ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

Head of the Department: S. M. Kang

Director of Graduate Studies: William R. Perkins

Correspondence and Admission Information: Graduate Programs, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 155 Everitt Laboratory, 1406 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801; (217) 333-0207; E-mail: application@ece.uiuc.edu

URL: www.ece.uiuc.edu

GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS

The department offers graduate study and research in electrical and computer engineering leading to the degrees of master of science and doctor of philosophy. Virtually every specialty within electrical and computer engineering is represented. Courses and researc h opportunities exist in the following areas: applied computation theory; bioengineering, acoustics, and magnetic resonance engineering; communications; computer-aided design and test; computer systems; computer vision and robotics; decision and control; electromagnetic fields; electrooptics, lasers, and plasmas; integrated circuits; microelectro-mechanical systems; mobile computing and communication; optoelectronics; power and energy systems; power electronics; remote sensing and propagation; semiconductor materials and devices; semiconductor physics and computational electronics; and signal, image, and speech processing.

The programs are very flexible to encourage interdisciplinary studies and research. Many faculty members hold affiliate status with other departments, and a number of faculty members from other departments hold affiliate status with the department. There are numerous interdisciplinary programs, laboratories, and centers. In addition to those in the departmental labor atories, graduate students hold appointments and conduct research in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Coordinated Science Laboratory, Materials Research Laboratory, and Microelectronics Laboratory, and in the following centers: ASIC Research and Development, Computational Electromagnetics, Computational Electronics, Manufacturing
Research, Reliable and High-Performance Computing, Supercomputing Applications, and Superconductivity.

Opportunity exists for specializing in computational science and engineering within the department's graduate programs. For further information, see Computational Science and Engineering.

For complete information, see the Electrical and Computer Engineering Web site: www.ece.uiuc.edu.

ADMISSION

Applicants must have completed an electrical engineering curriculum or a computer engineering curriculum substantially equivalent to those of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A minimum GPA of 3.0 (A = 4. 0) on the last 60 hours is required. However, because of space limitations, applicants with GPAs below 3.5 are rarely admitted. All applicants must submit scores from the general test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). International applicants, whose native language is not English, must submit Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores. A minimum paper-based TOEFL score of 590 (243 on the computer-based test) is required; however, if the score is less than 620 (260 on the computer-based test), the applicant is required to take an on-campus English as a Second Language Placement Test and satisfy the requirements determined by the test results. Applicants with master's degrees are admitted only if a faculty member is willing to serve as the Ph.D. thesis adviser. Accordingly, such applicants should write, call, or e-mail prospective Ph.D. advisers and discuss their research interests and potential Ph.D. thesis topics well in advance of application deadlines. Admission for the spr ing semester is possible, in addition to the usual fall semester admissions.

Graduates of curricula in the physical sciences, mathematics, and computer science may be admitted with limited standing if they are judged to have the necessary background to profit from graduate work in electrical and computer engineering. Such students are admitted to full standing after completing coursework to remove deficiencies.

MASTER OF SCIENCE

The M.S. degree requires eight units of credit and a thesis. At least five units must be at the 400 level in electrical and computer engineering. A master's thesis requiring two units of credit must be submitted by all candidates. Thesis credit is included in the required eight units and may be applied to the 400-level course requirement. There is no final examination for the M.S. degree.

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Admission to Ph.D. candidacy is based on the faculty's evaluation of the student's research potential, scholastic competence as evidenced by grades and class ranks, and satisfactory performance on the Ph.D. qualifying examination. Students admitted with bachelor's degrees take this examination after completing five units of coursework, including at least three 400-level courses with at least two of them in electrical and computer engineering. Students admitted with master's degrees take the examination after completing two units of coursework, including at least one 400-level course in electrical and computer engineering. A minimum graduate GPA of 3.25, as well as a minimum GPA of 3.25 in 400-level coursework, is required in order to be considered for admission to Ph.D. candidacy.

The minimum requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy are eight units of course credit beyond the master's degree (or the equivalent), successful completion of the preliminary examination, eight units of thesis research, a satisfactory thesis, and satisfactory defense of the thesis in a final examination. No foreign language proficiency is required.

JOINT DEGREE PROGRAMS

A joint degree program leading to the degrees of Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Master of Business Administration is offered in cooperation with the College of Commerce and Business Administration. Applicants must meet the admissions standards for both programs and be accepted by both programs. The degrees are awarded simultaneously after the requirements for both degrees have been met.

The department participates in the Medical Scholars Program, which allows students to pursue simultaneously the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering and Doctor of Medicine. Separate applications to the College of Medicine and the Medical Scholars Program are required. Applicants must be accepted by the College of Medicine and by the department in order to participate in this program. For information, write to the coordinator, Medical

Scholars Pr ogram, College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign, 190 Medical Sciences Building, 506 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801.

off-campus programs

Off-campus students who wish to pursue graduate degree programs from Illinois must apply and be accepted for admission as degree candidates in the Graduate College. It is recommended that students apply for admission before or during the semester in which they take their first off-campus courses. Students who are admitted as degree candidates after having completed one or more Academic Outreach courses without being admitted to the Graduate College may petition the Graduate College to apply a maximum of three units of such coursework toward the degree requirements. For further information, write to the Office of Continuing Engineering Education, 400 Engineering Hall, 1308 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801.

FINANCIAL AID

Fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships (all of which include tuition and partial fee waivers) are available for the majority of students who are admitted. International applicants generally are not awarded teaching assistantships but are eligible for the other forms of financial aid.