Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering College of Engineering Northeastern University

Northeastern University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Since it opened in 1909, Northeastern University's College of Engineering has been an academic model for the university and beyond. It was the first school at Northeastern to integrate classroom instruction with professional experience opportunities, and today operates state-of-the-art research facilities with more than $30 million in annual federal funding.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is one of 4 departments in the College of Engineering. Both ECE students and faculty members are involved with research covering the design, development, and analysis of electrical and computer systems that address Northeastern's core interests: health, security, and sustainability. Northeastern's ECE department is second in New England only to MIT in the size of their sponsored research budget.

Research Opportunities at the Centers of Excellence

Northeastern University's Graduate School of Engineering has developed the Centers of Excellence, 8 research programs in engineering that support graduate student work. Lead by the College of Engineering, the centers promote interdisciplinary collaborations with industries and other universities, in order to make discoveries and develop solutions in conjunction with like-minded organizations and institutions. The programs within the Centers of Excellence cover a wide range of interests relating to engineering research, from programs that address local and global explosives-related threats to those that develop information security and training programs for business use.

Doctoral Degrees in Electoral Engineering and Computer Engineering

The ECE department offers doctoral degrees in both electrical engineering (EE PhD) and computer engineering (CE PhD). Exact length of individual PhD programs varies depending on the dissertation subject area and candidate's preparation, though most students complete 24 hours of coursework beyond the master's degree. Both programs require students to complete 8 credit hours in a subject area outside their concentrations, ensuring an interdisciplinary education. Electrical engineering students are also required to successfully complete advanced seminars in their dissertation areas.

The ECE curriculum covers 4 comprehensive areas of concentration: communications and signal processing; electromagnetics, plasma, and optics; electronic circuits, semiconductor devices, and microfabrication; and power systems, power electronics, and motion control.

Master's Degrees in Electoral Engineering and Computer Engineering

The ECE department at Northeastern University offers 2 master's degrees: the MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering (MSECE), and the MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering Leadership (MSECEL). MSECE students with a research assistantship, teaching assistantship, or industrial fellowship must complete theses. All other students may choose between producing an 8-hour thesis or a 4-hour graduate project. The MSECEL program is offered through the competitive Gordon Engineering Leadership Program at Northeastern. Students pursuing this degree must receive additional admittance from the Gordon Program, and complete 6 required core courses, as well as an additional 4 technical electives from the ECE department.

Students pursuing a master's degree may complete the 32-hour program on either a part-time or full-time basis. Examples of technical electives available through the MSECE program include Two Dimensional Signal and Image Processing, Multiprocessor Architectures, and Fourier and Binary Optics.

Supported by an Award-Winning Faculty

Faculty members from the College of Engineering have been widely recognized for their achievements in education and research. The faculty includes 5 individuals who have held the most prestigious young investigator awards from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research, including the ECE department's Assistant Professor Purnima Ratilal.

Many other faculty members in the ECE department have been recognized for developing and sharing innovative research solutions.

Professor Carmine Vittoria has more than 300 publications and 20 patents to his credit. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and IEEE. Professor Mark Niedre directs the Biomedical Research Laboratory, which works with collaborators in biology, medicine, and signal processing at Northeastern and MGH to develop optical instrumentation for biomedical applications. The lab currently receives nearly $2 million in funding from the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, and Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

Faculty research interests cover a wide range of topics related to electrical and computer engineering. Some topics of interest include biomedical imaging and image processing, wireless cognitive radio networks, and the physics of magnetism.

Financial Aid Opportunities

The financial aid office at Northeastern University is committed to helping students find the funds needed to complete their educations, including helping Boston residents find more than $10.5 million in financial assistance each year. In addition to federal loans and grants, Northeastern offers graduate students a number of departmental research and teaching assistantships.

Additional graduate student resources include the Double Husky Scholarship for students with a bachelor's from Northeastern; the Martin Luther King, Jr. Graduate Fellowship for African-American students with solid academics and financial need; and the Graduate Dean's Scholarship for students in the top third of their incoming class.

Northeastern University -- An Experiential Research University

Northeastern University was founded in 1898 in Boston, Massachusetts, and today stands as one of the nation's premier experiential research universities. Students in Northeastern's 9 schools and colleges are given an education that goes beyond traditional instruction, to develop skills in topics that meet the current and future needs of global society, particularly in the rapidly growing areas of health, security, and sustainability.

Northeastern is also considered one of the most climate conscious universities in the country. Northwestern is a founding member of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at higher education institutions. The university has also been awarded the highest score among Boston-based universities on the Sustainable Endowments Institute's 2011 College Sustainability Report Card.

More Information

More information is available regarding graduate applications and graduate studies at Northeastern University.

• Degrees Offered
• Major Degree Levels Offered
• Engineering Leadership Master of Science (MS)
• Electrical Engineering Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
  Master of Science (MS)
• Computer Engineering Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

• Degrees Awarded
• Master's Degrees 83
• Doctoral Degrees 13
• First Professional Degrees Not reported
• Other Advanced Degrees Not reported
• * Shows the number of degrees awarded for the last academic year that data was reported.

• Earning Your Degree
• Part-time study available? No
• Evening/weekend programs available? No
• Distance learning programs available? No
• Terminal master's degree available? No

• Degree Requirements
• Master's Degrees Optional
• Doctoral Degrees Required and departmental qualifying exam
• First Professional Degrees Not reported
• Other Advanced Degrees Not reported

• Acceptance Rate
• Applied1,054
• Accepted496
• Acceptance Rate47%
• Enrolled122
• Applying
• Application Fee - Domestic $50
• Application Fee - International $50
• Electronic applications accepted? Yes
• Applications processed on a rolling basis? Yes
• Application Deadlines
• Type Domestic International Priority Date
• Fall deadline January 15th January 15th Yes
• Winter deadline Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported
• Spring deadline Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported
• Entrance Requirements
• Master's DegreesGRE General Test
• Doctoral's DegreesGRE General Test
• First-Professional's DegreesNot Reported
• Other Advanced DegreesNot Reported
• International DegreesTOEFL required, 550 paper based

• Tuition & Fees
• In-state tuition *Not Reported
• Out-of-state tuition *Not Reported
• International student tuitionNot Reported
• * Tuition for full-time graduate student per academic year
• Fees
• Per-academic year feesNot Reported
• Per-term feesNot Reported
• One-time feeNot Reported
• * Fees for full-time graduate students
• Financial Support
• Financial award applicants must submitFAFSA
• Application deadlines for financial awardsJanuary 15
• Types of financial support availableFellowships, Research Assitantships, Teaching Assistantships, Tuition Waivers, Career or Field-Related Internships, Federal Work-Study, Financial Support for Part-time Students, Scholarship and/or loans, Graduate Assistantships

• Gender
• Total Graduate Students355
• Female Percentage15%
• Male Percentage85%
• Participation
• Total Graduate Students355
• Part-time Percentage28%
• Full-time Percentage72%
• Ethnicity
• Hispanic / LatinoNot Reported
• Black / African AmericanNot Reported
• White / CaucasianNot Reported
• American Indian / Alaskan NativeNot Reported
• AsianNot Reported
• Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific IslanderNot Reported
• Two or more racesNot Reported
• UnknownNot Reported

• Existing Research
• Focus of faculty researchSignal processing and sensor data fusion, plasma science, sensing and imaging, power electronics, computer engineering
• Externally sponsored research expenditures last yearNot Reported