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Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

On the Performance Enhancement of Beamspace MIMO and Non-orthogonal Multiple Access for Future Cellular Networks , Sinasi Cetinkaya

Enhancing Smart Grid Security and Reliability through Graph Signal Processing and Energy Data Analytics , Md Abul Hasnat

Fabric-Based Organic Electrochemical Transistor Towards Wearable pH Sensing Electronics , Nestor Osvaldo Marquez Rios

Novel Systems Engineering Framework Analysis of Photovoltaic Models and Equations , Peter R. Michael

Deep Learning Enhancement and Privacy-Preserving Deep Learning: A Data-Centric Approach , Hung S. Nguyen

Cyber-Physical Multi-Robot Systems in a Smart Factory: A Networked AI Agents Approach , Zixiang Nie

Multiple Access Techniques Enabling Diverse Wireless Services , Mehmet Mert Şahin

Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Optimization Techniques for Energy and Socioeconomic Systems , Salman Sadiq Shuvo

Process Automation and Robotics Engineering for Industrial Processing Systems , Drake Stimpson

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Stability and Interaction Analysis of Inverter-Based Resources in Power Grids , Li Bao

Healthcare IoT System and Network Design , Halil Ibrahim Deniz

Video Anomaly Detection: Practical Challenges for Learning Algorithms , Keval Doshi

Data-Driven State Estimation for Improved Wide Area Situational Awareness in Smart Grids , Md Jakir Hossain

Deep Learning and Feature Engineering for Human Activity Recognition: Exploiting Novel Rich Learning Representations and Sub-transfer Learning to Boost Practical Performance , Ria Kanjilal

Assistive Technologies for Independent Navigation for People with Blindness , Howard Kaplan

Diagnosis of Neurodegenerative Diseases Using Higher Order Statistical Analysis of Electroencephalography Signals , Seyed Alireza Khoshnevis

Accelerating Multiparametric MRI for Adaptive Radiotherapy , Shraddha Pandey

A Model-Based Fault Diagnosis in Dynamic Systems via Asynchronous Motors System Identification or Testing, and Control Engineering Observers , Kenelt Pierre

Improving Wireless Networking from the Learning and Security Perspectives , Zhe Qu

Improving Robustness of Deep Learning Models and Privacy-Preserving Image Denoising , Hadi Zanddizari

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

A Method for Compact Representation of Heterogenous and Multivariate Time Series for Robust Classification and Visualization , Alla Abdella

Dynamical System and Parameter Identification for Power Systems , Abdullah Abdulrahman Alassaf

Phasor Domain Modeling of Type-III Wind Turbines , Mohammed Alqahtani

An Automated Framework for Connected Speech Evaluation of Neurodegenerative Disease: A Case Study in Parkinson's Disease , Sai Bharadwaj Appakaya

Investigation of CoO ATO for Solar Cells and Infrared Sheaths , Manopriya Devisetty Subramanyam

Thermal Management of Lithium-ion Batteries Using Supercapacitors , Sanskruta Dhotre

Effect of Se Composition in CdSe 1-X T eX /CdTe Solar Cells , Sheikh Tawsif Elahi

Microencapsulation of Thermochromic Materials for Thermal Storage and Energy Efficiency of Buildings , Abdullatif Hakami

Piezoelectrically-Transduced ZnO-on-Diamond Resonators with Enhanced Signal-to-Noise Ratio and Power-handling Capability for Sensing and Wireless Communication Applications , Xu Han

Preparation and Characterization of Single Layer Conducting Polymer Electrochromic and Touchchromic Devices , Sharan Kumar Indrakar

Security Attacks and Defenses in Cyber Systems: From an AI Perspective , Zhengping Luo

Power System Optimization Methods: Convex Relaxation and Benders Decomposition , Minyue Ma

Metal Oxide Sensor Array Test Bed Prototype for Diagnostic Breath Analysis , Tiffany C. Miller

Packaging of Active RF Beamforming IC Utilizing Additive Manufacturing , Ryan Murphy

Adaptive Network Slicing in Fog RAN for IoT with Heterogeneous Latency and Computing Requirements: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach , Almuthanna Nassar

Development of a Bipolar Radiofrequency Ablation Device for Renal Denervation , Noel Perez

Copper Electrodeposition Assisted by Hydrogen Evolution for Wearable Electronics: Interconnections and Fiber Metallization , Sabrina M. Rosa Ortiz

Theory and Application of Dielectric Rod Antennas and Arrays , Gabriel Saffold

Advanced Organic Polymers for the Nanoscale Fabrication of Fiber-based Electronics Using the Electrospinning Technique , William Serrano Garcia

Transparent Planar Micro-Electrode Array for In-Vitro Electric Field Mediated Gene Delivery , Raj Himatlal Shah

High Speed Switching for Plasma Based Electroporation , Shivangi Sharma

Development of Small-Scale Power Supplies for Wearable Medical Diagnostic Devices , Donny Stiner

Novel Approach to Integrate CAN Based Vehicle Sensors with GPS Using Adaptive Filters to Improve Localization Precision in Connected Vehicles from a Systems Engineering Perspective , Abhijit Vasili

Modeling, Control and Analysis of Inverter-Based Generators in the Power Grids , Yangkun Xu

Fiber-Based Supercapacitor for Wearable Electronics , Rohit Lallansingh Yadav

Modeling, Identification, and Stability Analysis of Inverter-Based Resources Integrated Systems , Miao Zhang

Data-Oriented Approaches towards Mobile, Network and Secure Systems , Shangqing Zhao

Strategies in Botnet Detection and Privacy Preserving Machine Learning , Di Zhuang

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Architecture design and optimization of Edge-enabled Smart Grids , Adetola B. Adeniran

Multimodal Data Fusion and Attack Detection in Recommender Systems , Mehmet Aktukmak

Artificial Intelligence Towards the Wireless Channel Modeling Communications in 5G , Saud Mobark Aldossari

Enhancement of 5G Network Performance Using Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) , Faeik Tayseer Al Rabee

Investigation of Machine Learning Algorithms for Intrusion Detection System in Cybersecurity , Mohmmed Alrowaily

Comprehensive Optimization Models for Voltage Regulation in PV-rich Multi-phase Distribution Systems , Ibrahim Alsaleh

Design and Implementation of Solid/Solid Phononic Crystal Structures in Lateral Extensional Thin-film Piezoelectric on Silicon Micromechanical Resonators , Abdulrahman Alsolami

Analysis of Computational Modeling Methods as Applied to Single-Crystal Organohalide Perovskites , Jon M. Bebeau

Development of a Monolithic Implantable Neural Interface from Cubic Silicon Carbide and Evaluation of Its MRI Compatibility , Mohammad Beygi

Performance Enhancement Techniques for Next-Generation Multi-Service Communication and Medical Cyber-Physical Systems , Ali Fatih Demir

Microfluidically Reconfigurable Millimeter-Wave Switches, Antenna Arrays and Filters with Fast-Actuation Using Movable Metallized Plates and Integrated Actuation , Enrique J. Gonzalez Carvajal

Multilayered Transmission Lines, Antennas and Phased Arrays with Structurally Integrated Control Electronics Using Additive Manufacturing , Merve Kacar

Cost Efficient Algorithms and Methods for Spectral Efficiency in Future Radio Access , Murat Karabacak

Design of DeLRo Autonomous Delivery Robot and AI Based Localization , Tolga Karakurt

Theory, Fabrication, and Characterization of Perovskite Phototransistor , Fatemeh Khorramshahi

Modeling and Control of Renewable Energy in Grids and Microgrids , Yin Li

Next-Generation Self-Organizing Communications Networks: Synergistic Application of Machine Learning and User-Centric Technologies , Chetana V. Murudkar

Reliability Analysis of Power Grids and its Interdependent Infrastructures: An Interaction Graph-based Approach , Upama Nakarmi

Algorithms Enabling Communications in the Presence of Adjacent Channel Interference , Berker Peköz

Electrospun Nanofibrous Membrane Based Glucose Sensor with Integration of Potentiostat Circuit , Kavyashree Puttananjegowda

Service Provisioning and Security Design in Software Defined Networks , Mohamed Rahouti

Reading and Programming Spintronic Devices for Biomimetic Applications and Fault-tolerant Memory Design , Kawsher Ahmed Roxy

Implementation of SR Flip-Flop Based PUF on FPGA for Hardware Security , Sai Praneeth Sagi

Trauma Detection Personal Locator Beacon System , Sakshi Sharma

Network Function Virtualization In Fog Networks , Nazli Siasi

Socially Aware Network User Mobility Analysis and Novel Approaches on Aerial Mobile Wireless Network Deployment , Ismail Uluturk

Spatial Stereo Sound Source Localization Optimization and CNN Based Source Feature Recognition , Cong Xu

Hybrid RF Acoustic Resonators and Arrays with Integrated Capacitive and Piezoelectric Transducers , Adnan Zaman

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Fabrication and Characterization of Electrical Energy Storage and Harvesting Energy Devices Using Gel Electrolytes , Belqasem Aljafari

Phasor Measurement Unit Data-Based Steady State and Dynamic Model Estimation , Anas Almunif

Cross Layer-based Intrusion Detection System Using Machine Learning for MANETs , Amar Amouri

Power Conditioning System on a Micro-Grid System , Tamoghna Banerjee

Thermal Response in a Field Oriented Controlled Three-phase Induction Motor , Niyem Mawenbe Bawana

Design and Development of a Wireless EEG System Integrated into a Football Helmet , Akshay V. Dunakhe

Machine Learning, Game Theory Algorithms, and Medium Access Protocols for 5G and Internet-of-Thing (IoT) Networks , Mohamed Elkourdi

Improving Stability by Enhancing Critical Fault Clearing Time , Ammara M. Ghani

RF Power Circuit Designs for Wi-Fi Applications , Krishna Manasa Gollapudi

Enhancing Secrecy and Capacity of Wireless Systems Using Directive Communications , Mohammed A. Hafez

Statistical Anomaly Detection and Mitigation of Cyber Attacks for Intelligent Transportation Systems , Ammar Haydari

Absorber and Window Study – CdSexTe1-x/CdTe Thin Film Solar Cells , Chih-An Hsu

Methods and Algorithms to Enhance the Security, Increase the Throughput, and Decrease the Synchronization Delay in 5G Networks , Asim Mazin

Piezoelectric ZnO Nanowires as a Tunable Interface Material for Opto-Electronic Applications , Anand Kumar Santhanakrishna

Security Framework for the Internet of Things Leveraging Network Telescopes and Machine Learning , Farooq Israr Ahmed Shaikh

Diversity and Network Coded 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure for Ultra-Reliable Communications , Nabeel Ibrahim Sulieman

The Design of Passive Networks with Full-Wave Component Models , Eric Valentino

CubeSat Constellation Design for Intersatellite Linking , Michael T. White

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Design of Micro-Scale Energy Harvesting Systems for Low Power Applications Using Enhanced Power Management System , Majdi M. Ababneh

A Study on the Adaptability of Immune System Principles to Wireless Sensor Network and IoT Security , Vishwa Alaparthy

Validation of Results of Smart Grid Protection through Self-Healing , Felipe Framil Assumpção

A Novel Framework to Determine Physiological Signals From Blood Flow Dynamics , Prashanth Chetlur Adithya

The Effect of Processing Conditions on the Energetic Diagram of CdTe Thin Films Studied by Photoluminescence , Shamara P. Collins

Physical Electronic Properties of Self-Assembled 2D and 3D Surface Mounted Metal-Organic Frameworks , Radwan Elzein

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Home > USC Columbia > Engineering and Computing, College of > Electrical Engineering > Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Analysis, Measurement, and Modeling of Millimeter Wave Channels for Aviation Applications , Zeenat Afroze

Physics-Based and Behavioral Models for Fuel Cells , Charles Chima Anyim

Novel Structures and Thin Film Techniques for Reconfigurable RF Technologies With Improved Signal Integrity , Jinqun Ge

Suitability of Quantized DEVS-LIM Methods for Simulation of Power Systems , Navid Gholizadeh

Quantized State Simulation of Electrical Power Systems , Joseph Micah Hood

Optimization of Ultrawide Bandgap Semiconductor Materials for Heterostructure Field Effect Transistors (HFETs) , Mohi Uddin Jewel

Deep Learning Based Fault Diagnosis and Prognosis for Bearing , Guangxing Niu

High-Performance Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Power Modules Enabled by Advanced Two-Phase Mini-Channel Cooling , Bo Tian

Magnetic Softness Tuned Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient Cancer Theranostics , Jie Wang

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

MIMO Antenna Systems for Wireless Handheld Devices , Ahmed H. Abdelgawwad

Applications of Laser Liftoff Technique for Wide Bandgap Power and Flexible Electronics , Md Didarul Alam

Non-intrusive Microwave Surface Wave Technique For Cable Damage and Aging Detection , Ahmed Shah Arman

Pulse Width Modulation-Based Voltage Balancing and Circulating Current Control for Modular Multilevel Converters , Md Multan Biswas

Networked Digital Predictive Control for Modular DC-DC Converters , Castulo Aaron De la O Pérez

Development of Micro-Sized Algan Deep Ultraviolet Light Emitting Diodes and Monolithic Photonic Integrated Circuits , Richard Speight Floyd III

Distributed Interdigital Capacitor (IDC) Sensing for Cable Insulation Aging and Degradation Detection , Md Nazmul Al Imran

Epitaxial 4H-SiC Radiation Detectors for Harsh Environment Applications , Joshua W. Kleppinger

Growth, Characterization and Evaluation of CdZnTeSe Single Crystals for Room Temperature Radiation Detectors , Ritwik Nag

Automated Contingency Management for Water Recycling System , Shijie Tang

Closed Form Implicitly Integrated Models for Computationally Efficient Simulation of Power Electronics , Andrew Wunderlich

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Real Time Simulation and Hardware in the Loop Methods for Power Electronics Power Distribution Systems , Michele Difronzo

Time-Domain Measurement of Magnetization Dynamics in Ferrofluids , Brian Egenriether

Increased Detectivity and Low Temperature Performance Analysis of Sub-20μm Micropixel Array A1GaN UV Photodiodes , Samia Islam

Operating Strategies and Disturbance Characterization for DC Microgrids , Miles Leonard-Albert

Real-Time Probabilistic Solvers for Digital Twins of Power Electronic Systems , Matthew Aaron Milton

Ultrawide Bandgap Algan-Channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor Heterostructure Field Effect Transistors With High- K Gate Dielectrics , Md Abu Shahab Mollah

Temperature Dependence of Electroluminescence and Current-Voltage Characteristics of Arrays of Deep Ultraviolet Algan Micropixel Led , Dhruvinkumar Prakashchandra Patel

Robust Adaptive Model Predictive Control of Nonlinear Sample-Data Systems , Lixing Yang

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Methods for Dynamic Stabilization, Performance Improvement, and Load Power Sharing In DC Power Distribution Systems , Hessamaldin Abdollahi

Data-Driven Modeling Through Power Hardware in the Loop Experiments: A PV Micro-Inverter Example , Hayder Dawood Abbood Almukhtar

