USC: Academic Bulletins

Professors
Benjamin Beker, Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1988
Roger A. Dougal, Ph.D., Texas Tech University, 1982
Associate Chair
Jerry L. Hudgins, Ph.D., Texas Tech University, 1985
Paul G. Huray, Ph.D., University of Tennessee, 1968
Asif Khan, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1979
College of Engineering Distinguished Professor
Robert O. Pettus, Ph.D., Auburn University, 1971
Tangali Sudarshan, Ph.D., University of Waterloo, 1974
Carolina Distinguished Professor

Associate Professors
Charles W. Brice III, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology, 1977
Undergraduate Director
Yinchao Chen, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 1992
Graduate Director
George J. Cokkinides, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology, 1985
Antonello Monti, Ph.D., Politecnico di Milano, 1994
Jorge M. Seminario, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University, 1988
Grigory S. Simin, Ph.D., Giricond Science and Research Institute, 1979

Assistant Professors
Mohammod Ali, Ph.D., University of Victoria, 1997
Enrico Santi, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 1993
Ferdinanda Ponci, Ph.D., Politecnico di Milano, 2002

Overview

The Department of Electrical Engineering offers graduate degrees in electrical engineering and emphasizes both research-oriented graduate study through the Ph.D. program and M.S. program and professional development through the M.E. program.

A special program is available by which qualified engineers may earn the M.E. degree while maintaining full-time employment. APOGEE delivers graduate courses through a media-based system incorporating television, videotapes, and periodic visits to campus.

Graduates in electrical engineering can look forward to competing successfully for careers in academia, industry, and government laboratories.

Admission Requirements

In addition to the entry requirements of The Graduate School, prospective students are expected to have a baccalaureate degree in electrical engineering (or a related field) with at least a B average. Students whose undergraduate degree is not from an ABET-accredited program are required to take the GRE and to have scores of at least 500 (verbal), 700 (quantitative), and 600 (analytical). These scores are provided as guidelines and are not conditions for admission. Students whose native language is not English must submit TOEFL scores of 570 (230 computer-based score) or better.

New graduate students are normally admitted to the Ph.D. program; continuation in the Ph.D. program is dependent upon meeting departmental requirements for satisfactory academic progress. After admission, students can transfer into the master's program, if they desire.

Fields of Specialization

Areas of specialization include: physical electronics, power systems, high voltage engineering, and semiconductor devices. Research topics in electrical engineering include but are not limited to: power systems; power electronics; microwave power amplifier and MOS devices based on wide bandgap semiconductors; growth, device processing, and characterization of wide bandgap semiconductors--specifically SiC and GanN; electromagnetic scattering; millimeter-wave integrated circuits; antenna design; electronic packaging; software engineering; and modeling and simulation.

Degree Requirements

Master of Engineering and Master of Science

The professional M.E. degree in electrical engineering requires 30 hours of course work beyond the B.S., at least 15 hours of which must be taken in ELCT courses numbered at the 700 level or above. Although the requirements for the M.S. degree correspond in general to those of The Graduate School (24 hours of course work beyond the B.S. plus six hours of thesis preparation), it should be noted that at least half of the courses taken must be in ELCT courses numbered at the 700 level or above.

Doctor of Philosophy

The general requirements for the Ph.D. degree are equivalent to those of The Graduate School. The course work requirement is established by the student's committee, but a minimum of 45 hours beyond the B.S. degree is required. The doctoral residency requirement may be satisfied only after admission to a doctoral degree program and must be fulfilled by enrollment in at least 18 graduate credit hours within a span of three consecutive semesters (excluding summers). Enrollment in a summer term is not required to maintain continuity, but credits earned during summer terms will count toward residency. Admission to candidacy in the Ph.D. program requires satisfactory completion of a qualifying examination, a research proposal, and at least 12 hours of graduate work beyond the B.S.

