Graduate Students Program Overview

Computational Science and Engineering Option

The College of Engineering has formed an interdisciplinary graduate educational program in Computational Science and Engineering (CSE). Computational Science and engineering has been accepted as a description of those activities in science and engineering that exploit computing as their main tool. The CSE programs in the College of Engineering have slightly different requirements in various departments, including the ECE department. A student of the ECE department under the CSE program will receive a degree in ECE with the CSE option.

A separate document called "CSE Graduate Programs Brochure" that can be obtained from the CSE office outlines the detailed requirements for the M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Computational Science and Engineering in ECE, and also describes various CSE courses. Following is a short description of the program. It should be noted that all potential applicants to the CSE program within the ECE department must satisfy ECE admission requirements. Also, all CSE students within the ECE department must satisfy the normal requirements of the ECE department. There are some additional requirements that are imposed on such students that are described below. However, the spirit of these requirements is such that students should not have to take any extra courses beyond those that are required in the normal ECE degree requirement; the requirements simply restrict the choices of the courses somewhat in order to qualify for the CSE program.

M.S. Program

For an M.S. degree program in CSE within the ECE department, students must satisfy the requirements of the M.S. program in ECE, while also satisfying the following. The student must take two core CSE courses or their equivalent:
  • CSE 401/CS 450 /Math 450/ECE 491 - Introduction to Numerical Analysis
  • CSE 402/CS 420/ECE 492 - Introduction to Parallel Programming
In addition, the student must take any two courses from the CSE specialization areas listed below. Finally, the M.S. thesis must be related to Computational Science and Engineering.

Ph.D. Program

For a Ph.D. degree program in CSE within the ECE department, students must satisfy the requirements of the Ph.D. program in ECE, while also satisfying the following. The student must take two core CSE courses or their equivalent:
  • CSE 401/CS 450/Math 450/ECE 491 - Introduction to Numerical Analysis
  • CSE 402/CS 420/ECE 492 - Introduction to Parallel Programming
In addition, the student must take four courses from the CSE specialization areas listed below with the restriction of two courses from each of two areas. Finally, the Ph.D. thesis must be related to Computational Science and Engineering.

CSE Specialization Areas and Faculty

3.1 Numerical and Symbolic Computing (Brown, Loui)

  • CSE 411/CS 455/Math 455 – Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations
  • CSE 412/CS 458/Math 458 – Numerical Linear Algebra
  • CSE 413/CS 459/Math 459 – Numerical Approximation and Ordinary Differential Equations
  • CSE 414/CS 473/Math 473 – Algorithms
  • CSE 491 – Computer Methods in Civil Engineering
  • CSE 511/CS 550 – Iterative and Multigrid Solvers
  • CSE 512/CS 554 – Parallel Numerical Algorithms
  • CSE 513/CS 558/Math 558 – Topics in Numerical Analysis
  • CSE 514/CS 570 – Mesh Generation
  • CSE 515/CS 573 – Topics in Algorithms
  • CSE 517/TAM 574 – Advanced Finite Element Methods

3.2 Computer Software, Hardware, and Graphics (Hwu, Iyer, Patel, Polychronopolous, Sanders, Wah)

  • CSE 422/CS 433 – Computer Systems Organization
  • CSE 423/CS 423 – Operating Systems Design
  • CSE 424/CS 425/ECE 428 – Distributed Systems
  • CSE 425/CS 438/ECE 438 – Communication Networks
  • CSE 426/CS 427 – Software Engineering I
  • CSE 427/CS 418 – Computer Graphics
  • CSE 428/CS 419 – Topics in Computer Graphics
  • CSE 521/ECE 511 – Advanced Computer Architecture
  • CSE 522/CS 533/ECE 533 – Theory of High Speed Parallel Computation
  • CSE 523/CS 523 – Advanced Operating Systems
  • CSE 524/CS 541/ECE 541 – Computer Systems Analysis
  • CSE 526/CS 526 – Topics in Compiler Construction
  • CSE 527/CS 519 – Scientific Visualization
  • CSE 528/ECE 512 – High Performance Microarchitecture
  • ECE 531 – Theory of Guided Waves
  • ECE 571 – Waves and Fields in Inhomogeneous Media
  • ECE 598 CDP – Parallelizing Compilers

3.3 Computational Techniques in Electronics, Electromagnetics, and VLSI (Chew, Hess, Jin, Patel, Ravaioli, Schutte-Aine)

  • CSE 433/ECE 425/CS 435 – Introduction to VLSI Systems Design
  • CSE 532/ECE 552 – Numerical Circuit Analysis
  • CSE 534/ECE 539 – Advanced Theory of Semiconductors and Devices
  • ECE 540 – Introduction to Computational Electromagnetics

3.4 Computational Techniques in Power, Control, Signal Processing and Image Processing (Ahuja, Bresler, Huang, Hutchinson, Kumar, Meyn, Overbye, Pai)

  • CSE 441/ECE 490 – Introduction to Optimization
  • CSE 542/ECE 551 – Digital Signal Processing
  • CSE 543/ECE 547 – Image Processing
  • CSE 544/ECE 576 – Power Systems Dynamics and Stability
  • CSE 545/ECE 573 – Power Systems Control

3.5 Computational Aspects from Other Departments

All CSE courses in Areas 5 through 9 of the CSE Graduate Programs Brochure are appropriate for this section.

Further information is available from the ECE Graduate Counseling Office.