Novel Multi-User Chirp Signaling Schemes for Future Aviation Communication Applications , Nozhan Hosseini

The Hybridization of a Graphene and Silicon Carbide Schottky Optoelectronic Device by the Incorporation of a Lead Sulfide Quantum Dot Film , Joshua Letton

Channel Modeling and Tropospheric Effects on Millimeter Wave Communications for Aviation Applications , Jinwen Liu

30 GHz Path Loss Modeling and Performance Evaluation for Noncoherent M-ary Frequency Shift Keying in the 30 GHz Band , Mohanad Razak Mohsen

Room Temperature Semiconductor Radiation Detectors Based on CdZnTe and CdZnTeSe , Mohsin Sajjad

Optimization of Vehicle to Grid System in a Power System With Unit Commitment , Charles Uko

Design of High Efficiency Wireless Power Thansfer System With Nonlinear Resonator , Yibing Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

DC Bus Stabilization and Dynamic Performance Improvement of a Multi-Converter System , Silvia Arrua

Fabrication and Characterization of Thin Films for Heterojunction Solar Cells and Radiation Detectors , Towhid A. Chowdhury

Low Frequency Injection as a Method of Low-Level DC Microgrid Communication , Matthew Davidson

Modeling and Loss Analysis of SiC Power Semiconductor Devices for Switching Converter Applications , Soheila Eskandari

Path Loss Models for Two Small Airport Indoor Environments at 31 GHz , Alexander L. Grant

Wireless RF Induced Energy Absorption and Heating of Lanthanum-Nickel Alloy in the Near-Field , Michael Dillon Lindsay

Fractional Order and Virtual Variable Sampling Design of Repetitive Control for Power Converters , Zhichao Liu

Curbside Antenna to Vehicle Path Loss Measurements and Modeling in Three Frequency Bands , Patrick Murphy

Finite Element Electromagnetic (EM) Analyses of Induction Heating of Thermoplastic Composites , Ankit Patel

Constrained Consensus in Continuous-Time Multi-Agent Systems , Zheqing Zhou

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Study Of 4H-SiC And ALxGA1-xN Based Heterojunction Devices For Ultraviolet Detection Applications , Venkata Surya Naga Raju Chava

Photovoltaic Inverter Control to Sustain High Quality of Service , Yan Chen

Novel Wideband EBG Structures For Isolation Improvement Between Cosite Antennas , Paul John Czeresko III

High Resolution Radiation Detectors Based On 4H-SiC N-Type Epitaxial Layers And Pixilated CdZnTe Single Crystal Devices , Cihan Oner

Ku-Band AG Channel Modeling , Albert Smith

Quantifying Time Retarded Electromagnetic Fields and Their Applications in Transmission Lines , Brandon Thomas Gore

Structurally Integrated Reconfigurable Wideband Array For Conformal Applications , Michael Damon Wright

Multifunction Radio Frequency Composite Structures , David L. Zeppettella

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Dynamic Model and Control of Quadrotor in the Presence of Uncertainties , Courage Agho

Ultra High-Speed Signaling and Return on Technology Investment (ROTI) for the Electrical Interconnects Sector , Azniza Abd Aziz

High Quality Low Offcut 4h-Sic Epitaxy and Integrated Growth of Epitaxial Graphene for Hybrid Graphene/Sic Devices , Anusha Balachandran

Cable Health Monitoring System Built Into Power Converter Using Time Domain Reflectometry , Hossein Baninajar

Low Bandwidth Communication for Networked Power Hardware-In-The-Loop Simulation , Sean Borgsteede

Fault Protection In DC Microgrids Based On Autonomous Operation Of All Components , Qiu Deng

Distributed Optimization Method for Intelligent Control of DC Microgrids , Yuanyuan Fan

Three Segment Adaptive Power Electronic Compensator for Non-periodic Currents , Amin Ghaderi

Study of Mos2 and Graphene-Based Heterojunctions for Electronic and Sensing Applications , Ifat Jahangir

Evaluation Of Multicarrier Air Interfaces In The Presence Of Interference For L-Band And C-Band Air-Ground Communications , Hosseinali Jamal

Analysis and Design of a Highly Compact Ellipse-Shaped Ultra-Wideband Bandpass Filter (Uwb-Bpf) with a Notched Band , Xuetan Liu

Study of Ultra Wide Band Gap AlxGa1-xN Field Effect Transistors For Power Electronic Applications , Sakib Mohammed Muhtadi

Growth and Characterization of Anisotropic GaSe Semiconductor for Radiation Detection and THz Applications , Haseeb Nazir

Physical Characterization of Electrodeposited PCB Copper Foil Surfaces , Blessing Kolawole Ojo

Wideband Low Side Lobe Aperture Coupled Patch Phased Array Antennas , Dhruva Poduval

Software Modelling For Real World Faults On AC Transmission Protective Systems Analysis And Effects , Iandale Tualla

Improved N-Type 4h-Sic Epitaxial Layer Radiation Detectors and Noise Analysis of Front-End Readout Electronics , Khai V. Nguyen

Integrating Nano-Patterned Ferromagnetic and Ferroelectric Materials For Smart Tunable Microwave Applications , Tengxing Wang

An Application of Dempster-Shafer Fusion Theory to Lithium-ion Battery Prognostics and Health Management , John Weddington

A Lebesgue Sampling based Diagnosis and Prognosis Methodology with Application to Lithium-ion Batteries , Wuzhao Yan

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Positive Feedforward Control Design For Stabilization Of A Single-Bus DC Power Distribution System Using An Improved Impedance Identification Technique , Silvia Arrúa

Simulation Of GaN Based MIS Varactor , Bojidha Babu

High Gain Pattern Reconfigurable Antenna Arrays for Portable and Body-Centric Wireless Applications , Nowrin Hasan Chamok

An Improved Ship Design Tool for Comparing Performance of Multiple Ship Designs across User-Defined Missions , Helder Jose de Almeida Pais

Estimating Local Average Power In A Line-Of-Sight Indoor Channel: Spatial Sampling And Processing , Israt Jahan Disha

Time-Domain Measurement Of Ultrafast Magnetization Dynamics In Magnetic Nanoparticles , Brian Egenriether

Finite Control Set Model Predictive Control Of Direct Matrix Converter And Dual-Output Power Converters , Ozan Gulbudak

Distributed Optimization And Control Of Islanded Microgrids , Md Rishad Hossain

Engineering Model Of III-Nitride Power Heterostructure Field Effect Transistor On Silicon Substrate , Mohammad Mirwazul Islam

A Comparison Of FPGA Implementation Of Latency-Based Solvers For Power Electronic System Real-Time Simulation , Matthew Aaron Milton

Investigation Of Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Devices For Radiation Detection Applications , Rahmi Orhon Pak

Modeling and Loss Analysis of Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductor Devices , Kang Peng

Miniaturized RF Components With A Novel Tunable Engineered Substrate For Wireless Communication Systems , Yujia Peng

Wireless Channel Modeling For Networks On Chips , William Rayess

Comparative Analysis Of Current Control Methods For Modular Multilevel Converters , Jordan D. Rogers

Applications Of Impedance Identification To Electric Ship System Control And Power Hardware-In-The-Loop Simulation , Jonathan Siegers

System Level Analysis And Design For Wireless Inter-Chip Interconnection Communication Systems By Applying Advanced Wireless Communication Technologies , Xin Zheng

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of Pseudomorphic and Quasi-Pseudomorphic AlGaN Based Deep Ultraviolet Light Emitting Diodes Over Sapphire , Fatima Asif

III-V Nitride Based Microcantilever Heaters for Unique Multimodal Detection of Volatile Organic Compounds at Low Temperature , Ifat Jahangir

Defect Characterization of 4H-SIC by Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) and Influence of Defects on Device Performance , Mohammad Abdul Mannan

AN INVESTIGATION INTO QUASI-TUNABLE RF PASSIVE CIRCUIT DESIGN , Terry L. Moss

Fabrication and Characterization of Graphene based Biocompatible Ion-Sensitive Field Effect Transistor (ISFET) , Rina Patel

Investigation of Modular Multilevel Converter Performance under Non-Ideal Distribution System Conditions , Rostan Rodrigues

Technology Development and Characterization of AIInN/GaN HEMTs for High Power Application , Mahbuba Sultana

Dual-Band Non-Stationary Channel Modeling for the Air-Ground Channel , Ruoyu Sun

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Home > Engineering & Technology > Electrical & Computer Engineering > ECE_ETDS

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Theses and dissertations published by graduate students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Old Dominion University since Fall 2016 are available in this collection. Backfiles of all dissertations (and some theses) have also been added.

In late Fall 2023 or Spring 2024, all theses will be digitized and available here. In the meantime, consult the Library Catalog to find older items in print.

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Dissertation: An Advanced Simulation Architecture for Testing Autonomous and Connected Vehicles Enabled by Virtual Reality , Defu Cui

Thesis: OpenSim-Based Musculoskeletal Modeling: Foundation for Interactive Obstetric Simulator , Bahador Dodge

Dissertation: Framework for Implementing Advanced Radar Plotting Aid Capability for Small Maritime Vessels , Jason Stark Harris

Thesis: Generation Of Plasma with a Rotating Electric Field , Franklin Price Mosely

Dissertation: Deep-Learning-Based Classification of Digitally Modulated Signals , John A. Snoap

Dissertation: Wearable Sensor Gait Analysis for Fall Detection Using Deep Learning Methods , Haben Girmay Yhdego

Dissertation: Towards a Robust Defense: A Multifaceted Approach to the Detection and Mitigation of Neural Backdoor Attacks through Feature Space Exploration and Analysis , Liuwan Zhu

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Dissertation: A Preventive Medicine Framework for Wearable Abiotic Glucose Detection System , Saikat Banerjee

Dissertation: Development of High Quantum Efficiency Strained Superlattice Spin Polarized Photocathodes Via Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition , Benjamin Belfore

Dissertation: Optimization of 8-Plate Multi-Resonant Coupling Structure Using Class-E 2 Based Capacitive-Wireless Power Transfer System , Yashwanth C. Bezawada

Dissertation: Detection, Tracking, and Classification of Aircraft and Birds from Multirotor Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems , Chester Valentine Dolph

Thesis: Emotion Detection Using an Ensemble Model Trained with Physiological Signals and Inferred Arousal-Valence States , Matthew Nathanael Gray

Thesis: Fabrication of NMOS Logic Gates , Samantha Hahn

Dissertation: Cyber Resilience Analytics For Cyber-Physical Systems , Md Ariful Haque

Thesis: Integrative Physiology-Coupled Pilot-Centered Flight Simulation , Shawn C. Harrison

Thesis: Frequency Agile OFDM System for Radio Communication in High Frequency Bands , Erin E. Hill

Dissertation: Applied Deep Learning: Case Studies in Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing , Md Reshad Ul Hoque

Dissertation: Development and Validation of a Three-Dimensional Optical Imaging System for Chest Wall Deformity Measurement , Nahom Kidane

Thesis: Machine Learning Classification of Digitally Modulated Signals , James A. Latshaw

Dissertation: E-Beam Irradiation Beamline at Jefferson Lab for Wastewater Treatment , Xi Li

Thesis: Chen-Fliess Series for Linear Distributed Systems , Natalie T. Pham

Dissertation: Recrystallization of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 Semiconductor Thin Films Via Metal Halides Treatment , Deewakar Poudel

Dissertation: Fabrication of Nb 3 Sn by Magnetron Sputtering for Superconducting Radiofrequency Application , Md Nizam Sayeed

Thesis: Development of a Fuzzy Logic Model-Less Aircraft Controller , Christopher M. Scott

Thesis: Design and Analysis of Electrical Power and Communication Systems for 3U SeaLion CubeSat Mission , Joseph D. Siciliano

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Dissertation: Enhancing Thermal Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells with a Polymer Through Grain Boundary Passivation , Tanzila Tasnim Ava

Dissertation: Specification, Control, and Applications of Z-Source Circuit Breakers for the Protection of DC Power Networks , Sagar Bhatta

Dissertation: Protection and Disturbance Mitigation of Next Generation Shipboard Power Systems , Marounfa Djibo

Dissertation: Wiener-Fliess Composition of Formal Power Series: Additive Static Feedback and Shuffle Rational Series , Subbarao Venkatesh Guggilam

Dissertation: Deep Learning Approaches for Seagrass Detection in Multispectral Imagery , Kazi Aminul Islam

Thesis: Security Improvements for the Automatic Identification System , Robert E. Litts

Dissertation: Electrostatic Design and Characterization of a 200 keV Photogun and Wien Spin Rotator , Gabriel G. Palacios Serrano

Dissertation: Commissioning & Characterization of Magnetized Gridded Thermionic Electron Source , Mark Stefani

Dissertation: Towards Characterizing Adversarial Opportunity and Behavior in Critical Infrastructure Network , Md Sharif Ullah

Dissertation: Joint Linear and Nonlinear Computation with Data Encryption for Efficient Privacy-Preserving Deep Learning , Qiao Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Thesis: Deposition and Characterization of Indium Nitride and Aluminum Nitride Thin Films by Reactive Sputtering , Sushma Swaraj Atluri

Dissertation: A Novel Non-Enzymatic Glucose Biofuel Cell with Mobile Glucose Sensing , Ankit Baingane

Thesis: Hardware Development for the Generation of Large-Volume High Pressure Plasma By Spatiotemporal Control of Space Charge , Nikhil Boothpur

Dissertation: Secure Mobile Computing by Using Convolutional and Capsule Deep Neural Networks , Rui Ning

Dissertation: Topology Control, Scheduling, and Spectrum Sensing in 5G Networks , Prosanta Paul

Dissertation: Longitudinal Brain Tumor Tracking, Tumor Grading, and Patient Survival Prediction Using MRI , Linmin Pei

Dissertation: Model-Based Approach for Diffuse Glioma Classification, Grading, and Patient Survival Prediction , Zeina A. Shboul

Dissertation: Diagnostic Studies of Non-Thermal Atmospheric Pressure Nanosecond Plasma Jets , Shutong Song

Thesis: Highly Transmissive Scalable Colored Coatings for Architectural Photovoltaic Panels , Akbar Ali Syed

Dissertation: Deep Cellular Recurrent Neural Architecture for Efficient Multidimensional Time-Series Data Processing , Lasitha S. Vidyaratne

Dissertation: Virtual SATCOM, Long Range Broadband Digital Communications , Dennis George Watson

Dissertation: Comprehensive Designs of Innovate Secure Hardware Devices against Machine Learning Attacks and Power Analysis Attacks , Yiming Wen

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Thesis: Pulse Power Effects on Transient Plasma Ignition for Combustion , David Wayne Alderman II

Thesis: Demonstration of Visible and Near Infrared Raman Spectrometers and Improved Matched Filter Model for Analysis of Combined Raman Signals , Alexander Matthew Atkinson

Dissertation: Laser-Spark Multicharged Ion Implantation System ‒ Application in Ion Implantation and Neural Deposition of Carbon in Nickel (111) , Oguzhan Balki

