Graduate programs

The ECE Department offers M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in a variety of Electrical and Computer Engineering technical areas. Programs are available on both a full-time and part-time basis. Many classes are offered in the late afternoons and early evenings.

Please refer to the departmental website at www.pdx.edu/ece for detailed program information.

Admission requirements

Electrical And Computer Engineering M.S.

Electrical and Computer Engineering Ph.D.

Electrical And Computer Engineering M.S.

Master of Science (M.S.)

Thesis and coursework-only options are available in the ECE M.S. program. All ECE M.S. students are required to complete a Program Completion Form approved by their faculty advisers before completion of sixteen EE and ECE graduate credits. In addition to the university master’s degree requirements, an M.S. student must complete at least 45 graduate level credits. Coursework taken without adviser approval may not be accepted as part of the student’s program. Each student will be assigned an interim adviser at the time of admission.

Thesis Option

Thesis M.S. students usually follow one of the graduate track study plans consisting of four core courses (16 credits), two depth and breadth courses (8 credits), 9 credits of thesis, and 12 elective credits. Elective credits may include additional EE and ECE graduate courses, ECE 501-509 credits, or, with adviser approval, graduate classes from another department. Only 3 credits of ECE 507 may be counted as elective credits. A student may substitute an appropriate alternative class or classes for core or depth classes in a track by obtaining written permission from his/her adviser before taking the class(es).

Students should choose a research topic and adviser for their thesis; information on research in the department can be found on the department’s web site. Thesis M.S. students must also develop, write, and give an oral defense of a thesis approved by the student’s thesis committee. The defense is public and its schedule must be posted in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at least two weeks in advance. Please contact the Graduate Coordinator to schedule the defense and announcement. See the department’s web site for additional information about thesis requirements and deadlines.

Coursework-only option

For the coursework-only M.S. option, students take courses following an adviser-approved track of graduate classes. Please see the pre-approved coursework-only tracks below. These tracks were designed by the faculty to give both depth and breadth of knowledge in the specified study area. It is also possible for students to develop a custom track with their faculty adviser and approval by the Graduate Program Director. The coursework-only option requires students to complete sixteen credits of EE and ECE graduate lecture classes that form a core specialization area, sixteen credits of EE and ECE graduate lecture classes that provide depth and breadth, four credits of elective EE and ECE graduate lecture classes, and nine credits of approved graduate electives.

Approved Tracks

In addition to completing the other requirements for the degree, all students will take the core courses (16 credits) within their selected track. The core courses for each track are listed below.

Students pursing the thesis option will take two courses (8 credits) from the depth and breadth course list. Students pursing the coursework-only option will take four courses (16 credits) from the depth and breadth course list. The depth and breadth course lists are available from the department. 

Analog, RF, and Microwave Circuit Design

Core

ECE 521Analog Integrated Circuit Design I

4

ECE 522Analog Integrated Circuit Design II

4

ECE 531Microwave Circuit Design I

4

ECE 532Microwave Circuit Design II

4

Communications

Core

ECE 518Linear System Analysis I

4

ECE 519Linear System Analysis II

4

ECE 561Communication Systems Design I

4

ECE 562Communication Systems Design II

4

Computer Architecture and Design

Core

ECE 585Microprocessor System Design

4

ECE 586Computer Architecture

4

ECE 587Advanced Computer Architecture I

4

ECE 588Advanced Computer Architecture II

4

Design Automation Track

Core

ECE 516Integrated Circuit (IC) Technologies

4

ECE 528VLSI Computer-Aided Design

4

ECE 529CAD for ULSI and Emerging Technologies

4

ECE 583Low Power Digital IC Design

4

Design Verification and Validation

Core

ECE 571Introduction to System Verilog for Design and Verification

4

ECE 585Microprocessor System Design

4

ECE 593Fundamentals of Pre-Silicon Validation

4

ECE 595Emulation and Functional Specification Verification

4

Digital IC Design, Test, and Validation

Core

ECE 525Digital Integrated Circuit Design I

4

ECE 526Digital Integrated Circuit Design II

4

ECE 540System-on-Chip Design with FPGAs

4

ECE 581ASIC: Modeling and Synthesis

4

Embedded Systems

Core

ECE 540System-on-Chip Design with FPGAs

4

ECE 544Embedded System Design with FPGAs

4

ECE 558Embedded Systems Programming

4

ECE 585Microprocessor System Design

4

Micro and Nano Technology

Core

ECE 514Microsystem Integration and Packaging

4

ECE 515Fundamentals of Semiconductor Devices

4

ECE 516Integrated Circuit (IC) Technologies

4

ECE 517Nanoelectronics

4

Signal Processing

Core

EE 520Random Processes

4

EE 521Discrete Time Processing I

4

EE 522Discrete Time Processing II

4

EE 529Signal Processing Practicum

4