Electrical Engineering (E E)

Degree Conferred: M. Eng.

The Graduate Faculty

• Sedig S Agili, Ph.D. (Marquette) Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering
• Omid Ansary, Ph.D. (Akron) Director, School of Science, Engineering, and Technology; Professor of Engineering
• Peter B. Idowu, Ph.D. (Toledo) Associate Professor of Engineering
• Hossein Jula, Ph.D. (USC) Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
• Aldo W. Morales, Ph.D. (SUNY-Buffalo) Professor of Electrical Engineering
• Jerry F. Shoup, Ph.D. (Penn State) Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering
• Mohammad Tofighi, Ph.D. (Drexel) Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
• Seth Wolpert, Ph.D. (Rutgers) Associate Professor of Engineering

The Program

The Master of Engineering degree with a major in Electrical Engineering offers an education in the advanced aspects of electrical engineering with the following areas of concentration: electronic communication systems, control systems, VLSI, computer engineering, and power systems.

This evening program is designed with the full-time employee and part-time student in mind. Completion of the program provides graduates with a solid foundation for continued professional growth and employment opportunities.

Penn State Harrisburg accepts enrollment as a degree or special nondegree student. Undecided students are invited to try a few courses as nondegree students. Later the student may apply for admission into the program, and if accepted, 15 credits taken in nondegree status may be applied to the degree.

The resident graduate faculty have teaching and research interests in various areas of electrical engineering. These resident members are supplemented by scientists and engineers currently working in industry who teach part-time to enrich the students’ learning experience. Most resident faculty have industrial experience.

Admission Requirements

A prospective graduate student in Electrical Engineering at Penn State Harrisburg must fulfill the admission requirements as set forth by the Graduate School, and have a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering or its equivalent from an institution that is accredited by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET).

An undergraduate cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale is required for admission. Exceptions to this will be based on professional experience and other factors such as GRE scores. In addition, a student who does not meet the overall 3.0 grade-point average may be considered for admission if the student has a 3.0 junior/senior grade-point average.

Applicants should submit the following:

• a graduate online application with the application fee;
• official copies of undergraduate transcripts;
• three (3) letters of reference, especially those from faculty who can evaluate academic potential;
• a personal statement of technical interest, goals, and experience;
• test scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) are required for those indicating interest in an assistantship.

International Students

All applicants whose first language is not English or who have not received a baccalaureate degree from an institution in which the language of instruction is English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The test must be passed with a score of 550 (paper based test), 213 (computer based test), or 80 with a 20 on the speaking portion of the Internet-based test (iBT). For more information visit the Graduate Degree Programs Bulletin Application and Admission Procedures.

All students with international credentials must submit transcripts to Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE) for a "Course by Course" academic evaluation of transcripts and degree. An ECE application can be obtained on the Web here.

Completed international application material must be submitted by the following deadlines. Applications received after the deadlines will be processed for the following semester:

• Fall Semester -- May 31
• Spring Semester -- September 30
• Summer Session -- February 28

Plan of Study

As soon as possible after admission, students whould develop a tentative plan of study including all courses that are deemed desirable before completion of the program. This plan will be prepared with the help of an adviser and may include specific courses necessary to remove any background deficiencies.

Prerequisite Courses

Those applying for admission as a master of engineering candidate without an electrical engineering degree may be admitted with the stipulation that deficiencies in background, if any, will be remedied early in the program and that these courses will be in addition to the required number of credits for the degree.

The prerequisite courses for students who have not earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering are: Calculus I, Calculus II, Control System Design, Differential Equations, Physics I, Physics II, Physics III, Chemistry, Statics, Computer Progamming, Dynamics, Electrical Circuits I, Electrical Circuits II, Thermodynamics, and Electronic Circuits.

The Curriculum

A total of 33 credits is required for a Master of Engineering degree, of which at least 24 must be taken through Penn State Harrisburg engineering graduate programs. At least 18 credits must be at the 500 level, which includes 3 credits of ENGR 594.

Generally, students enrolled in the program for the Master of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering must earn 12 credits in the required prescribed core courses (i.e., courses with the E E prefix).

The Master of Engineering Paper: A candidate for the degree must write a scholarly report or engineering paper and defend it before three faculty members. The paper is intended to be a relatively short document compared with a thesis. A published paper may be used to meet this requirement. The paper should be written according to the standards set for an IEEE publication.

The engineering paper may be initiated by taking the 1-credit ENGR 594 (Master’s Paper Research) course. This should be done approximately halfway through the program. After the proposal is approved and the work well under way, the student should register for ENGR 594 with his/her paper adviser. Work will proceed as planned under the direction of the paper adviser, though changes may be made with the consent of the master’s paper committee.