Thesis: Radio Frequency Toolbox for Drone Detection and Classification , Abdulkabir Bello

Thesis: Computational Analysis of Antipode Algorithms for the Output Feedback Hopf Algebra , Lance Berlin

Thesis: Solid State Polyaniline Supercapacitors Based on Electrodes Fabricated with Electropolymerization , Jonathan R. Blincoe

Thesis: Design, Implementation, and Analysis of Electrical System Architecture for CubeSat to Ground Communications , Anthony G. Cappiello

Thesis: A Design of Inductive Coupling Wireless Power Transfer System for Electric Vehicle Applications , Sarika Reddy Daida

Dissertation: A Multi-Agent Systems Approach for Analysis of Stepping Stone Attacks , Marco Antonio Gamarra

Dissertation: Using Feature Extraction From Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Pathological Image Analysis and Its Visual Interpretability , Wei-Wen Hsu

Dissertation: Enhanced Sensing Performance of Novel Nanostructured ZnO Gas Sensors in Ethanol Vapor Concentration Detection Applications , Pengtao Lin

Dissertation: Performance of Cognitive Radio Networks with Unknown Dynamic Primary User Signals , Sara L. MacDonald

Dissertation: Effect of Grain Size and Interface Engineering on the Photovoltaic Performance and Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells , Abdullah Al Mamun

Dissertation: A Laser Ion Source for Thin Film Deposition: Characterization of Source and Growth Conditions , Md Mahmudur Rahman

Thesis: Cyber Security- A New Secured Password Generation Algorithm with Graphical Authentication and Alphanumeric Passwords Along With Encryption , Akash Rao

Dissertation: MIMO Radar Waveform Design and Sparse Reconstruction for Extended Target Detection in Clutter , Christopher Alan Rogers

Dissertation: On Analytic Nonlinear Input-output Systems: Expanded Global Convergence and System Interconnections , Irina M. Winter Arboleda

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Dissertation: Deep Recurrent Learning for Efficient Image Recognition Using Small Data , Mahbubul Alam

Thesis: Characterization of Language Cortex Activity During Speech Production and Perception , Hassan Baker

Dissertation: Coexistence and Secure Communication in Wireless Networks , Saygin Bakşi

Thesis: Model-Less Fuzzy Logic Control for the NASA Modeling and Control for Agile Aircraft Development Program , Keith A. Benjamin

Thesis: Non-Destructive Evaluation for Composite Material , Desalegn Temesgen Delelegn

Thesis: Improved Thermal Stability of Cesium-Doped Perovskite Films With PMMA for Solar Cell Application , Christine M. Gausin

Thesis: A Dual Resonant Transformer and a Dielectric Antenna for Picosecond Pulse Radiation , Khiem Huynh

Thesis: A Novel Power Sharing Control Method for Distributed Generators in DC Networks , Christina James

Thesis: IDPAL - Input Decoupled Partially Adiabatic Logic: Implementation and Examination , Kevin A. Johnson

Thesis: New Method of Nickel Oxide as Hole Transport Layer and Characteristics of Nickel Oxide Based Perovskite Solar Cell , Loi Nguyen

Dissertation: Non-Invasive Picosecond Pulse System for Electrostimulation , Ross Aaron Petrella

Dissertation: Optimization of Top Contact for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells , Grace Cherukara Rajan

Dissertation: Generation of Large-Volume Diffuse Plasma by an External Ionization Wave From a Single-Electrode Plasma Jet , Seyed Hamid Razavi Barzoki

Dissertation: 3D Bioprinting Systems for the Study of Mammary Development and Tumorigenesis , John Reid

Dissertation: Development of a Laser-Spark Multicharged Ion System – Application in Shallow Implantation of Sic by Boron and Barium , Md. Haider Ali Shaim

Thesis: Learn-To-Fly Control System Design , Alexander Brent Streit

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Thesis: Diffusion Modeling of Impurities Through the Molybdenum Back Contact of CIGS Solar Cells , Chinedum John Akwari

Dissertation: Study of Modified Deposition Process for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cell Back Contact , Tasnuva Ashrafee

Thesis: Virtual Substrate Synthesis for Low-Cost High Efficiency III-V , Sean J. Babcock

Dissertation: Speech Based Machine Learning Models for Emotional State Recognition and PTSD Detection , Debrup Banerjee

Thesis: Study of a High-Efficient Wide-Bandgap DC-DC Power Converter for Solar Power Integration , Yashwanth Bezawada

Thesis: Modification of Deposition Process Parameters for Uniform Indium Layer Deposition , Isaac Butt

Dissertation: Enhancement of Thermoelectric Properties of ALD Synthesized PbTe and PbSe by Phonon Engineering , Xin Chen

Thesis: A Correlational Study of SansEC Sensors’ Electric Field Distribution on Lightning Attachment , Kayla M. Farrow

Thesis: Recurrent Neural Networks and Matrix Methods for Cognitive Radio Spectrum Prediction and Security , Alexander M. Glandon

Thesis: A Study of the Sensitivity of Energy Conversion Efficiency to Load Variation in Class-E Resonant Power Inverter , Richard Samuel Jennings

Thesis: Investigation of Low Cost Substrate Approaches for III-V Solar Cells , Marlene Lydia Lichty

Thesis: Deposition of Silicon Thin Films by Ion Beam Assisted Deposition , Tejaswini Miryala

Dissertation: Low Temperature Plasma for the Treatment of Epithelial Cancer Cells , Soheila Mohades

Dissertation: The Efficacy of Programming Energy Controlled Switching in Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM) , David Malien Nminibapiel

Dissertation: Computational Modeling for Abnormal Brain Tissue Segmentation, Brain Tumor Tracking, and Grading , Syed Mohammad Shamin Reza

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Thesis: Microbubble Generation By Piezoelectric Transducers For Biomedical Studies , Mohammed Alkhazal

Thesis: Carbon and Boron Nitride Nanotube Fabricated Supercapacitors , Derek Christian Demuth

Dissertation: Simulation, Measurement, and Emulation of Photovoltaic Modules Using High Frequency and High Power Density Power Electronic Circuits , Yunas Erkaya

Thesis: Analysis and Implementation of Communications Systems for Small Satellite Missions , Jason S. Harris

Thesis: IDPAL - Input Decoupled Partially Adiabatic Logic Family: Theory and Implementation of Side-Channel Attack Resistant Circuits , Matthew Edward McAllister

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Home > Lyle School of Engineering > Electrical Engineering > Theses and Dissertations

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

STUDY OF RADIATION EFFECTS IN GAN-BASED DEVICES , Han Gao

Quantum and Classical Learning Algorithms for Grid Integration of Energy Storage and Renewables: Operation, Modelling, and Planning , Bin Huang

Advances in Modern Power Distribution System Planning, Operation, and Market Participation , Yanling Lin

Design and Fabrication of a Low Power 7.2 Terabit Transmitter for Exascale Computing , Scott McWilliams and Scott McWilliams

High Performance Scene Generator for Testing of Imaging Sensors , Austin Modoff

Modeling and Compensating of Noise in Time-of-Flight Sensors , Bryan Rodriguez

On The Integration Of Hydrogen Into Integrated Energy Systems: Reliability Assessment And Optimal Operation And Planning , Tao Wu

SERIES APERTURE COUPLED FED PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA , Guang Yang

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Development and Application of a Design Flow for Photonic Integrated Circuits , Ifeanyi Achu

In Band Full Duplex For Wireless Communication, A Medium Access Control Perspective , Yazeed Alkhrijah

Distribution Network Planning and Operation With Autonomous Agents , Abdulraheem Hassan Alobaidi

High Gain and Wide Bandwidth Dielectric Resonator Antennas Fed by Two Different Excitation Techniques , Khalid Alsirhani

The Transport of Acoustic Energy at Two-Dimensional Material Interfaces , Jesus Bolivar

First Order Enhanced Coupling Strength (ECS) Gratings for Laser-Electro Absorption Modulator (EAM) Transmitters , Freddie Castillo II

Second-Order Enhanced Coupling Strength Grating Out-Couplers for a Monolithic Laser-Electro-Absorption Modulator , Maryam Dezfuli

Distribution Network Operation With Solar Photovoltaic And Energy Storage Technology , Mohammad Ramin Feizi

Enhanced Design for Testability Circuitry for Test , Hui Jiang

An Efficient Integrated Circuit Simulator And Time Domain Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis , Jiahua Li

Advances in Power System Operation and Optimization , You Lin

GoLightly : A GPU Implementation of the Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method , S. David Lively

Empirical Models of 3D Air-to-Air Communication Channels , Neil Matson

Orbital Angular Momentum Orthogonality-Based Crosstalk Reduction: Theory And Experiment , Unaiza Tariq

Closed-Loop Brain-Computer Interfaces for Memory Restoration Using Deep Brain Stimulation , David Xiaoliang Wang

Raman Thermometry Of Graphene Based Thermal Materials , Pengcheng Xu

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Characterization of UAV-based Wireless Channels With Diverse Antenna Configurations , Mahmoud Badi

A 12-bit 1GS/S SAR-Assisted Pipeline ADC with Harmonic Injecting Residue Amplifier , Liang Fang

Three-Dimensional (3D) Memory I/O Interface Design Using Quad-Band Interconnect (QBI) And Eight-Level Pulse Amplitude Modulation (8-PAM) , Xiaoyan Wang

Electricity Market Operations With Massive Renewable Integration: New Designs , Shengfei Yin

Context-Aware Sensing and Fusion for Structural Health Monitoring and Night Time Traffic Surveillance , Xinxiang Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Heuristic-Based Threat Analysis of Register-Transfer-Level Hardware Designs , Wesley Layton Ellington

Learning Deep Architectures for Power Systems Operation and Analysis , Mahdi Khodayar

A 2.56 Gbps Serial Wireline Transceiver that Supports An Auxiliary Channel and A Hybrid Line Driver to Compensate Large Channel Loss , Xiaoran Wang

Machine Learning Applications In Power Systems , Xinan Wang

Design of a Drone-Flight-Enabled Wireless Isolation Chamber , John Wensowitch

On-Chip Nonreciprocal Components for Full-Duplex Communications and Gaussian Regulated Gate Driver for Electromagnetic Interference Reduction , Chang Yang

Model-Based and Data-driven Situational Awareness for Distribution System Monitoring and Control , Ying Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Sparse Transducer Imaging , Sen Bing

Wireless Channel Characterization Based on Crowdsourced Data and Geographical Features , Rita Enami

Wireless Channel Characterization based on Crowdsourced Data and Geographical Features , Rita Enami

High-Speed Successive Approximation Register (SAR) ADC Design with Multiple Concurrent Comparators , Tao Fu

Stochastic Orthogonalization and Its Application to Machine Learning , Yu Hong

Parametric Amplification Study and Applications in Millimeter-Wave Transmitters , Sherry Huang

Reducing the Production Cost of Semiconductor Chips Using (Parallel and Concurrent) Testing and Real-Time Monitoring , Qutaiba Khasawneh

Performance-Aware and Power-Efficient Three Dimensional (3D) Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Utilizing Evolutionary Algorithms , Nahid Mirzaie

Feedback Mechanisms for Centralized and Distributed Mobile Systems , Yan Shi

Technology-dependent Quantum Logic Synthesis and Compilation , Kaitlin Smith

Leveraging Geographical and Spectral Information for Efficient Cellular Systems , Matthew Tonnemacher

Operation and Planning of Data Centers in Electricity Networks , Ali Vafamehr

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Standing-Wave Dielectric Array Antennas , Ayman Althuwayb

High-Performance and Energy Efficient Multi-Band I/O Interface for 3D Stacked Memory , Ahmed Alzahmi

Microgrids: Resilience, Reliability, and Market Structure , Saeed Dehghan Manshadi

Circularly Polarized Two-Dimensional Microstrip Standing-Wave Array Antenna , Yang Fan

Investigation of the effects of harmful radiation on type-II strained layer superlattice focal plane arrays operated in the long wave infrared , Patrick Fumo

Computational Theories For Human Stereo Vision , Han Gao

Enhanced Coupling Strength Gratings for Outcouplers in Optical Waveguides , Ruo-Hua He

A Novel Ultrasound Imaging Technique Using Random Signals , Anahita Khalilzadeh

Indirect Imaging using Heterodyne Remote Digital Holography , Muralidhar Madabhushi Balaji

Linear Phase Multi-Frequency Notch Filter via Quadratic Programming , Yueran Ma

Coordination Operation of Natural Gas and Electricity Network with Line-pack , Junyang Mi

A Comparative Analysis of Integrated Optical Waveguide Isolators with Magneto-Optic Layers , Reyhane Oztekin

Investigating the Effect of Detecting and Mitigating a Ring Oscillator-Based Hardware Trojan , Lakshmi Ramakrishnan

A 56-GS/s 8-Bit Time-Interleaved SAR ADC in 28-nm CMOS , Kexu Sun

Indirect Imaging Using Computational Imaging Techniques , Aparna Viswanath

High-Speed Single-Channel SAR ADC Using Coarse and Fine Comparators with Background Comparator Offset Calibration , Guanhua Wang

Subspace Averaging of Auditory Evoked Potentials , Xiaoliang wang

Accurate Vehicle Detection Using Multi-Camera Data Fusion and Machine Learning , Hao Wu

Using GS/s ADC to Evaluate the EMI of GaN-based Power Devices , Chi Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Design, Fabrication, and Demonstration of Square Holey Dielectric THZ Waveguides , Nafiseh Aflakian

Spatial Division Multiplexing Using Ince-Gaussian Beams , Sahil Sakpal

Securing Database Users from the Threat of SQL Injection Attacks , Nisharg Shah

A Low Power High Speed Mobile Memory I/O Interface Using Reconfigurable Multi-Band Multi-Modulation Signaling , Yue Yu

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• Princeton University Doctoral Dissertations, 2011-2024

Electrical Engineering

Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy

Graduate students who have exhibited a high degree of scholastic proficiency and have given evidence of ability for conducting independent research may consider extending their goals toward the doctorate. The Ph.D. degree is awarded after completing the program of study and research described below, and upon preparation and defense of a dissertation representing an original and significant contribution deemed worthy of publication in a recognized scientific or engineering journal.

Admission to Program

Students entering the doctoral program with a Bachelor’s degree must meet the entrance requirements for the Master’s program in the appropriate area of concentration. Students entering at the Master’s level for the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering program are normally expected to have a Master’s in Electrical Engineering. Generally, admission to these Ph.D. programs is conditional on a student achieving a 3.5 grade point average in prior B.S. and M.S. programs. GRE is required for all applicants.