Course Descriptions (ELCT)

551 -- Power Systems Design and Analysis. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 331, ELCT 361) Transmission line design, load flow, and short circuit analysis of power systems.
553 -- Electromechanical Energy Conversion. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 331, ELCT 301) Analysis and design of electromechanical energy conversion systems, including electrical machines and electronic drives.
561 -- Advanced Electromagnetics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 362) Applications of electromagnetic concepts in high-frequency systems.
563 -- Advanced Semiconductor Materials. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 363) Crystal structures, energy-band theory, and charge-carrier physics.
566 -- Introduction to Optoelectronics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 362, ELCT 363) Design and application aspects of optoelectronic devices, including optical fibers, modulators, display devices, lasers, photodetectors, optical communication systems, and fiber sensors.
572 -- Power Electronics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 371, ELCT 331) Basic analysis and design of solid-state power electronic devices and circuitry.
573 -- High Speed Digital Systems. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 371, ELCT 361) Introduction to digital system analysis and design.
574 -- Semiconductor Electronic Devices. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 363 and ELCT 371) Semiconductor device behavior and design for use in integrated circuits, discrete components, and modules.
575 -- Advanced Electronics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 371) Application of electronic design automation tools to the design of electronic circuits.
580 -- Audio Engineering. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 321, 371) Acoustic and electrical fundamentals for the design of systems for detection, measurement, and reproduction of sound with emphasis on high-quality audio systems and their environment.
751 -- Advanced Power Systems Analysis. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 551) Network analysis methods suitable for computer implementation. System studies, including load-flow analysis, short-circuit analysis, and state estimation.
752 -- Power System Grounding and Transients. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 551) Modeling and analysis techniques used in the design of electric power grounding systems, power system fault analysis, numerical techniques for power system transient analysis.
761 -- Fundamental Electromagnetics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 361) Theorems and principles of EM theory, Maxwell's equations, vector and scalar potentials. Solution to Maxwell's equation in one-, two-, and three-dimensions. Green's functions and theorems with applications to radiation and guided-wave propagation.
766 -- Electrooptics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 566) Review of EM theory, rays and beams, resonators, atomic radiation, laser oscillation, laser systems.
771 -- Semiconductor Physics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 363) Properties of semiconductor materials.
775 -- Plasma Electronics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 363) Gaseous electronics and plasma behavior in electronic systems.
781 -- Pulsed Power Systems. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 362, 363) Components and systems for electrical energy storage, pulse forming, energy transport, and shielding. Diagnostic techniques for fast, high-power pulses.
797 -- Research. (1-12) Individual research to be arranged with the instructor. Pass/Fail grading.
799 -- Thesis Preparation. (1-12)
837 -- Modern Control Theory. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 331) The analysis and synthesis of linear, nonlinear, and discrete control systems employing the state space approach.
838 -- Optimal Control and Estimation. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 331) Optimal filtering, prediction, and smoothing in the presence of uncertainty.
861 -- Advances in Electromagnetics. (3) Designate as special topics course.
862 -- Antennas and Radiation. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 561) Radiation mechanism and fundamental parameters. Dipoles, monopoles, and loop antennas. Antenna arrays. Microstrip, helical, biconical, sleeve, spiral, and log-periodic dipole antennas. Horn and reflector antennas. Antenna measurement and modeling.
866 -- Laser Physics, Beams, and Dynamics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 766) Basic laser physics and optical beams and resonators, Rabi frequency, nonlinear optical pulse propagation, unstable resonators, mode-locking, Q-switching, hole burning, laser cavity equations.
867 -- Advances in Quantum Electronics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 766) Current topics in nonlinear optics and laser research.
870 -- Computational Simulation. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 761, 766, 771, 775) Computational tools and techniques for simulation of physical systems with emphasis on excitation, diffusion, and scattering problems.
871 -- Advances in Semiconductor Devices. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 771) Current topics in semiconductor devices.
873 -- Advances in Physical Electronics. (3) Topics of current interest in physical electronics.
878 -- High Power Generation and Diagnostic Techniques. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 362) DC power supplies, transformers, pulsed sources, and fast switches. Diagnostics for fast pulsed events. Grounding and shielding considerations.
881 -- Advances in Pulsed Power. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 781) Current topics in pulsed power.
883 -- Power Systems Stability and Control. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 751) Power system transient and dynamic stability analysis. Power system control, including excitation systems, automatic generation control and boiler-turbine-generator models.
891 -- Selected Topics in Electrical Engineering. (3)
897 -- Directed Individual Study. (1-3) Approved plan of study must be filed.
899 -- Dissertation Preparation. (1-12)