Electrical & Computer Engineering Department
Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering
The Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electrical Engineering is awarded to those who demonstrate expertise and passion in advanced engineering principles, are able to investigate engineering problems independently, and contribute to global knowledge in the field.
Your work for this degree will include engineering research, completion of a thesis based on that research and analysis, and advanced studies in engineering, mathematics, and related computer sciences.
Program Structure
Required Courses
- 60 credit units beyond master degree including
- A maximum of 15 credit hours with a grade of B or higher may be transferred from master’s or doctoral level courses from a regionally accredited university
- Successful completion of a written qualification examination
- Successful completion of an oral presentation of the dissertation proposal
- Successful completion of an oral comprehensive defense of the doctoral dissertation
- One or more articles of original work based on the dissertation research should be submitted for publication in an appropriate peer-reviewed journal, approved by the Doctoral Committee (DC).
Doctoral Courses
Courses numbered 700 or above in the Electrical Engineering and Math courses are designed as PhD courses. Other courses may be accepted as PhD courses with the approval of the PhD advisor and chair of the EECE Department.
Dissertation Advisor
It is the student’s responsibility to obtain consent from a faculty member in the student’s major department to serve as his/ her prospective dissertation advisor as soon as the student is accepted as a Doctoral student. The department chair must approve the advisor and inform the chair of Doctoral Program Council (DPC) of the approval. A Doctoral student and his/her dissertation advisor jointly develop a study plan for courses and research in a particular area, and submit it to the Department Chair for approval.
Qualification Examination
The qualifying exam must be administered within two years of the date of admission for full-time students, and within three years for part-time students. The qualification exam can be retaken only once.
The qualification examination will be in written form. There will be three fields within the examination. Mathematics is a required field. The student may choose the two other fields from among the four fields listed below:
- Integrated Circuit Design
- Bioelectronics Design
- Wireless Communications
- System Design
Some courses in the above areas are:
- Integrated Circuit Design (EEN 715, EEN 717)
- Bioelectronics Design (EEN 717, EEN 736, EEN 739)
- Wireless Communication (EEN 749, EEN 758, EEN 774)
- IoT System Design (EEN 758)
Where as:
- EEN 717 Advanced Integrated Circuit Design
- EEN 736 Advanced MEMS Design
- EEN 739 Bioelectronics and Bioengineering
- EEN 749 Advanced Digital Signal Processing
- EEN 758 Advanced IoT System Design
- EEN 774 Advanced Wireless Communications
Dissertation Defense
The dissertation must be made available to all examiners one month prior to the examination. The oral examination shall consist of a presentation of the results of the dissertation and the defense. Dissertation defense is open to all faculty members of the university, but only members of the Doctoral Committee have a vote.
Publication
One or more refereed articles based on the dissertation research must be accepted for publication in a professional or scientific journal approved by the Doctoral Committee.
Admission to Candidacy
A student who passes the qualification examination is considered advanced to candidacy. A Doctoral candidate should promptly request the dissertation advisor to form a Doctoral Committee. A Doctoral candidate is required to be registered for the dissertation research course each term until completion of the degree. If a candidate fails to maintain continuous enrollment in the dissertation research course he/she must apply for reinstatement to the program.
Doctoral Committee (DC)
After completion of the preparation of the dissertation topic, a Doctoral candidate shall request an oral presentation of the proposed research. The presentation shall make evident sufficient preparation in depth and breadth for advanced research in the proposed dissertation topic. The presentation should be completed within one year after passing the written qualification examination. The presentation may be repeated only once, in whole or in part, within six months, at the discretion of the dissertation advisor.
Comprehensive Oral Presentation
The period following the comprehensive examinations is devoted to research for the dissertation, although such research may begin before the examinations are complete. After research topic proved by the Doctoral Committee, the students should conduct the dissertation research toward the objective defined.
Dissertation Research
The period following the comprehensive oral presentation is devoted to research for the dissertation, although such research may begin before the oral presentation is completed. After the DC approves the research topic, the Doctoral candidate shall conduct the dissertation research toward the defined objective.
Program Completion
At least one month before the degree is to be conferred, the candidate must submit to the Academic Quality Committee two copies of the final version of the dissertation describing the research in its entirety. The dissertation will not be considered as accepted until approved by the Doctoral Committee and publication acceptance. All doctoral theses must also be reproduced on microfilm, for responding to requests for copies by individuals and libraries. The University reserves the right to evaluate the undertakings and the accomplishments of the degree candidate in total, and award or withhold the degree as a result of its deliberations.
Time Limit for Completing Degrees
All requirements for the doctoral degree must be completed within eight years following acceptance into the Ph.D. program. Extensions will be allowed only in unusual circumstances and must be approved in writing by the Doctoral Program Council.
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Click here for Admission Requirements.
Who
should
apply
Graduate Admission Requirements:
- Master’s degree with a minimum GPA of 3.5
- Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate education
- GRE score within the past 5 years
- Three academic or professional letters of recommendation
Learning Outcomes
- Lead and organize Information Technology (IT) implementations at companies and institutions.
- Invent and improve algorithms for storing, accessing, processing, and analyzing data.
- Invent real-time computation methods for analysis and processing of data in robotics on optical, sound, and other real-time data from digital sensors
- Create innovative and useful features for modern operating systems such as multiprocessor, multiprocessing, and distributed.
- Contribute to research and development of algorithms in all areas that are now and in the future subject to computerization.
- Clearly explain Computer Science concepts in research, development, and educational institutions.
- Show proficiency and skills in the most important areas of state of the art computer science.