Thesis Advisor and Academic Advisor

Many factors enter into a student’s choice of an advisor for his/her research. In addition to the scientific, intellectual and personality factors which influence the pairing of student and professor, financial aspects must also be considered. For most full-time students, the ideal situation is to find an advisor who has a research topic of mutual interest, as well as funds available from research grants and contracts which can support the student as a Research Assistant (RA). A prospective student is encouraged to contact faculty members in his/her research area regarding the possibility of advising before applying to the Ph.D. program. A student who joins the Ph.D. program without securing a thesis advisor will be assigned an academic advisor, who will guide the student in terms of course selection and research activities before the qualifying exam. A Ph.D. student candidate must obtain the commitment of a faculty member in the student’s chosen area of major research interest to be the student’s thesis advisor before taking the qualifying exam. Usually, the thesis advisor is a full-time faculty member in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and as such is considered chair of the student’s Guidance Committee. If a student wishes to have someone outside the ECE department to serve as his/her advisor, the student should submit the CV of the person and a letter of commitment from the person to serve as the advisor to the Ph.D. EE Program Director for approval. The thesis advisor must have a Ph.D. degree in the student’s proposed area of research.

Qualifying Examination

A Ph.D. student (referred to as the student below) must pass the Ph.D. qualifying examination before the deadline to continue in the Ph.D. program and register for Ph.D. Dissertation Credits ( ECE-GY 999X   ). The exam is an oral exam with content described below, but the student must have completed certain course and project requirements before taking the oral exam. Results of the exam will be recorded in the student’s transcript as RE-GY 9990.Detailed information about the requirements to be satisfied before taking the qualifying exam including both course requirement, project scope and application process can be found in ECE graduate student manual, available under the ECE department webpage. Results of the exam will be recorded in the student’s transcript as RE-GY 9990 Ph.D. Qualifying Exam   . A. Requirements to be satisfied before taking the oral exam 1) The student must have registered at NYU-Tandon for at least one semester and taken at least 3 graduate-level courses and the student’s cumulative GPA from formal courses (not including M.S. Thesis, independent projects and readings) should be 3.5 or above. 2) The student must have completed at least 2 core courses (See Section on Course Requirement), with GPA over the core courses being 3.5 or above, and each core course earning a grade of B or above. 3) The student must have completed a research project under the supervision of a project advisor. The advisor can be any faculty member associated with ECE department. Notice that an external researcher may serve in this role, subject to approval by the chair of the ECE Graduate Curriculum and Standards Committee (to be referred to as the Graduate Committee subsequently). Examples of the project include, but are not limited to, an in-depth literature review of a certain topic, demonstrating solid understanding of a certain set of papers, or implementation and validation of some algorithms in past literature, or a study based on ideas initiated by the advisor or the student. Publication is not a requirement, but is encouraged if the student and the advisor find the contributions by the student worthy of publication. The project advisor should ensure that the project topic is appropriate for evaluating the student’s potential for Ph.D. research. It is the student’s responsibility to identify and secure a project advisor. 4) The student should have secured an ECE faculty member (or an external member approved by the Chair of the Graduate Committee) prior to taking the qualify exam, who will serve as the student’s Ph.D. advisor if the student passes the oral exam. The project advisor does not have to be the Ph.D. advisor. The prospective Ph.D. advisor is not obligated to provide financial support for the candidate. The advisor’s letter of support must state a commitment of advising should the student pass the exam. It may also contain a narrative summarizing student’s progress in the program. B. Oral exam 1) The oral exam committee should include the prospective Ph.D. advisor, and three other faculty members chosen by the student in consultation with the Ph.D. advisor. The committee should have at least three Tandon ECE tenure or tenure track (T/TT) faculty (including advisor), the fourth one can be a faculty member or an industry/research professor (with Ph.D. in ECE. or a related area) from NYUAD, NYUSH, or any other NYU department. At most one member can attend the exam remotely if the member is at NYUAD or NYUSH. The student is responsible to secure the committee members to attend the oral exam and identify a time at which all committee members can attend. The exam should be scheduled for 1.5 hours to allow sufficient time for questions and answers and final discussion among the committee members. Once the schedule is fixed, the advisor should announce the exam to all ECE faculty and invite them to attend the exam. 2) A student must send in an official application, along with other required material, for taking the oral exam to the Ph.D. EE qualifying exam coordinator, at least two weeks before the target date of the oral exam. The application form can be downloaded from: http://engineering.nyu.edu/academics/departments/electrical/students/student-resources. The student must be registered for RE-GY 9990 at the time of the application. This zero-credit course is used for recording the exam results and follows the standard add/drop deadlines. A permission code for RE-GY should be requested from Prof. XK Chen with a copy to the student’s advisor. 3) The student must submit a written project report to the exam committee at least one week before the exam date. The written report should be self-contained, and follows the standard format of a conference paper. It is recommended that the report size is between 4 - 6 pages in double column, font size 11. 4) During the exam, the student should give a 30-minute project presentation, followed by questions from the committee members, which should cover both the topic areas of the project and the foundational knowledge in the student’s chosen research area. Each committee member (excluding the advisor) is expected to engage in about 15 minutes of questions and answers with the student, with a total of 45 minutes for questions and answers. The student may ask each committee member about from which area will the faculty member ask fundamental questions, although the faculty member is not obliged to provide a detailed answer. 5) The committee will provide a written evaluation of the student’s potential for Ph.D. research to the department. The committee members can seek input from the prospective Ph.D. advisor when making such evaluation, but the advisor is excluded from participating in voting and writing the evaluation report. The evaluation criteria can be found from the evaluation form posted here: http://engineering.nyu.edu/academics/departments/electrical/student-resources 6) The ECE department will make the final decision of pass or fail based on the exam committee’s recommendation. If the student and advisor intent is to take the dissertation credits ECE-GY 999X during the same term as the RE-GY 9990 qualifying exam, the exam committee’s recommendation must reach the Ph.D. qualifying exam coordinator at least a week in advance of the add/drop deadline for that term. 7) Result (Pass or fail) of the qualifying exam (RE-GY 9990) will be recorded in the student’s transcript. 8) The student should prepare the report and the presentation independently, without the help from his/her advisor. 9) If a student wants to present a work described in a published, accepted or submitted paper of which the student is not the sole author, the student should submit a short report (2 pages) that is an extensive summary of the work, or a literature survey of the area, and his/her future work, written by the student only, to be submitted along with the paper. 10) The student can present a work that has been presented at a conference, but the presentation should be modified as necessary to fit the qualifying exam oral presentation time limit and provide sufficient background material. The modification should be done by the student independently, without the help of the advisor. C. Time Limit and Timelines of the First and Repeat Oral Exams 1) Qualifying Exam Limit: It is important to note that students must pass the qualifying exam within 2 years of starting the Ph.D. program or they can be dismissed from the Ph.D. program. The 2 years is “academic years,” i.e., fall/spring, fall/spring. In other words, the summer after the 2nd year is not included. 2) First Exam: For students (both full-time and part-time) who started the Ph.D. program with prior M.S. degree in electrical engineering or a related area, the first oral exam should be taken no later than one year after starting in the Ph.D. program. For students (both full-time and part-time) who started the Ph.D. program without a prior M.S. degree, the first oral exam can be taken either in the first year or the second year but the max of 2 years to pass the qualify still applies. If a student does not meet the requirement for taking the exam by this deadline, the student might be disqualified from the program. 3) Repeat Oral Exam and Disqualification: Students who failed the first oral exam but otherwise successfully meet the requirement for taking the oral exam can repeat the exam at most once, which should be completed within one year after the first exam. Students who fail to pass the repeat exam will be disqualified from the program. 4) Scheduling of First Exam and Repeat Exam: The first or repeat oral exam should be scheduled before a semester starts so that the student will be informed of the exam result on time for his or her course planning. A student who needs to repeat the qualify exam cannot repeat the exam in the same semester and must wait at least three months from the time when the first exam was taken. 5) More on the Repeat Exam: When a student is found to be deficient only in one part of the exam (e.g. written report, presentation of the project, answering fundamental questions), the student may be asked to repeat just that part of the exam. The repeat of a portion of the exam is treated the same as the repeat of the qualifying exam and is subject to the same deadline.

Course Requirements

1) Core Courses: A student, in consultation with and upon approval by the Ph.D. advisor, should choose at least 4 ECE-GY courses (12 credits) among courses with numbers ECE-GY 6xxx, ECE-GY 7xxx, ECE-GY 8xxx, as their core courses. Transferred courses cannot be used to satisfy the core course requirement. To graduate, each course must have a grade of B or above and the average grade of the four courses must be 3.5 or above. The student must have completed at least 2 such courses with the average grade of taken courses being 3.5 or above, before taking the oral qualifying exam. The remaining core courses must be completed before graduation. The list of core courses a student (with a prior M.S. degree) will register for must be approved by his or her Ph.D. advisor. 2) ECE-GY courses: A student must choose at least 24 credits of ECE-GY courses, including the core courses. The robotics courses (ROB-GY) listed below may count as ECE-GY courses. This requirement can be satisfied by the 30 credits transferred from a prior M.S. degree in electrical engineering or computer engineering.

The following robotics courses count as ECE-GY prefixed courses:

• ROB-GY 6003    Foundations of Robotics
• ROB-GY 6213    Robot Localization and Navigation
• ROB-GY 6323    Reinforcement Learning and Optimal Control for Robotics
• ROB-GY 6333    Swarm Robotics
• ROB-GY 6423    Interactive Medical Robotics

3) Non-ECE Courses: A student must choose at least 2 non-ECE graduate-level courses (6 credits or more) that are in either Science or Engineering discipline. These courses should be chosen from areas that are distinct and yet consonant with the student’s research area. Please note the courses in management cannot be counted towards this requirement. Courses taken at other schools of NYU will be counted towards this requirement provided that the Ph.D. advisor approves them. Transferred courses taken at other accredited graduate programs are subject to approval by the Ph.D. EE program director. 4) Other courses: The degree requires a total of 75 credits with at least 21 Ph.D. dissertation credits taken at Tandon. A student must take a minimum of 42 credits in formal courses (as distinct from “independent study” credits such as reading, project or thesis), with a minimum of 24 course credits in ECE-GY courses. The student has freedom in choosing courses, provided that he or she satisfies the requirements specified in 1), 2) and 3). The student should consult with his/her Ph.D. advisor or academic advisor in devising a course plan as early as possible so that the course work covers sufficient depth for the student’s chosen area of research and related field, as well as sufficient breadth. Note that credits from CS-GY 5000-level courses cannot be counted towards Ph.D. EE degree. 5) GPA requirement: As with all the graduate programs at NYU-Tandon, a student must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or above among all courses taken at NYU. A student with GPA below 3.0 has up to two semesters on probation. If at the end of the second semester on probation, the GPA is still below 3.0, the student will be disqualified from the program. The Ph.D. EE program further requires that a student must have a GPA of 3.5 or above among all formal courses (not including dissertation or other independent studies) taken at NYU to graduate, in addition to the GPA requirement for the core courses as specified in Item 1). 6) Internships: International students must register for an internship course to do an internship. Up to 6 credits of approved internships for Ph.D. ( CP-GY 9941   , CP-GY 9951   , CP-GY 9961   ,  CP-GY 9971   , 1.5 credits each) can be applied towards the 75 credits Ph.D. degree requirement, and in particular, the ECE-GY course requirement as specified in Item 2) above. These credits can be part of the 45 credits beyond the 30 credits of a prior M.S. degree, which may include up to 3 credits of approved internships for M.S. ( CP-GY 9911   , CP-GY 9921   ). For an internship to be approved for credits, the internship must provide training relevant to the student’s research area. All internship must be approved and supervised by the student’s Ph.D. advisor. The internship supervisor should submit a midterm and a final term evaluation report to the Ph.D. advisor. The student must submit a project report to the advisor upon completion of the internship for the evaluation and grading of the internship course.

Transfer Credits

For Ph.D. students with a prior M.S. degree, they are allowed to transfer up to 36 credits, of which 30 credits must be from their prior M.S. degree in ECE or a closely related field. For Ph.D. students admitted without a prior M.S. degree, they can transfer at most 6 credits. For the blanket transfer of 30 credits from a prior M.S. degree in ECE or a closely related field toward the Ph.D. degree in EE, the student must provide a copy of his or her prior M.S. degree and the official academic transcripts. For individual course transfer, the student must provide an official transcript in a sealed envelope as well as catalog descriptions of the courses to be transferred, for evaluation and approval by the department graduate advisor. The official transcript and/or diploma submitted during the student’s admission process can be used in place of new submission. Graduate courses taken at other schools of NYU or taken as an undergraduate student at NYU Tandon School of Engineering are exempt from this policy, but are subject to the general polity of the Tandon School of Engineering regarding such courses. This policy is effective for students entering in Spring 2018 and later.

Guidance Committee

On passing the qualifying examination, the student should consult with his or her thesis advisor to identify additional members and form a guidance committee. The committee should be composed of at least three members with the thesis advisor usually acting as Chairperson. If the dissertation advisor is not a tenured or tenure track (T/TT) Tandon faculty member of the Department, then a T/TT Tandon faculty member of the Department in the student’s research area must be invited to serve as the Committee Chair. The committee should include at least two ECE T/TT faculty (including the advisor, and the NYUAD and NYUSH T/TT faculty), and may include at most two external members from outside the Department who are in the student’s area of major research interest. The student must submit the names of the members of his or her Guidance Committee to the Office of Graduate Studies with a copy to the ECE Graduate Office within 6 months of passing the qualifying exam. The Guidance Committee conducts the area examination and thesis defense, and approves the final thesis. The Guidance Committee appointment form can be obtained from the Office of Graduate Studies.

Area Examination

In the area exam, the student reviews the prior research in the student’s chosen dissertation topic and presents preliminary research results and additional research plan. The area exam is conducted by the Guidance Committee, but may be open to other interested faculty and students. The Guidance Committee attends and evaluates the student’s performance and determines whether the student demonstrates the depth of knowledge and understanding necessary to carry out research in the chosen area. Results of the exam will be recorded in the student’s transcript as ECE-GY 9980. The student must submit a written report that summarizes prior research and the future plan at least one week before the scheduled exam time. The report should follow the Ph.D. dissertation template and be at least 25 pages long. The student must take and pass the area exam within 2 years after passing the Ph.D. qualifying exam. Students who fail to pass the exam by the deadline will be disqualified from the program. The area exam evaluation form provides further details on the evaluation criterion for passing, and can be downloaded from: http://engineering.nyu.edu/academics/departments/electrical/student-resources

Registration for Ph.D. Dissertation Credits

After passing the qualifying exams, and with the agreement of the Thesis Advisor, the Ph.D. candidate may begin registration for dissertation credits ECE-GY 999X. (The student’s failure to abide by this rule may result in loss of credit for the dissertation registration.) A student must register at least 3 credits for ECE-GY 999X each semester. A minimum of 21 credits is required for the Ph.D. degree. The student must register for thesis continuously, every Fall and Spring semester, unless a Leave of Absence has been granted by the Office of Graduate Studies.

Submission of the Thesis and Thesis Defense

Upon completion of the doctoral dissertation, the candidate undergoes an oral thesis defense. The defense is conducted by the Guidance Committee, but is open to all members of the ECE faculty and other invited people. The student must submit a complete draft of the dissertation to the Guidance Committee members at least one week before the scheduled defense. The student should consult the Office of Graduate Studies regarding how to submit, reproduce and bind the final manuscript.