Degree Requirements: The program’s 33 credits are distributed in two groups of courses: Prescribed Courses and Supporting Courses:

ME EE Courses

Prescribed Courses (12 credits)

• E E 441 SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGY (3) Prerequisites: E E 310, E SC 314.
• E E 488 POWER SYSTEMS ANALYSIS I (3) Prerequisite: E E 387 or E E 485
• E E 480 LINEAR SYSTEMS: TIME DOMAIN & TRANSFORMATION ANALYSIS Prerequisite: graduate standing
• E E 460 COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS II (3) Prerequisite: E E 360
• E E 594 RESEARCH PROJECTS (1-3)

Supporting Courses (21 credits)

• 400- or 500-level mathematics, computer science, or engineering course (6)
• 500-level mathematics, computer science, or engineering course (3)
• 500-level E E courses (12)

Transfer Credits and Course Substitutions

Up to 9 credits of graduate work may be transferred from other institutions provided (a) credits are suitable for the particular engineering discipline, and (b) students have earned a grade of B or better.

Grade-Point Average and Time Limit

Students must have a 3.00 grade-point average in both prescribed and supporting courses approved by the program to graduate. Students pursue the program on a part-time basis. A student can complete the program within two years, based on completion of two courses a semester.

ADDITIONAL COURSES
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING (E E)

• E E 430 - PRINCIPLES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS (3) Prerequisite: E E 330.
• E E 421 - OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATIONS (3) Prerequisites: E E 350, E E 320, E SC 314.
• E E 442 - SOLID STATE DEVICES (3) Prerequisites: E E 310, E SC 314.
• E E 413 - POWER ELECTRONICS (3) Prerequisites: E E 310, E E 350.
• E E 432 - UHF AND MICROWAVE ENGINEERING (3) Prerequisites: E E 330, EE 310.
• E E 410 - LINEAR ELECTRONIC DESIGN (3) Prerequisite: E E 311.
• E E 453 - FUNDAMENTALS OF DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING (3) Prerequisite: E E 351 or E E 352 or E E 353
• E E 488 - POWER SYSTEMS ANALYSIS I (3) Prerequisite: E E 387 or E E 485
• E E 496 – INDEPENDENT STUDIES (1-18)
• E E 497 - SPECIAL TOPICS (COURSES VARY FROM SEMESTER TO SEMESTER -- SEE ON-LINE SCHEDULE FOR CURRENT OFFERINGS)
• E E 531 - ENGINEERING ELECTROMAGNETICS (3) Prerequisite: E E 430
• E E 521 - FIBER OPTICS AND INTEGRATED OPTICS (3) Prerequisite: E E 421
• E E 541 - MANUFACTURING METHODS IN MICROELECTRONICS (3) Prerequisite: E E 441
• E E 542 - SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES (3) Prerequisite: E E 442
• E E 580 - LINEAR CONTROL SYSTEMS (3) Prerequisites: E E 380 
• E E 581 - OPTIMAL CONTROL (3) Prerequisite: E E 580
• E E 510 - LINEAR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (3) Prerequisite: E E 441, E E 410
• E E 553 - TOPICS IN DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING (3) Prerequisite: E E 453.
• E E 556 - GRAPHS, ALGORITHMS AND NEURAL NETWORKS (3) Prerequisite: none.
• E E 587 - NONLINEAR CONTROL AND STABILITY (3) Prerequisite: E E 380 
• E E 560 - PROBABILITY, RANDOM VARIABLES AND STOCHASTIC PROCESSES (3) Prerequisite: E E 350, STAT 418.
• E E 561 - INFORMATION THEORY (3) Prerequisite: E E 460 or STAT 418.
• E E 551 - WAVELETS, FILTER BANKS AND MULTI-RESOLUTION ANALYSIS (3) Prerequisite: E E 453, MATH 220.
• E E 588 - POWER SYSTEMS CONTROL AND OPERATION (3) Prerequisites: E E 488
• E E 568 - DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS I (3) Prerequisite: E E 460; Prerequisite or Concurrent: E E 560.
• E E 596 – INDIVIDUAL STUDIES (1-9)
• E E 597 - SPECIAL TOPICS (COURSE NAMES AND NUMBERS VARY FROM SEMESTER TO SEMESTER.)

Students may also select from the following list of E E courses to satisfy program requirements: E E 480, E E 483, E E 484, E E458, E E 488, E E 413, and E E 489.

For a list of courses, visit the web at http://www.psu.edu/bulletins/whitebook/$programs.htm.

Please note: This page is not a part of the official Penn State Graduate Bulletin.