MSECE Field Experience Concentration

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The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Field Experience Concentration requires students to conduct a full-time (20+ hrs/week) experiential learning activity (internship, co-op, or practicum) over the course of a semester or minimum of two summer sessions (12 weeks) at an industrial company, government agency, or similar entity within the first year of joining the MS in ECE program. 

If you have any questions about the MS Field Experience concentration please contact Emily Krems; Academic Advisor, Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Requirements

In addition to the requirements for our MS degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, the concentration has three requirements:

  1. Before the experiential learning activity students must spend: (a) at least one semester in residence and, (b) are making satisfactory academic progress on at least two introductory courses that will provide foundational knowledge for the practical experience. Those courses should include two of the following graduate ECE courses.
    • For the Electrical Engineering (EE) area: Probability & Random Processes (E&C-ENG 603), Linear Systems Theory (E&C-ENG 604), Electromagnetic Field Theory (E&C-ENG 606), Signal Theory (E&C-ENG 608), and Semiconductor Devices (E&C-ENG 609).
    • For the Computer Engineering (CompE) area: VLSI Design (E&C-ENG 658), Computer Architecture (E&C-ENG 668), Algorithms (E&C-ENG 665), Computer Networks (E&CENG 671), and Foundations in Computer Engineering (E&C-ENG 510).
    • For students interested in interdisciplinary EE and CompE areas, a mix of courses from those two areas will be acceptable. An objective threshold for satisfactory academic progress on those courses will be determined by the ECE Graduate Program Committee. To ensure that sufficient data are available to verify each student’s academic performance, applications for CPT work authorization approval will not be processed before the tenth week of the semester.
  2. Conduct a full-time experiential learning activity (internship, co-op, or practicum) over the course of a semester or minimum of two summer sessions at a commercial company, government agency, or similar entity within the first year of joining the MS ECE program. This experiential learning activity is required and is an integral part of this “Field Experience” concentration curriculum. It is the student’s responsibility to find and secure such internship or co-op opportunity. Students are encouraged to avail themselves of the resources through the Engineering Career Development and Experiential Learning Center. Upon successful completion, this required experiential learning activity shall be denoted on the student’s transcript.
  3. After the experiential learning activity students must complete at least one course that has a significant project or engineering design component. To qualify, a course must be:
    • (a) three credit graduate level (500, 600 or 700) E&C-ENG course, and 
    • (b) the course must have significant project or engineering design component as determined by the department.

The ECE department will maintain a list of approved courses with significant project or engineering design component. Graduate Project (E&C-ENG 688F and E&C-ENG 688P), and Master’s Thesis (E&C-ENG 699) will automatically qualify.

Note: Requirement (1) can be modified by the permission of the ECE Graduate Program Director if the student can provide a compelling reason why particular courses would be most helpful to a specific field experience.