Seminar Attendance Requirement

Ph.D. students are required to register for a 0-credit Research Seminar course (ECE-GY 9900) for at least 4 semesters. Satisfactory grade is given only if the student attends more than 2/3 of the seminars offered in a semester. Part-time students who have difficulty attending the seminar because of work conflict may be exempted from this requirement upon approval of the Ph.D. EE program director. The student should submit the approval note when applying for graduation.

Publication Requirement

To be granted the Ph.D. degree, a Ph.D. candidate must either have a peer-reviewed journal paper (accepted or published), or have at least one paper under review by a peer-reviewed journal on the thesis research subject. For the journal paper(s), a letter of acceptance by a journal, or a letter of submission to a peer-reviewed journal along with acknowledgment of its receipt by the journal, will constitute the required evidence. If there is no accepted/published journal paper, the student should have at least one accepted conference paper that appeared in the proceedings of a peer-reviewed conference.

Requirements for Students Entered Before Fall 2014

Students who entered before Fall 2014 can either follow the requirements described above, or the requirement effective at the time of matriculation. The requirements posted in the NYU-Tandon catalog as of Sept. 2013 differ from the new requirements in the following aspects. For a complete description, please consult the ECE Graduate Student Manual published in Spring 2013. Course and Thesis Requirements: A minimum of 75 credits of academic work beyond the bachelor’s degree, including a minimum of 21 credits of NYU-Tandon dissertation research, is required. A minimum of 42 credits in formal courses (as distinct from independent study credits such as reading, project or thesis) are required. A student entering with a M.S. from a reputable graduate program may transfer 30 credits. Ph.D. students are required to take a minimum of 9 credits of courses in a minor area outside of electrical engineering. The minor must be taken in an area that is both distinct from and yet consonant with the student’s major study area. Students work with thesis advisers to develop their major study program. The major program should constitute a coherent, in-depth study of the most advanced knowledge in the student’s area of concentration. Publication Requirement: To be granted the Ph.D. degree, a Ph.D. candidate must have at least one accepted or submitted journal paper on the thesis-research subject. Transfer credits: For Ph.D. students entered before Spring 2015, the following policy as stated in the NYU-Tandon catalog as of Sept. 2013 are applicable: Doctoral candidates may transfer a maximum of 48 credits, including a 30-credit blanket transfer from a prior M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field, and additional courses in Science and Engineering not included in the prior MS that are individually transferred. For the blanket 30-credit transfer, the prior M.S. need not be a 30-credit M.S., so long as an M.S. degree (or equivalent) was granted, and a copy of the degree and detailed transcripts are presented. Additional courses individually transferred cannot include project, thesis, dissertation, guided studies or readings, or special topics credits. Applications for transfer credits must be submitted for consideration before the end of the first semester of matriculation. The student’s major academic department evaluates graduate transfer credits, but no courses with grades less than B will be considered. Ph.D. Time Limits: The Ph.D. time clock begins at the time of enrollment in the Ph.D. program. Full-time Ph.D. students who have completed an M.S. degree or who transfer 24 or more graduate credits towards their Ph.D. degree must complete their Ph.D. degree requirements within six years from the beginning of their Ph.D. studies. Full-time Ph.D. students who transfer in or have completed fewer than 24 credits when they begin their Ph.D. studies have a maximum of seven years to complete their Ph.D. Part-time Ph.D. students must complete their Ph.D. degree requirements within nine years from the beginning of their Ph.D. studies. Approved leave of absence will stop the time clock.

Graduate Manual:

For further information, please refer to the graduate manual, which can be found on the student resources page:  https://engineering.nyu.edu/academics/departments/electrical-and-computer-engineering/student-resources

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Electrical Engineering PhD Handbook

The PhD Program requires advanced coursework and research in preparation of a thesis defense in our modern areas of interdisciplinary research.

Overview of Electrical Engineering PhD Requirements

This schedule summarizes the requirements and due dates for the Ph.D. degree. Students who have not completed requirements or submitted required forms to the Graduate Coordinator by the due dates may be dropped from the program. All students who are on visas must be registered for at least nine credit hours of coursework in every semester (excluding summer), including their final semester, unless they receive permission from the Department Graduate Committee prior to the beginning of the semester.

*Please note that international students must be full-time students.

Program of Study - Coursework Requirements and Criteria

Program of Study

A student must complete and submit the Program of Study Form before the beginning of the 3rd semester and before taking the Qualifying Exam and the Comprehensive Exam (dissertation proposal).  After it is approved by the student’s Supervisory Committee and the Director of Graduate Studies it will be submitted to the Graduate School for approval.

Modifications to the Program of Study may be made by submitting an Amendment to Program of Study Form for approval prior to registering for added courses with the supervisory committee and obtaining required approval before enrollment in any added courses. Completed courses cannot be removed from the program of study. Credit towards obtaining a degree will not be granted for classes taken prior to approval of the form, unless the student is changing degree status.

Requirements

All requirements for the degree (coursework, qualifying exam, proposal defense, dissertation defense and completion of dissertation, etc.) are to be completed within 7 consecutive years. Semesters where the student takes a formal leave of absence do NOT count as part of the 7 years. Coursework listed on the Program of Study must consist of:

• 2 hours of Graduate Seminar (ECE 7900 & 7910) . For students with an MS degree from the University of Utah ECE 6900 and 6910 is acceptable.  New Ph.D. students are required to enroll in ECE 7900 during the first semester.
• 2+ credit hours of ECE 7951 Teaching Mentorship course. This is a new requirement for all Ph.D. students starting in Fall 2022.  Students admitted to the Ph.D. program prior to Fall 2022 are not required to enroll in this course, although it is strongly encouraged. It is suggested to be completed during the 2nd year of studies after the graduate seminar courses have been completed.
• 14+ semester hours of ECE 7970 Thesis Research
• Allied fields include Computer Science, Math, Physics, or other College of Engineering courses.
• ECE 7970 Thesis Research will not count towards this requirement.

*Ph.D. students may take up to three semester hours of ECE 7950 (Special Studies) which will count toward the required 12 coursework hours. If a student has taken three hours of Special Studies for their Master’s degree, they may not take more hours of Special Studies for their Ph.D. degree. Special Studies courses from other departments cannot be used for the program of study.

Additional Criteria

• A minimum GPA of 3.0 on coursework listed on the program of study with no grade lower than C- is required for graduation. A student who receives a grade lower than C- in a course listed on the program of study must repeat that same course and receive a higher grade. Courses cannot be deleted from the program of study after they are taken.
• Students who receive an “Incomplete” grade in a class must complete the class by the following semester, even if the semester is the summer semester.
• Coursework cannot be used for more than one degree on the same level.
• Cross-listed courses must be registered through the ECE course numbers.
• Where a course has both a 5000- and 6000-level number, the 5000-level version is intended for undergraduates and the 6000-level version for honors and graduate students. The two versions of the class will meet together, but extra work will be expected of honors and graduate students.
• No Graduate Seminar course (ECE 6900, 6910, 7900, 7910) may be taken more than once to satisfy the requirement. Each seminar course has different requirements and may not be substituted for each other.

All students who are on visas must be registered for at least 9 credit hours of coursework in every semester (excluding summer) unless they receive permission from the Department Graduate Committee prior to the beginning of the semester.

Supervisory Committee

Each student forms a supervisory committee with members who will guide the student’s graduate program and conduct the student examinations (Qualifying Exam, Research Comprehensive Exam, and Final Oral Exam). The Ph.D. supervisory committee consists of five members – at least three of the committee members must be tenure-line ECE faculty members, and at least one must be from outside the ECE Department.

A student must form their committee by their second semester of study by completing the Request for Supervisory Committee Form . A committee may be revised, if necessary, by submitting an Amendment to Supervisory Committee Form .

Committee Member Criteria

A student’s Ph.D. faculty advisor is the committee chair. The chair* and majority of the committee (3 out of 5 committee members) need to be:

• University of Utah Faculty
• Electrical and Computer Engineering (as Academic Home Department)
• Tenure-Line**

A list of faculty and their classifications can be verified on the OBIA Faculty Information page . If a committee member does not meet all three of these requirements, they are considered an Outside Committee Member. A PhD Supervisory Committee is required to have at least one Outside Committee Member. If one of the committee members is not University of Utah faculty, the student must request and submit their Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a Justification Letter for approval by the Graduate Committee. For more information, read Rules for Outside Member Necessities .

Any exceptions to these criteria must be submitted as a petition and are not guaranteed approval by the Dean of the Graduate School.

*Tenure-line faculty outside of the ECE Department may supervise a student as a co-chair with a tenure-line ECE faculty member. **Adjunct ECE faculty are not tenure-line and may serve as an Outside Committee Member

Examinations Overview

Ph.D. have three exams that they must pass to be awarded the degree:

Qualifying Exam

• Research Comprehensive Exam (Dissertation Proposal)

Final Oral Exam (Dissertation Defense)

Students must be registered for at least 3 credit hours in the semester in which they take an exam. The Final Oral Exam must be done at least 2 semesters after the Research Comprehensive Exam.

All Ph.D. students must pass a Qualifying Exam, as specified by the Graduate School. The Qualifying Exam consists of a written part and a possible oral part. Students must take the Qualifying Exam during the second semester of study.

The ECE graduate committee has recently approved a new procedure in administering the ECE PhD qualifying exam. Students who plan to complete Qual. exam in the Fall 2021 semester will have a choice to follow the previous version of the EE track procedure or this new procedure described below:

Before the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination, the student’s supervisory committee will meet (whenever possible) to discuss the Ph.D. candidate, their area of research, and to set the exam questions. The exam should consist of 3 to 5 questions that test the candidate’s breadth of ECE knowledge as it pertains to the candidate’s likely area of research. Questions may require the candidate to review a paper, but they are not restricted to this form. The Qualifying Exam may consist of a written part and an oral part. Students must take the written part of the Qualifying Examination no later than their third semester of study while the oral part may at the discretion of the supervisory committee be delayed to be part of the dissertation proposal defense.

Students who want to complete the Qualifying exam should complete the following steps.

• Organize your 5 member PhD Supervisory Committee (4 ECE Tenure Line Faculty, 1 Outside Dept. members).
• Inform the Graduate Coordinator that you would like to start the Qualifying Exam process by the 3rd week of the semester.
• The Graduate Coordinator will email the committee requesting to select the 3 to 5 questions appropriate for a PhD Qualifying Exam.
• The chair of the PhD Supervisory Committee may organize a meeting in person or via Zoom with the committee member to select the exam questions.  It is acceptable that questions may be submitted by email to the committee chair for review.
• The chair of the PhD Committee forwards the exam questions to the student and sets a 5-week deadline, the student is expected to email the entire committee their Qualifying Exam answers to the questions by the 5-week deadline.  Request for an extension is discouraged because it demonstrates a lack of planning and judgment that is essential for success in a PhD program.  Exceptions are rare, however, they may be approved by the PhD Committee supervisory on a case by case basis.
• Once the student submits the exam, please allow up to 2 weeks for the committee to evaluate the Qualifying Exam.  The Chair notifies the student of the recommendation of the committee, to pass, fail or retry.  Students may be allowed one chance to revised their original submission. The oral part of the exam is at the discretion of the supervisory committee and be delayed to be part of the dissertation proposal defense.
• The Committee chair notifies the Graduate Coordinator when the Qualifying Exam is passed and the committee submits the approval paperwork which is to be processed in the Graduate Records system immediately.

It is the student’s responsibility to follow up with the committee and the PhD Supervisor to ensure that the steps described above are followed according to the timeline described above before the last day of the semester.

Research Comprehensive Examination (Dissertation Proposal)

Ph.D. candidates must take a Research Comprehensive Examination (dissertation proposal) to be administered by their supervisory committee at a time determined by that committee, but no later than the fifth semester of study.

The candidate writes a proposal on their research in the NSF or NIH format which would include only the technical proposal and the vita sections. The page limit for the proposal should be 15 pages for Ph.D. students.

The choice of which format to use would be based on the area of research. The faculty advisor would help the student choose. The following are the links to the NSF and NIH websites for their format information.

• NSF Preparing your Proposal
• NSF Grant Proposal Guide

This proposal should be submitted to the members of the candidate’s supervisory committee at least two weeks before the comprehensive exam.

Students must notify the ECE Graduate Coordinator at least one week before they are going to take the Research Comprehensive Examination.  Based upon the written report and oral discussion, the committee will recommend Pass, Fail, or Retry. In the event of a Retry, the candidate must repeat the process the following semester, even if that semester is summer. Only one Retry will be allowed. No retries will be allowed if a candidate fails the Research Comprehensive Exam.

The Final Oral Examination (oral dissertation defense) is conducted by the supervisory committee according to Graduate School regulations. A student will be passed only if the committee is satisfied that the dissertation research and documentation are unquestionably of the quality that will bring distinction to the candidate and the department. The committee may request further work of the candidate before a final decision is made.

All students must understand that they are responsible for ensuring that the submitted dissertation meets the requirements of the Graduate School for proper format. Ample help is available from the Graduate School Thesis and Dissertation Editor in the form of a Style and Format Guide as well as seminars. Dissertations with improper format will be rejected.

The student must provide the Graduate Coordinator with the following information at least one week before the date of the dissertation defense: the defense date and time, room, and a copy of the abstract and title of the dissertation. The Final Oral Exam (Dissertation Defense) form will be completed during the defense, and the Graduate Coordinator will submit the form to the Graduate School.

Dissertation Requirements

The supervisory committee must give preliminary approval of the dissertation prior to the defense. The defense can be scheduled after this approval. The student must provide one copy of the dissertation to the chair of the supervisory committee at least three weeks before the defense, and one copy to each of the other committee members at least two weeks prior to the defense.

After successfully defending the dissertation, the student must upload the final version of their dissertation to the Graduate School. You will be required to know the UNIDs of each of your faculty members. If you do not have these, you can contact the Graduate Coordinator .

Detailed policies and procedures concerning the dissertation are contained in A Handbook for Theses and Dissertations published by the Graduate School.

PhD Required Forms

Request for PhD Supervisory Committee Program of Study – PhD Research Comprehensive Exam Form (Dissertation Proposal) Final Oral Exam Form (Dissertation Defense) Application for Graduation

Additional Forms

Amendment to Supervisory Committee Amendment to Program of Study Milestone Masters Application Proficiency Requirements Form

General University Forms

Transfer Graduate Credit Form Non-Matriculated Credit Hours Form

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Overview of the PhD Program

For specific information on the Electrical Engineering PhD program, see the navigation links to the right. 

What follows on this page is an overview of all Ph.D. programs at the School; additional information and guidance can be found on the  Graduate Policies  pages. 

