines or from other science and math areas may be
considered for admission to the program on a case-by-case basis; however, some
additional course work may be necessary before starting the master�s program.
The
University�s general degree requirements are discussed here.
The
M.S.C.E. requires a minimum of 33 semester hours.
All
students must have an academic advisor and an approved degree plan. Courses
taken without advisor approval will not count toward the 33 semester-hour
requirement. Successful completion of the approved course of studies leads to
the M.S.C.E. degree.
The
M.S.C.E. program has both a thesis and a non-thesis option. All part-time
M.S.C.E. students will be assigned initially to the non-thesis option. Those
wishing to elect the thesis option may do so by obtaining the approval of a
faculty thesis supervisor.
All
full-time, supported students are required to participate in the thesis option.
The thesis option requires six semester hours of research, a written thesis
submitted to the graduate school, and a formal public defense of the thesis.
The supervising committee administers this defense and is chosen in
consultation with the student�s thesis advisor prior to enrolling for thesis
credit. Each student must take 4 required courses:
CE 6302 Microprocessor Systems
CE 6304 Computer Architecture
CE 6325 VLSI Design
CE 6378 Advanced Operating Systems
Required courses must be passed with a grade of B or better.
Approved
electives must be taken to make a total of 33 hours. These courses must be at
6000 level or higher from computer engineering, electrical engineering,
computer science and telecommunications engineering curricula with the approval
of the advisor. It is highly recommended that two of these electives be chosen
from the following list:
CE 6303 Testing and Testable Design
CE 6305 Computer Arithmetic
CE 6308 Real-Time Systems
CE 6352 Performance of Computer Systems and Networks
CS 6353 Compiler Construction
CE 6370 Design and Analysis of Reconfigurable Systems
CE 6375 Design Automation of VLSI Systems
CE 6380 Distributed Computing
CE 6397 Synthesis and Optimization of High Performance Systems
CE 6398 DSP Architectures
Each
doctoral degree program is tailored to the student. The student must arrange a
course program with the guidance and approval of a faculty member chosen as
his/her graduate advisor. Adjustments can be made as the student�s interests
develop and a specific dissertation topic is chosen.
The
Ph.D. in Computer Engineering is awarded primarily to acknowledge the student�s
success in an original research project, the description of which is a significant
contribution to the literature of the discipline. Applicants for the doctoral
program are therefore selected by the Computer Engineering Program Graduate
Committee on the basis of research aptitude, as well as academic record.
Applications for the doctoral program are considered on an individual basis.
The
University�s general admission requirements are discussed here.
The
admission requirements will be basically the same as the existing ones for
admission to the Ph.D. programs in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
The entrance requirements are
�
A
master�s degree in Computer Engineering or a closely associated discipline such
as Electrical Engineering or Computer Science.
�
GPA
in graduate level course work of 3.5 or better on a 4-point scale.
�
GRE
scores of 500, 700 and 4 for the verbal, quantitative and analytical writing
components, respectively, are advisable based on our experience with student
success in the program.
Applicants
must submit three letters of recommendation from individuals able to judge the
candidate�s probability of success in pursuing doctoral study. Applicants must
also submit an essay outlining the candidate�s background, education and
professional goals.
The
University�s general degree requirements are discussed here.
The
M.S.E.E. requires a minimum of 33 semester hours.
Core
requirements:
The
core requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Computer Engineering are the same as
the ones for the M.S. in Computer Engineering. Candidates for the Ph.D. degree
in Computer Engineering must also meet the following requirements, in addition
to the dissertation:
�
Pass
a qualifying examination.
�
Take
and pass sufficient CE electives for a total of at least 90 hours beyond the
baccalaureate degree. The student is encouraged to consult with an advisor in
choosing electives.
A
dissertation is required and must be approved by the graduate program. A
student must arrange for a dissertation advisor willing to guide this dissertation.
The student must have a dissertation supervising committee that consists of no
less than four members. The dissertation may be in computer engineering
exclusively or it may involve considerable work in an area of application. The
minimum number of semester credit hours required for the proposed doctoral
degree will be the same as the number of credit hours required by the existing
doctoral degrees offered by the School of Engineering and Computer Science,
i.e., 90 semester credit hours beyond a bachelor�s degree in Computer
Engineering or related field. These credits must include at least 30 semester
hours of graduate level courses beyond the bachelor�s degree and a doctoral
dissertation. However, a student�s supervising committee may impose course
requirements that are necessary and appropriate for the student�s research
program. It is expected that M.S degree students planning to enter the proposed
doctoral program will take most of the courses as part of their M.S. degree
requirements.