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Master of Science in Computer Engineering


The Master of Science in Computer Engineering curriculum encompasses 45.0 or 48.0 (with the Graduate Co-op option) approved credit hours, chosen in accordance with the following requirements and a plan of study arranged with the departmental graduate advisor in consultation with the student’s research advisor, if applicable.  Before the end of the first quarter in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, for a full-time student, or by the end of the first year for a part-time student, said plan of study must be filed and approved for a plan of study with the departmental graduate advisor.

A total of at least 30.0 credit hours must be taken from among the graduate course offerings of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.  These credits must be taken at Drexel University.  No transfer credit may be used to fulfill these requirements, regardless of content equivalency. 

These departmental credit hours are as follows:

• 18.0 credits of Computer Engineering Courses (ECEC)
• 6.0 credits if Electrical Engineering Courses (ECEE, ECEP, ECES, ECET)
• 6.0 credits of General Electrical and Computer Engineering Courses (ECEC, ECEE, ECEP, ECES, ECET)

The required 18 credits of coursework in Computer Engineering must also meet the following criteria:

Core Courses
The Computer Engineering core courses consist of two courses:

• ECEC 621: High-Performance Computer Architecture
• ECEC 631: Principles of Computer Networking

Sequence Courses
Besides the two core courses, students must also complete a three course Computer Engineering (ECEC) sequence.  This requirement may be fulfilled by taking the remaining two courses of one of the two sequences started as part of the core course requirement or by completing an entirely separate three course sequence in Computer Engineering.

With the remaining required 15 credit hours, students may take graduate coursework, subject to the approval of the departmental graduate advisor, in electrical and computer engineering, mathematics, physics or other engineering disciplines.

Although not required, students are encouraged to complete a Master’s Thesis as part of the MS studies.  Those students who choose the thesis option may count up to 9 research/thesis credits as part of their required credit hour requirements.

Graduate Co-Op Program
Students may choose to participate in the Graduate Co-op (Grad Co-op) Program, where they earn 6 academic credits for working in industry on computer engineering related projects. Three of these credits may be used to satisfy either the "approved free-elective" credits for the non-thesis option, or toward satisfying the 12 required credits of Engineering and/or Mathematics and Computer Science courses for the thesis option. The students choosing the Grad Co-op option will need a total of 48 credits for graduation.

For more information on curricular requirements, visit the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s web site.

Non-thesis option
	Computer engineering courses		18.0
	Electrical engineering courses		6.0
	Engineering and/or math/computer science courses		12.0
	Electrical engineering or computer engineering electives		6.0
	Approved free elective		3.0
Thesis option
	Computer engineering courses		18.0
	Electrical engineering courses		6.0
	Engineering and/or math/computer science courses		12.0
	MS thesis		9.0
Computer Engineering Courses
Courses			Credits
ECEC 501	Principles of Representation and Reasoning		3.0
ECEC 502	Principles of Data Analysis and Regularity Recognition		3.0
ECEC 503	Principles of Decision Making, Planning, and Control		3.0
ECEC 511	Issues in Combinational Circuit Design		3.0
ECEC 512	Issues in Sequential Circuit Design		3.0
ECEC 513	Design for Testability		3.0
ECEC 621	High-performance Computer Architecture		3.0
ECEC 622	Parallel Computer Architectures		3.0
ECEC 623	Advanced Parallel Computer Architectures		3.0
ECEC 631	Principles of Computer Networking		3.0
ECEC 632	Performance Analysis of Computer Networks		3.0
ECEC 633	Advanced Topics in Computer Networks		3.0
ECEC 661	VLSI Design		3.0
ECEC 662	VLSI Array Processors I		3.0
ECEC 663	VLSI Array Processors II		3.0
Please note that ECEC 500 (Fundamentals of Computer Hardware) and ECEC 600 (Fundamentals of Computer Networks) do not count towards the credit requirements needed to complete the M.S. in Computer Engineering degree program..