General Ph.D. Requirements

• 10 semester-long graduate courses, including at least 8 disciplinary.   At least 5 of the 10 should be graduate-level SEAS "technical" courses (or FAS graduate-level technical courses taught by SEAS faculty), not including seminar/reading/project courses.  Undergraduate-level courses cannot be used.  For details on course requirements, see the school's overall PhD course requirements  and the individual program pages linked therein.
• Program Plan (i.e., the set of courses to be used towards the degree) approval by the  Committee on Higher Degrees  (CHD).
• Minimum full-time academic residency of two years .
• Serve as a Teaching Fellow (TF) in one semester of the second year.
• Oral Qualifying Examination Preparation in the major field is evaluated in an oral examination by a qualifying committee. The examination has the dual purpose of verifying the adequacy of the student's preparation for undertaking research in a chosen field and of assessing the student's ability to synthesize knowledge already acquired. For details on arranging your Qualifying Exam, see the exam policies and the individual program pages linked therein.
• Committee Meetings : PhD students' research committees meet according to the guidelines in each area's "Committee Meetings" listing.  For details see the "G3+ Committee Meetings" section of the Policies of the CHD  and the individual program pages linked therein.
• Final Oral Examination (Defense) This public examination devoted to the field of the dissertation is conducted by the student's research committee. It includes, but is not restricted to, a defense of the dissertation itself.  For details of arranging your final oral exam see the  Ph.D. Timeline  page.
• Dissertation Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination, a committee chaired by the research supervisor is constituted to oversee the dissertation research. The dissertation must, in the judgment of the research committee, meet the standards of significant and original research.

Optional additions to the Ph.D. program

Harvard PhD students may choose to pursue these additional aspects:

• a Secondary Field (which is similar to a "minor" subject area).  SEAS offers PhD Secondary Field programs in  Data Science and in  Computational Science and Engineering .   GSAS  lists  secondary fields offered by other programs.
• a Master of Science (S.M.) degree conferred  en route to the Ph.D in one of several of SEAS's subject areas.  For details see here .
• a Teaching Certificate awarded by the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning .

SEAS PhD students may apply to participate in the  Health Sciences and Technology graduate program  with Harvard Medical School and MIT.  Please check with the HST program for details on eligibility (e.g., only students in their G1 year may apply) and the application process.

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2023-24 General Bulletin

Electrical Engineering, PhD

Degree:  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Field of Study:  Electrical Engineering

Requirements for admission include a strong record of scholarship in a completed bachelor's degree program in a field of engineering, mathematical or physical sciences, and fluency in written and spoken English. The University requires all foreign applicants to show English proficiency by achieving a TOEFL score of at least 577 on the paper-based exam or 90 on the internet-based exam. Submission of GRE scores for graduate applications is NOT required. Applications from students with a bachelor's degree in fields other than those listed above may be granted admission on a provisional basis. Such provisional students may be advanced to full standing upon completion of prerequisite conditions stipulated in the letter of admission.

Registration

Course registration is performed through the Student Information System (SIS). Each semester before registration, students should update any personal information that may have changed by logging into SIS and editing the appropriate information. All registration holds must be lifted in order to successfully complete the registration process.

Upon admission to the graduate program, each graduate student is assigned an academic advisor to assist in registration as well as planning a program of study (Academic Program). This is a temporary assignment made by the Department Chairperson based on the student's academic and research interests as identified at the time of application. 

During the first two semesters in the program, it is strongly suggested that each student meet with various members of faculty to discuss academic objectives/goals and research opportunities. In order to complete the research component of their respective degree program, each student must identify a faculty member who is willing to serve as the student's research advisor. The research advisor will also serve as the student’s permanent academic advisor if they are a primary member of the department faculty. If, however, the research advisor is not a primary member of the department faculty, the student is required to find a permanent academic advisor from the department faculty. For students enrolled in the PhD program, the research advisor is commonly known as the “dissertation” advisor.

Each student is required to file an Academic Program, which must be approved by the student's advisor and the Department Chairperson, and submitted to the Dean of Graduate Studies. Full-time PhD students should choose a research advisor and file an Academic Program before taking the qualifier but no later than the beginning of the third semester. Upon passing the qualifier, full-time PhD students will be required to assemble the dissertation guidance committee, prepare a dissertation proposal, and present this proposal to the committee for their approval. This process should be completed within one semester of passing the PhD qualifier.

The student shall be responsible for forming a dissertation guidance committee of at least four members, which shall consist of the student's academic advisor and additional faculty members recommended by the advisor. For the PhD program, the minimum number of additional faculty members on the dissertation guidance committee is three, and at least two of the committee members must be within the ECSE program areas (Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Systems and Control Engineering). The chairperson of the dissertation guidance committee is normally the candidate's research advisor. 

Students may change advisors for a variety of reasons of which one of the most common is a change of the student's field of interest.  It should be noted that a change in research advisor may require that the student start a new research project, which could result in delaying graduation.  It is the responsibility of the student to inform the ECSE Office of Student Affairs in the event of a change in advisor.

Any decision by an academic advisor, dissertation guidance committee or Department Associate Chairperson may be appealed, in writing, to the Department Associate Chairperson who shall present the appeal, with their recommendations, to the faculty at its next regular faculty meeting. The faculty's decision shall be final.

PhD Degree Program Requirements

In order to successfully complete the PhD Degree Program, a student must satisfy the following requirements:

• Fulfill all PhD course requirements in the chosen major area (see individual degree requirements below)
• Have an approved Program of Study and complete the CWRU courses in the approved Program of Study with a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or greater
• Successfully complete the PhD Qualifying Examination
• Successfully complete the PhD Proposal Defense
• Successfully complete and defend the PhD Dissertation
• Fulfill the PhD residency requirement

PhD Candidacy

The final consideration of whether to admit the student to PhD candidacy will be taken by the PhD Qualifying Committee after the student has passed the PhD Qualifier. A written report on the results of the qualifier and PhD candidacy will be prepared by the committee and submitted to the Department Chairperson, who, in turn, will notify the School of Graduate Studies of the results.

PhD Proposal

After passing the Qualifier and being admitted to PhD candidacy, the PhD candidate is required to pass a Dissertation Proposal Exam on a timely basis, generally within one semester after being admitted to candidacy. This exam shall be administered by the student's dissertation guidance committee and consists of a written dissertation proposal and an oral presentation of the proposed dissertation research. As part of the oral presentation, the student will be expected to answer questions covering the proposed research as well as questions on related topics as deemed appropriate by the student's dissertation guidance committee. The written dissertation proposal must be received by the committee members at least ten days before the date scheduled for the oral exam and presentation. The Dissertation Proposal Exam, the PhD research, the final oral dissertation defense, and all other requirements in the student's PhD program of study must be completed within five years after the student is admitted to PhD candidacy.

The PhD Oral Defense

The student shall provide an announcement containing a title, abstract, date, time and location of the defense to the ECSE Office of Student Affairs for general distribution at least 10 days in advance of the thesis defense.

The PhD Residency Requirements

All PhD students shall fulfill the PhD residency requirements set forth by the Case School of Engineering and the  School of Graduate Studies . Specifically, the PhD student is required either to register for at least 9 credit hours during each of two consecutive semesters or to engage in academic work (taking courses, assisting in course development and/or teaching, fully engaging in research, or some other scholarly activities) in at least six consecutive terms (fall, spring, or summer) between matriculation and a period not exceeding five years after the first credited hour of  ECSE 701 . The period during a leave of absence cannot be counted to fulfill the residency requirement.

PhD Policies

For PhD policies and procedures, please review the School of Graduate Studies section of the General Bulletin .

Program Requirements

Course requirements and academic program.

Each Electrical Engineering PhD student is required to have an Academic Program, approved by the academic advisor, Department Chairperson, and Dean of Graduate Studies, that includes a minimum of 36 credit hours of coursework beyond the BS degree. At least 18 credit hours of coursework must be taken at CWRU. In addition, the student is also required to complete a minimum of 18 credit hours of  ECSE 701 Dissertation Ph.D.  to fulfill the requirement for PhD-level research. Acceptable courses include suitable CWRU courses at the 400 level or higher and approved graduate-level courses taken at other institutions. Students holding an MS degree in an appropriate field of study from CWRU or another degree-granting institution may apply up to 18 credit hours of coursework completed for their MS degree towards the aforementioned 36 credit hour requirement.

Each PhD student is required to have a fully-approved Academic Program before taking the PhD Qualifying examination and before registering for the final 18 credit hours of the program. The Academic Program shall be prepared by the student and approved by the research advisor or the permanent academic advisor in the case where the research advisor is not in the Department.

An Academic Program must meet the following requirements:

• A minimum of two courses in mathematics, statistics, or basic science.
• At least six approved courses from the student's major area of study. At least 4 of these courses must be from within the ECSE department.
• Four additional courses that are not listed under the student's major program area. These courses should satisfy the requirement for breadth in the student's program of study.
• A minimum of 18 hours of PhD Dissertation research as noted by enrollment in and successful completion of  ECSE 701 Dissertation Ph.D.
• Successful completion of  ECSE 400T Graduate Teaching I ,  ECSE 500T Graduate Teaching II  and  ECSE 600T Graduate Teaching III .
• Successful completion of the  ECSE 500 ECSE Colloquium  requirement (see below)

The above represents the minimum course requirements beyond the BS degree. The total number of 3 credit hour courses in the Academic Program is at least twelve (12) beyond the BS level. The selection of these courses should be done with guidance from the student's permanent academic advisor. Any additional courses may be in any one of the above categories as approved by the student's advisor.

ECSE Colloquium and Presentation Requirement

The PhD program includes a colloquium and public presentation requirement.  

• All PhD students are required to register for and pass  ECSE 500 ECSE Colloquium  for a total of  three semesters  of the PhD Program, and this is expected before Advancement to Candidacy. This is a 0 credit hour required course.  Students, such as part-time students working in industry, may propose an alternative arrangement for fulfilling this requirement, by submitting a written petition to the Graduate Studies Committee.
• All PhD students must give  a public presentation  of their research, in addition to their PhD dissertation defense.  This presentation must be given either at a research conference, in the  ECSE  seminar series, workshop presentations or similar presentations in a public venue. MS thesis and PhD dissertation defenses cannot be used to fulfill the public presentation requirement.

Additional details and the associated forms can be acquired from the ECSE Office of Student Affairs. 

PhD Qualifying Examination

A student shall be admitted to PhD candidacy only after they have passed the PhD Qualifying Examination. The Qualifying Exam is intended to test the students' knowledge in the student's chosen major program area of Electrical Engineering. The objectives of the exam are:

• To assess the PhD student's understanding of the fundamental concepts in Electrical Engineering as embodied in the respective graduate curriculum.
• To ensure that the student have the ability to pursue PhD level research, and have mastered the graduate level coursework necessary to succeed as researchers

Full-time PhD students are recommended to take the PhD qualifier before the beginning of their third semester of full-time (or equivalent) enrollment, and must pass the exam within two years of being admitted to the program. For part-time students, the Qualifying Exam must be passed before more than 27 credit hours of coursework have been completed. For students who must take remedial courses to make up for shortcomings in their engineering and mathematics knowledge base, the deadline can be extended to the fifth semester of full-time (or equivalent) enrollment, but this requires a petition to the ECSE Graduate Committee. Students have two opportunities to pass the PhD Qualifier. A student who fails to pass the Qualifier after two attempts will not be allowed to continue in the PhD program in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering.

To pass the PhD Qualifier, the student must demonstrate their  fundamental knowledge and proficiency in Electrical Engineering as follows:

Students must demonstrate competency in one of the following areas within electrical engineering in which the electrical engineering faculty have established research thrust areas:

• Circuits and Instrumentation
• Micro- and Nano-systems

To demonstrate competency in one of these areas, the student must do one of the following:

• take the course for that area and pass that course with a grade of A, or
• pass a written exam for that specific area.

The designated courses for each of the areas are:

In the event that a designated course is not offered within a reasonable period of time, the student may petition the faculty in electrical engineering to designate a suitable substitute.

A student failing to meet the requirements prescribed above may, with the support of their dissertation research advisor, petition the faculty for an oral exam. The oral exam will consist of a 30-minute presentation by the student to a 3-member examination committee made up of electrical engineering faculty. The topic will be drawn from the student's area of interest as selected by their advisor and approved by the committee. The topic may not come directly from the student's MS thesis conducted at CWRU or elsewhere.

A student has completed the PhD Qualifier in electrical engineering when:

• they have successfully completed the aforementioned competency requirement,
• a group of faculty within their selected research area has conducted a review of the student's academic record and determined that adequate progress has been made, and
• the student has formally identified a dissertation advisor.

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• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
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Doctoral Program (PhD)

The PhD program provides an advanced level of study and training for the development of research-level scholars with expertise in human factors, operations research, or production systems.

Degree Specializations

Students graduate from the program having demonstrated, by means of their dissertations, their ability to make original and significant contributions to the fields of:

• Networking & Communications
• Power & Energy Systems
• Electronics & Photonics

Entrance Requirements

Students may be admitted to the PhD program if they hold a bachelor's or master's degree in engineering or any of the mathematical, physical, behavioral, or health sciences. Admission to the PhD program requires a demonstration of a high level of performance in previous academic studies and unique promise for making significant research contributions. Those students who are admitted directly to the PhD with a bachelor's degree will have the option to earn an MS degree during their course of study.

If you are currently enrolled as an MS student , you may apply to the PhD program after your second semester of full-time work.

The application to the PhD program by students currently enrolled in the MS program should be in the form of a letter, addressed to either the Director of Graduate Studies or the Department Chair, that requests consideration for admission to the PhD program. The letter should be submitted to the Departmental Graduate Secretary. A letter must also be submitted to the Department by an EE faculty member stating willingness to serve as your major advisor.

Credit Hour Requirements

Beyond the basic requirements, the courses taken in a PhD program are determined by the student's objectives, interests, background, and experience.

The equivalent of at least three years of full-time graduate study beyond the baccalaureate degree is required for completion of the PhD program. At least one year must be in full-time residence. In general, formal coursework (including that taken for the MSdegree) takes two or three years, while the dissertation effort demands, in general, at least one year of full-time concentration in residence. The PhD program requires a minimum of 72 credit hours of work.

The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Department of Electrical Engineering impose limits on dissertation credits which are applicable toward graduate degree requirements. Additionally, a maximum of 30 credit hours from a Master's degree may be applied toward the 72 credit hour requirement for the PhD degree. Of these, no more than six credit hours may be derived from a master's thesis.

A minimum of 12 credit hours of dissertation research is required.  At most 30 hours of dissertation credit may be applied toward this minimum. The variable credit dissertation exists to allow students flexibility to take additional content courses. It does not impact the expectations for the scope and effort of the dissertation. Hours earned from supervised teaching and research, and the Departmental Seminar do not count toward the 72 hours needed.

Important milestones of the PhD program include : formation of the PhD committee, successful completion of the Written Qualifier and Dissertation Defense Examinations, research proposal defense, and dissertation defense.

The PhD is not a degree conferred on the basis of credit hours accumulated, tests passed, or time elapsed. Students in the program commit themselves to excellence in their fields, and to whatever amount of study and effort the attainment of excellence may require.

PhD Written Qualifier Examination

Admission to formal candidacy for the Ph.D. degree requires successful completion of the EE Ph.D. qualifying examination. The purpose of this examination is to determine whether the student has sufficient knowledge of the EE principles which are essential for conducting advanced research toward a PhD degree. 

The student presents a research topic selected by the Advisor   in front of their committee  . The committee is comprised of four (4) EE-faculty members, with the Advisor being one of them.  The student will orally demonstrate capabilities of conducting a literature review on the chosen topic, in-depth analysis of state-of-the-art research articles, reproduction of results from the chosen literature, and potential directions of innovation (if any).  During the presentation, committee members will ask questions regarding the research topic and fundamental knowledge.  A written report should be also provided to demonstrate the student’s writing skills.

The PhD Committee

Soon after a student passes the PhD qualifier exam s/he will form a committee of faculty members who will work with the student closely on dissertation research. By the time the student is ready for the PhD Advanced Examination (Prelim) s/he should have determined, at least in approximate terms, a research area, and should have identified a faculty advisor who is willing to supervise the work. This faculty advisor, sometimes called the "major professor" or "committee chair," will ordinarily head the committee that administers the advanced examination, defense of dissertation research proposal, and dissertation defense. The  major professor  must be a member of the Graduate Faculty. This committee must include at least three other members of the university faculty who hold the rank of Assistant Professor or higher in the University Faculty.  The major professor can help identify faculty members who share an interest in the topic, and who would be willing to review the dissertation and serve on the examining committee. 

A student can always elect to have more faculty members on their committee than specified. These additional committee members do not have to be members of the graduate faculty or even faculty at UB. The PhD committee will play a major role in setting requirements for the successful completion of your program. Be sure to follow their advice carefully. 

In addition, departmental policy allows the committee chair to elect to have an outside reader evaluate the PhD dissertation. The outside reader is not part of the committee.

Defense of Dissertation Proposal

When you have identified a research topic, thoroughly acquainted yourself with previous work in that area, and explored the topic well enough to have developed a credible research plan, write it all down in a clear and concise way, and you will have a dissertation proposal.

A copy of the proposal must be submitted to each member of your PhD committee, and defended two weeks later in an oral examination of approximately two hour duration. Failing the defense of proposal twice constitutes grounds for dismissal from the program. The research proposal defense must take place within one year of passing the PhD qualifier exam.

Schedule your research proposal defense after your major professor is satisfied that your topic is significant, your research plan is sound, and your qualifications are adequate to tackle the problem. Do not hesitate to discuss your proposal with the members of your committee in advance. Above all, do not postpone the defense until after you believe the work is substantially complete—if the committee discovers, for example, that your methodology is flawed, you may have wasted a great deal of time and effort.

You should not view the defense of research proposal as an adversarial process. While the committee must necessarily ask probing questions to determine the extent of your preparedness, the soundness of your plans, and the significance of your proposed work, the committee is also likely to provide insights and guidance that could greatly improve your dissertation.

Defense of Dissertation

Before the PhD is conferred, the student must successfully defend the dissertation in an oral examination administered by the committee.  Immediately following the dissertation defense, the M-Form should be completed by all members of the committee and the student.

Time Limit for Degree

The time limit for finishing all PhD degree requirements is seven years from the first registration date in the graduate program, excluding approved leaves of absence.

Petition for an extension of time limit requires departmental approval. The student must be currently making active progress toward the degree. The SEAS Divisional Committee will consider each petition and, in certain cases, it may set a deadline for completion of the program. The extension of time limit is normally granted for a period of one year or less. The Graduate School has the ultimate authority to grant a time limit extension.

The PhD is a research-intensive degree that prepares students for a research and development career in industry or academia. Given the research focus of the PhD, applicants must have a deep affinity for their research topic and be fully committed to completing their degree and contributing to their discipline.

There are two paths to the PhD:

• Directly from BS to PhD, bypassing the MS degree, which is recommended for motivated, top-performing candidates with a clear idea of what they want to accomplish in their field of study.
• Obtaining a MS degree (at UH or elsewhere) prior to PhD studies. This is recommended for students who are still forming a clear vision of their future career objectives.

For more information, please visit the Electrical and Computer Engineering program website.

Admission Requirements

While there are no minimum test scores or GPA required for admission, most successful candidates meet the following criteria. We recommend that a lower score in one area be balanced by higher scores in another area.

• A Bachelor of Science (B.S.) or Master of Science (M.S.) degree in electrical or computer engineering or closely related field.
• GPA ≥ 3.3/4.0.
• Recommended GRE scores: Verbal of 151, Quantitative of 159, and Analytical Writing of 4.0.
• TOEFL of 92 or IELTS of 7 (Required if applicant does not have a degree from a US institution).
• Three letters of recommendation on official letterhead that includes the mailing address, phone number, and email address of the recommender.

Degree Requirements

Credit hours required for this degree: 84.0 (BS to PhD) or 54.0 (MS to PhD)

Students entering the program with a B.S. will follow the coursework requirements for the  B.S. to Ph.D. Degree Plan  while those entering with an M.S. will follow the  M.S. to Ph.D. Degree Plan . The remaining requirements are identical for both programs.

• All structured coursework must follow the  Appropriate Coursework Standards
• All of the structured coursework must be at the 6000 level or higher. 
• At least 21 of the 33 hours of structured course work must be in ECE courses.
• Non-ECE courses used to satisfy the structured course requirement must be related to the field of study and be approved by the student’s advisor.
• If structured coursework is chosen for the remaining 12 hours, the courses may be chosen from inside ECE or outside ECE.
• Non-ECE courses must be at the graduate level (6000 level or higher) unless approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.
• Enrollment in a dissertation course ( ECE 8399   ) is required during the semester the dissertation proposal is defended.
• All of the 15 hours in structured coursework must be at the 6000 level or higher.
• At least 9 of the 15 hours in structured coursework must be in ECE courses. 
• No credit will be given for any course that is equivalent to a course taken in the student’s undergraduate degree program.
• Fulfillment of the  Breadth Coursework  requirement.
• Completion of the  Qualifying Exam .
• Preparation of a written dissertation and an oral defense thereof.
• Completion of all work above in accordance with the procedures described in  the Procedures, Requirements, and Standards Section

Academic Policies

Department Academic Policies

Graduate Academic Policies: Cullen College of Engineering    

University of Houston Academic Policies    

Appropriate Coursework

• Courses used to satisfy structured course requirements must receive a letter grade (i.e.,  not  S, U, or W).

Some departments other than ECE offer graduate level courses (6000 or above) with similar content to ECE graduate courses. In those situations, ECE graduate students must take the ECE version of the course. If the ECE course in question is not offered around the time of the graduating semester, then the student may be allowed to take the non-ECE version by general petition. Please see related deadlines on the department calendar.

Graduate credit will not be awarded for both the ECE and non-ECE versions of a course.

Courses offered by other institutions, such as Rice University/UT Health, etc., may be taken with prior approval from both the student’s advisor and the director of the graduate program if a similar class is not offered at UH. For permission to take a non-UH course, complete a general petition and an inter-institutional form, which are linked in our  forms page .

Courses taken for personal enrichment will not count towards the degree and must be approved by the advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies prior to enrollment. Enrichment hours cannot be used to satisfy minimum enrollment requirements when an assistantship is being received.

Breadth Coursework - Ph.D. only

Student must complete, with a B or better, at least two graduate level courses in Electrical and Computer Engineering outside their area of research. These courses should be selected from the following approved list. Courses completed by the student as an M.S. candidate, while at UH or elsewhere, will be considered.

• Signal and Image Processing
• ECE 6342 - Digital Signal Process Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6337 - Intro Stochastic Proc Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6364 - Digital Imag Processing Credit Hours: 3.0
• Applied Electromagnetics and Well-Logging
• ECE 6340 - Interm Electromag Waves Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6351 - Microwave Engineering Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6352 - Antenna Engineering Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6382 - Engineering Analysis I Credit Hours: 3.0
• Electronic Materials and Devices
• ECE 6312 - Fundamental of Ferromagnetic Materials & Devices Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6346 - Vlsi Design Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6347 - Advanced Mos Devices Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6358 - Optoelectronics and Photonics: Principles and applications Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6349 - Applied Solid State Theory Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6323 - Optical Fiber Communications Credit Hours: 3.0
• Micro- and Nanofabrication
• ECE 6309 - Microlithography for Micro-and Nano-system Manufacturing Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6314 - Nanoscale Design & Fabrication Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6348 - Material Science of Thin Films Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6466 - Integrted Circ Engr Credit Hours: 4.0
• Control Systems
• ECE 6325 - State-Space Control Systems Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6335 - Digital Contrl Systems Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6394 - Control Systm Component Design Credit Hours: 3.0
• Power Systems
• ECE 6397 - Selected Topics Credit Hours: 3.00

Topic: Smart Grid Technology

• Computer Engineering
• ECE 6370 - Advanced Digital Design Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6336 - Adv Microprcsr Systems Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6373 - Adv Computer Arch Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 7373 - Adv Topics in Comp Arch Credit Hours: 3.0
• Intelligent Systems
• ECE 6376 - Digital Pattrn Recogntn Credit Hours: 3.0
• ECE 6313 - Neural Networks Credit Hours: 3.0

Qualifying Examination - Ph.D. only

Ph.D. students must pass a qualifying exam (QE), consisting of an oral and/or written component. The exact format of the exam is defined by the research groups and the advisor will inform the student what format is to be used. The qualifying exam is to be administered prior to the  fourth  long semester for a B.S.-Ph.D. student and prior to the  third  long semester for a M.S.-Ph.D. student. The qualifying exam committee must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies  before  the QE can take place. Once the QE has taken place, the Chair of the QE committee will inform the student and the Director of Graduate Studies on the outcome of the exam. If a student chooses to change advisors and has completed the qualifying exam, it is up to the new advisor to choose to accept the status or request that the student repeat the exam.

There are currently two exam formats, the General and the Electromagnetics formats. Please ask your advisor which you are to follow.

General Qualifying Exam Instructions

The exam committee will consist of the advisor and two additional members of the research group. The chair of the committee will be one of the members other than the advisor. The advisor, in consultation with the other committee members, will assign a small research project to the candidate, who may also receive an initial selection of relevant literature. The project should be assigned no later than the beginning of the semester in which the exam is to take place and should be designed to test the candidate’s ability to independently conduct research at a level commensurate with his/her education.

The candidate will prepare a written report and an oral presentation of the project results. The advisor may provide feedback during the preparation of the written report, but the report should be substantially the student’s own work. The report should include a critical review of the relevant literature, a statement of the problem, methods, results, and discussion. The length of the report should be similar to a standard journal paper. The report, copies of the most relevant literature, and a list of courses completed by the candidate should be given to the committee two weeks prior to the oral exam. The oral exam consists of a public presentation of the project, followed by a closed-door oral examination.

The candidate will either pass or fail the exam, and this decision, based on a majority vote of the committee, will be communicated to the candidate immediately after the conclusion of the exam. Failing students may request a second attempt. In that case, the committee will assign additional work, which should be completed (and presented) at the end of the next long semester. Should the student fail the second attempt as well, he/she will be dropped from the ECE department’s Ph.D. program. Once the student passes, he/she may proceed with the preparation of the dissertation proposal. Please note that the student’s dissertation advisor is not required to continue serving in that role after the student passes the qualifying exam.

Qualifying Exam Instructions for Students Studying Electromagnetics

The Applied Electromagnetics (EM) Group requires students do an oral examination as part of the department qualifying examination. As per department regulations, the exam should be taken before the end of the third semester of graduate work. The following guidelines should be followed in the administration of the exam.

• The examination committee should consist of three or four faculty members, including the student’s advisor and the Chair of the Committee (the chair should be different from the advisor).
• The exam should test over material covered in the following courses:
• General electro- and magneto-statics, electromagnetic waves, and applied mathematics
• ECE 6340 (Intermediate Electromagnetic Waves)
• ECE 6351 (Microwaves) or ECE 6352 (Antennas)

If the student has had both ECE 6351 and ECE 6352, then the student may choose which course the test will cover.

No materials are brought to the oral exam.

• The oral exam normally lasts two hours, and is interactive between the committee members and the students.

The outcome of the examination is either pass or fail, and this decision will be communicated to the candidate immediately after the conclusion of the oral exam. A majority vote is needed to pass the student (two out of three or three out of four). Students who fail the oral exam may request a second and final attempt, which must be taken before the end of the next long semester.

Grade Point Average and Minimum Performance

The  grade point average (GPA)  is computed as an average of  all  courses attempted at the university while enrolled in the graduate program. Graduate students must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or better in order to remain in good academic standing.

Should a student’s GPA fall below the minimum, an academic stop will be placed on the student’s record. Students must then seek assistance from their advisor to register and to have this stop removed when he GPA is greater than 3.0.

Minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) for supported students  Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better in order to remain eligible for GATF or in-state tuition waivers, when applicable.

Minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) for scholarship students  Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better in order to remain eligible for tuition waivers and scholarships.

Major Grade Point Average  This average is computed for courses that apply to the degree and must be 3.0 or higher prior to applying for graduation.

Four C-rule  The university has a  specific rule  regarding the maximum number of C+ or lower grades that a student may earn. The rule states,

A student who receives a grade of C+ or lower in 12 semester hours of credit attempt at this institution for graduate credit or for application toward the graduate degree, whether or not in repeated courses, is ineligible for any advanced degree at this institution and will not be permitted to re-enroll for graduate study.

Dissertation and Thesis Guidelines

The Dissertation document is written as part of the Ph.D. degree program and the Thesis is written as part of the M.S. degree. The dissertation should be at such a level as to be a significant contribution to the field of knowledge in electrical and computer engineering, and worthy of publication in one of the recognized professional journals. This section describes the common elements in these documents and specifies any differences.

Here is a summary of the steps a student takes to complete this requirement.

Form a Thesis/Dissertation Committee

Write a Proposal and submit it to the Committee for approval. Ph.D. students must also defend their proposal orally

Prepare the Thesis/Dissertation document

Defend the Thesis/Dissertation in a public setting with an announcement filed at least two weeks prior to the defense

More details for each step are provided in the next sections.

The student should form a Thesis/Dissertation Committee with the Advisor as chair as soon as the research topic is selected.

A  Thesis Committee  must consist of at least three members, with

the advisor as chair,

at least one additional faculty members from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and

at least one University of Houston tenure-track faculty member outside this Department.

A  Dissertation Committee  must consist of at least five members, with

at least two additional faculty members from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and

at least two University of Houston tenure-track faculty member outside this department.

In either case, the advisor can assist the student in forming an appropriate committee. A committee form must be submitted well before the proposal defense is scheduled since the committee must be approved by the Department and Dean’s Office prior to the defense. A student need not be enrolled while requesting to form a committee but must be enrolled when the defense takes place.

Should changes to the committee membership be necessary, the student simply submits an updated committee form listing all committee members. Only the new member(s) have to sign the form, but please complete this at least two weeks prior to defending the proposal or the Thesis/Dissertation.

Once the Thesis/Dissertation Committee has been formed and approved, the student should prepare and, for Ph.D. students, defend a Thesis/Dissertation Proposal. During the semester where the proposal submission takes place, the student must be enrolled in ECE 6399    (MSEE) or ECE 8399    (Ph.D.). The Thesis/Dissertation Committee will approve the proposal by signing the Proposal Form. This form, together with a copy of the proposal document, has to be submitted to the ECE Department by the deadline specified on the semester calendar. The forms for the Thesis/Dissertation Committee formation and the Thesis/Dissertation Proposal defense can be obtained from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The proposal document should outline the scope of the research, and it should contain, at least, a statement of the objectives, a review of the relevant literature, and a description of the principal methods to be used. Copies of this proposal should be provided to the members of the Committee.

Since the Committee may request substantial changes in the research objectives, the proposal should be prepared during the early stages of the dissertation research.  In no case should a proposal and dissertation defense occur in the same semester .

After the successful defense of the Thesis/Dissertation Proposal, students should register for ECE 7399    (MSEE) or continue to enroll in ECE 8399    (Ph.D.). MSEE students should ideally enroll in ECE 7399    during the semester in which the thesis is defended and in which the student plans to graduate. The student should adhere to the thesis submission deadlines posted on the department calendar. In case the student does not complete the thesis while enrolled in ECE 7399    , he/she should enroll in research courses (ECE 6x98) in future semesters until the thesis is completed to the satisfaction of the committee.

Thesis/Dissertation Document

When most of the research has been completed, the student should describe the main results to the committee and describe plans for the contents and structure of the thesis/dissertation. A student may request that the members of the committee review and comment on a preliminary version of the dissertation. This procedure is encouraged since it should provide the student with ideas of how to enhance the quality of the dissertation and should facilitate its acceptance.

When preparing the Thesis/Dissertation, it is critical to follow the  guidelines  defined by the College of Engineering.

A student should provide the members of the committee with the final version of the dissertation  no later than two weeks prior to the dissertation presentation and defense . The student should be aware that he/she may be required to make substantial changes in the dissertation in order to satisfy the requirements of the committee.

Thesis/Dissertation Defense

Each candidate is required to present and defend his/her thesis/dissertation at a public meeting and post an announcement with an abstract with the ECE office at least two weeks before defense date. Please check with the ECE Department for further details. The Thesis/Dissertation Committee will make the final judgment of the acceptance of the defense of the document.

The thesis/dissertation announcement is to let the public know that the student has completed successfully his/her research and that he/she is ready for graduation. The announcement must be distributed to all faculty and students. One additional copy must be submitted to the ECE Department for filing. Refer to the web site given for more information.

Note:  The student may request that the members of the Thesis/Dissertation Committee review and comment on a preliminary version of the thesis. This practice is encouraged since it should provide the student with ideas on how to improve the quality of the thesis and should also facilitate its acceptance. The student is required to present the final draft of the thesis to the members of the committee no later than two weeks prior to the date of the thesis defense. The student should be aware that he/she may be required to make substantial changes, before and after the defense, in the thesis in order to satisfy the requirements of the committee.

Submission Form

Upon successful defense of the thesis, and once all signatures of the committee members have been obtained, the student must submit one copy of the thesis to the Director of Graduate Studies for review. A thesis submission form and this copy, together with the correct number of signature pages, must be submitted to the ECE front desk before the deadline stated in the Department calendar.

Obtaining ECE Department’s Chair signature

Once the thesis has been approved by the director of graduate studies, thesis and official signature pages will be submitted to the chairman for his signature. The student will be notified by staff for pick up. Department process for thesis submission is now complete. Students must now submit the Department approved thesis submission form with appropriate documents to the Dean’s office for review.

Official thesis submission for binding

The college web site provides  instructions  on how to submit the thesis once the dean’s office has given approval for binding. Once the student is at this stage, he/she must submit a copy of the thesis binding agreement received from the Dean’s office to the ECE Department so that appropriate letter grade(s) can be awarded.

Leveling Courses

Master’s students who do not have a Bachelor of Science in Electrical or Computer Engineering must show competency in four areas:

Electronic devices

Circuit theory

Electromagnetics

Students may accomplish this through leveling coursework or by passing a core competency exam. The Graduate Admissions Committee will identify leveling requirements with the assistance of the thesis advisor.

Competence in each area can be demonstrated by passing the following course(s) with a grade of B or better, respectively:

- Circuit Analysis (ECE 2201 and ECE 2202) and its Laboratory (ECE 2100) - Applied EM Waves (ECE 3317) - Signal & System Analysis (ECE 3337) - Electronics (ECE 3355) - Microprocessor Systems (ECE 4436)

Electrical Engineering (PhD)

Program description.

A century ago, the radio offered mass entertainment; 50 years later, television replaced it. Today we watch movies on handheld devices. Each evolutionary step was made possible by advances in electrical engineering. The Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering program is filled with students and faculty keenly aware of this cycle of progress. They prize the School of Engineering's emphasis on invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship — what we call i2e — and they maintain that emphasis through top-flight laboratories and a fierce dedication to advanced research.

Your studies with us will prepare you for a research career in electrical engineering after graduation. But you’ll also be capable of sharing these lessons with your own students, should you choose to teach at the university level.

Graduate students who have exhibited a high degree of scholastic proficiency and have given evidence of ability for conducting independent research may consider extending their goals toward the doctorate. The Ph.D. degree is awarded after completing the program of study and research described below, and upon preparation and defense of a dissertation representing an original and significant contribution deemed worthy of publication in a recognized scientific or engineering journal.

Thesis Advisor and Academic Advisor

Many factors enter into a student’s choice of an advisor for his/her research. In addition to the scientific, intellectual and personality factors which influence the pairing of student and professor, financial aspects must also be considered. For most full-time students, the ideal situation is to find an advisor who has a research topic of mutual interest, as well as funds available from research grants and contracts which can support the student as a Research Assistant (RA). A prospective student is encouraged to contact faculty members in his/her research area regarding the possibility of advising before applying to the Ph.D. program. A student who joins the Ph.D. program without securing a thesis advisor will be assigned an academic advisor, who will guide the student in terms of course selection and research activities before the qualifying exam. A Ph.D. student candidate must obtain the commitment of a faculty member in the student’s chosen area of major research interest to be the student’s thesis advisor before taking the qualifying exam.

Usually, the thesis advisor is a full-time faculty member in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and as such is considered chair of the student’s Guidance Committee. If a student wishes to have someone outside the ECE department to serve as his/her advisor, the student should submit the CV of the person and a letter of commitment from the person to serve as the advisor to the Ph.D. EE Program Director for approval. The thesis advisor must have a Ph.D. degree in the student’s proposed area of research.

Graduate Manual

For further information, please refer to the graduate manual, which can be found on the student resources page: https://engineering.nyu.edu/academics/departments/electrical-and-computer-engineering/student-resources

Admission to graduate programs in the Tandon School of Engineering requires the following minimum components:

• Statement of Purpose
• Letters of Recommendation
• Transcripts
• Proficiency in English

The  NYU Tandon Graduate Admissions website  has additional information on school-wide admission.

Some programs may require additional components for admissions.

See the program's  How to Apply  for department-specific admission requirements and instructions.

Entrance Requirement

Students entering the doctoral program with a Bachelor’s degree must meet the entrance requirements for the Master’s program in the appropriate area of concentration. Students entering at the Master’s level for the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering program are normally expected to have a Master’s in Electrical Engineering. Generally, admission to these Ph.D. programs is conditional on a student achieving a 3.5 grade point average in prior B.S. and M.S. programs. GRE is required for all applicants.

Program Requirements

The program requires the completion of 75 credits, comprised of the following:

Additional Program Requirements

Qualifying examination.

Students must pass the PhD qualifying examination before the deadline to continue in the program and register in ECE-GY 999X PHD DISSERTATION IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPT . This is an oral exam and students must have completed certain course and project requirements before taking the oral exam. Results of the exam will be recorded in the student’s transcript as RE-GY 9990 PHD QUALIFYING EXAM . Detailed information about the requirements to be satisfied before taking the qualifying exam including both course requirement, project scope and application process can be found in ECE graduate student manual, available under the ECE department webpage.

Formation of Guidance Committee

Upon passing the qualifying examination, students should consult with their thesis adviser to identify additional members and form a guidance committee. The committee should be composed of at least three members with the thesis adviser usually acting as Chairperson. If the dissertation adviser is not a tenured or tenure track (T/TT) Tandon faculty member of the Department, then a T/TT Tandon faculty member of the Department in the student’s research area must be invited to serve as the Committee Chair. The committee should include at least two ECE T/TT faculty (including the adviser, and the NYUAD and NYUSH T/TT faculty), and may include at most two external members from outside the Department who are in the student’s area of major research interest. Students must submit the names of the members of their Guidance Committee to the Office of Graduate Studies with a copy to the ECE Graduate Office within 6 months of passing the qualifying exam. The Guidance Committee conducts the area examination and thesis defense, and approves the final thesis. The Guidance Committee appointment form can be obtained from the Office of Graduate Studies.

Area Examination

In the area exam, students review prior research in the chosen dissertation topic and present preliminary research results and an additional research plan. The area exam is conducted by the Guidance Committee, but may be open to other interested faculty and students. The Guidance Committee attends and evaluates the student’s performance and determines whether the student demonstrates the depth of knowledge and understanding necessary to carry out research in the chosen area. Results of the exam will be recorded in the student’s transcript as ECE-GY 9980 Electrical Engineering Area Exam .

Students must submit a written report that summarizes prior research and the future plan at least one week before the scheduled exam time. The report should follow the PhD dissertation template and be at least 25 pages long. The student must take and pass the area exam within 2 years after passing the PhD qualifying exam. Students who fail to pass the exam by the deadline will be disqualified from the program.

Thesis and Thesis Defense

Upon completion of the doctoral dissertation, the candidate undergoes an oral thesis defense. The defense is conducted by the Guidance Committee, but is open to all members of the ECE faculty and other invited people. The student must submit a complete draft of the dissertation to the Guidance Committee members at least one week before the scheduled defense. The student should consult the Office of Graduate Studies regarding how to submit, reproduce and bind the final manuscript.

Seminar Attendance

Students are required to register in ECE-GY 9900 Seminar in Electrical and Computer Engineering for at least 4 semesters. Satisfactory grade is given only if the student attends more than 2/3 of the seminars offered in a semester. Part-time students who have difficulty attending the seminar because of work conflict may be exempted from this requirement upon approval of the Ph.D. EE program director. Students should submit the approval note when applying for graduation.

Publication Requirement

PhD candidates must either have a peer-reviewed journal paper (accepted or published), or have at least one paper under review by a peer-reviewed journal on the thesis research subject.

For the journal paper(s), a letter of acceptance by a journal, or a letter of submission to a peer-reviewed journal along with acknowledgment of its receipt by the journal, will constitute the required evidence. If there is no accepted/published journal paper, the student should have at least one accepted conference paper that appeared in the proceedings of a peer-reviewed conference.

Sample Plan of Study

RE-GY 9990 PHD QUALIFYING EXAM is the prerequisite for GA-GY 9993 Writing and Communication for Engineers and Scientists and ECE-GY 999X PHD DISSERTATION IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPT . This course is often taken in the Summer of the second term.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will:

• Be prepared for a research career in electrical engineering and/or university-level teaching.
• Gain strong fundamental knowledge in several electrical engineering disciplines, skills for independent research in a sub-discipline and the ability to prepare and defend a dissertation representing an original and significant contribution for publication in a recognized scientific or engineering journal.
• Have acquired breadth and depth across a number of electrical engineering sub-disciplines.

Transfer Credit Policy

Nyu policies, tandon policies.

For PhD students with a prior MS degree, they are allowed to transfer up to 36 credits, of which 30 credits must be from their prior MS degree in ECE or a closely related field. For PhD. students admitted without a prior MS degree, they can transfer at most 6 credits. For the blanket transfer of 30 credits from a prior MS. degree in ECE or a closely related field toward the PhD degree in EE, the student must provide a copy of his or her prior MS degree and the official academic transcripts. For individual course transfer, the student must provide an official transcript in a sealed envelope as well as catalog descriptions of the courses to be transferred, for evaluation and approval by the department graduate advisor. The official transcript and/or diploma submitted during the student’s admission process can be used in place of new submission. Graduate courses taken at other schools of NYU or taken as an undergraduate student at NYU Tandon School of Engineering are exempt from this policy, but are subject to the general polity of the Tandon School of Engineering regarding such courses. This policy is effective for students entering in Spring 2018 and later.

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages .

Additional academic policies can be found on the  Tandon academic policy page . 

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Electrical Engineering Theses/Dissertations

Central Library Indian Institute of Technolgy Ropar Punjab -140001

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

College of engineering, ph.d. dissertation defense - daniel lippiatt, related links.

Title :  Analysis of Optical Subsystems and Links using Statistical and Machine Learning Methods

Dr. Stephen Ralph, ECE, Chair , Advisor

Dr. John Barry, ECE

Dr. Sorin Tibuleac, ECE

Dr. David Anderson, ECE

Dr. Linke Guo, Clemson

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Anu Jagannath PhD Dissertation Defense

April 4, 2024 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm.

Announcing: PhD Dissertation Defense

Name: Anu Jagannath

Title: Deep Learning at the Edge for Future G Networks: RF Signal Intelligence for Comprehensive Spectrum Awareness

Date: 4/4/2024

Time: 1:00:00 PM

Committee Members: Prof. Tommaso Melodia (Advisor) Prof. Kaushik Chowdhury Prof. Yanzhi Wang

Abstract: Future communication networks must address the scarce spectrum to accommodate extensive growth of heterogeneous wireless devices. Efforts are underway to address spectrum coexistence, enhance spectrum awareness, and bolster authentication schemes. Wireless signal recognition is becoming increasingly more significant for spectrum monitoring, spectrum management, secure communications, among others. Consequently, comprehensive spectrum awareness at the edge has the potential to serve as a key enabler for the emerging beyond 5G (fifth generation) networks. State-of-the-art studies in this domain have (i) only focused on a single task – modulation or signal (protocol) classification or radio frequency fingerprinting – which in many cases is insufficient information for a system to act on, (ii) consider either radar or communication waveforms (homogeneous waveform category), and (iii) does not address edge deployment during neural network design phase. In this dissertation, deep learning is applied to the various signal recognition problems from  a multi-task perspective with an emphasis on edge deployment. To address edge deployment, various techniques are applied to solve the signal recognition problem under consideration (modulation, wireless protocol, emitter fingerprint recognition) to design scalable and computationally efficient framework. While designing the edge deployable architectures, the generalization capability of the architectures are evaluated under various circumstances to quantify their performance under real-world settings such as emissions from actual emitters (commercial emissions wherever applicable), training with a different propagation scenario and testing under a never-before-seen setting.

The study was sectioned into different stages where multi-task learning is first applied to solving wireless standard and modulation recognition, followed by applying deep compression for CBRS radar waveform classification, next radio frequency fingerprinting for commercial WiFi and Bluetooth emissions were studied utilizing novel multi-task attentional architectures, and finally the multi-task learning together with deep compression was employed to deploy the architectures in a real-time streaming radio testbed for real-time inferencing of wireless standard and modulation recognition. The feasibility of employing deep compression techniques are carefully evaluated in a real-world deployment setting to quantify the performance from a computational and inference capacity perspective.