Catalogue 2011-12

• USC Viterbi School of Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
  • Degree Requirements
  • Courses of Instruction

Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering

Degree Requirements

Educational Program Objectives

The electrical engineering program objectives are designed to promote technical competence, professional development, and citizenship in the global community.

Technical Competence

Graduates will apply their technical skills in mathematics, science and engineering to the solution of complex problems encountered in modern electrical engineering practice.

Graduates will model, analyze, design and experimentally evaluate components or systems that achieve desired technical specifications subject to the reality of economic constraints.

Professional Development

Graduates will compete effectively in a world of rapid technological change and assume leadership roles within industrial, entrepreneurial, academic or governmental environments in the broad context of electrical engineering.

Some graduates who choose to redirect their careers will be employed in diverse fields such as healthcare, business, law, computer science, multimedia and music through graduate-level studies and the process of lifelong learning.

Citizenship in the Global Community

Graduates will use their communication skills to function effectively both as individuals and as members of multidisciplinary and multicultural teams in a diverse global economy.

Graduates will engage in highly ethical and professional practices that account for the global, environmental and societal impact of engineering decisions.

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering

The requirement for the degree is 131 units. A cumulative scholarship average of C (2.0) is required for: (a) all courses taken at USC; (b) all courses taken within the Department of Electrical Engineering; (c) all upper division courses taken within the Department of Electrical Engineering. See also the common requirements for undergraduate degrees section.

composition/writing requirements		Units
WRIT 140*	Writing and Critical Reasoning	4
WRIT 340	Advanced Writing	3

General education (see here)		Units
General education* +		20

pre-major requirements		Units
Math Requirement
MATH 125	Calculus I	4
MATH 126	Calculus II	4
MATH 226	Calculus III	4
MATH 245	Mathematics of Physics and Engineering I	4
MATH 445	Mathematics of Physics and Engineering II	4

Physics Requirement
PHYS 151L**	Fundamentals of Physics I: Mechanics and Thermodynamics	4
PHYS 152L	Fundamentals of Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism	4
PHYS 153L	Fundamentals of Physics III: Optics and Modern Physics	4

Chemistry Elective
CHEM 105aL	General Chemistry, or
CHEM 115aL	Advanced General Chemistry, or
MASC 110L	Materials Science	4

major requirements		Units
Engineering
ENGR 102	Engineering Freshman Academy	2

Computer Science
CSCI 355	Software Design for Engineers	3

Electrical Engineering
EE 101	Introduction to Digital Logic	3
EE 105	Introduction to Electrical Engineering	3
EE 150L	Engineering Computational Methods	3
EE 200L	Foundations of Electrical Engineering Systems	4
EE 202L	Linear Circuits	4
EE 330	Electromagnetics I	3
EE 364	Introduction to Probability and Statistics for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, or
EE 464	Probability Theory for Engineers	3

Industrial and Systems Engineering
ISE 460	Engineering Economy, or
BUAD 301	Technical Entrepreneurship	3

Major electives		Units
Electives	See requirements for graduation	37
Total units:		131

Requirements for Graduation:

Engineering Electives

Engineering electives are to be chosen from the courses listed under entry-level electives and areas of specialization. At least one elective must be an asterisked course.

Entry-Level Electives

The entry-level courses listed under two of the four following topical areas are required:

Areas of Specialization

Courses in at least one of the 10 areas of specialization listed below are required:

Communication, Control and Signal Processing

Computer Engineering

Electromagnetics and Solid State

Electronic Devices and Circuits

*CD — Capstone Design Elective

Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and Computer Science

See the listing under Computer Engineering.

Minor in Music Recording

A minor in music recording is offered through the USC Thornton School of Music to provide undergraduate students with the background necessary to enter the field of recording engineering and to familiarize them with the design needs of modern recording equipment. The minor is recommended to electrical engineering majors with extensive musical training who would like to combine their technical and musical abilities while learning the engineering applications of physical and mathematical principles to the art of music recording. See the listing under the Thornton School of Music.

Minor in Engineering Technology Commercialization

See listing in the Special Educational Opportunities section.

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

A minimum grade point average of 3.0 must be earned on all course work applied toward the master’s degree in electrical engineering. This average must also be achieved on all 400-level and above course work attempted at USC beyond the bachelor’s degree and through an accumulation of no more than 45 units. Transfer units count as credit (CR) toward the master’s degree and are not computed in the grade point average.

In addition to the general requirements of the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Master of Science in electrical engineering is also subject to the following requirements: (1) a total of at least 27 units is required; (2) every non-EE course for graduate credit requires prior written advisor approval recorded each semester on a special request form in the student’s department file; (3) no more than three courses (maximum 12 units) may be counted at the 400 level – at least 18 advisor-approved units must be taken at the 500 or 600 level; (4) at least 18 units must be taken in electrical engineering, those not in EE require written advisor approval and must be technical in nature; (5) to achieve a degree of breadth in their program, students are encouraged to take two technical courses outside their area of specialization but within EE; (6) at least 21 of the 27 units must be taken in the Viterbi School of Engineering; (7) units to be transferred (maximum four with advisor approval) must have been taken prior to taking classes at USC — interruption of residency is not allowed.

The aerospace controls option is available as an area of emphasis for MSEE students interested in learning to apply innovative control techniques to aerospace control problems. In addition to 18 approved units of electrical engineering courses, students in this option will take at least three of the following aerospace and mechanical engineering courses: AME 453 Engineering Dynamics (3); AME 531 Aerodynamics of Wings and Bodies (3); AME 532ab Flight Vehicle Stability and Control (3-3); AME 525 Engineering Analysis (3); AME 526 Engineering Analytical Methods (3); ASTE 580 Orbital Mechanics I (3).

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (Computer Networks)

Under the computer networks option students must satisfy the M.S., Electrical Engineering requirements with the exception that only 15 units of EE are required. It is expected that each student in this program will take or have taken the equivalent of the following fundamental courses: CSCI 402x, EE 450, EE 457Lx, and EE 465.

The following required courses must be included: CSCI 551, EE 549 or EE 550, and EE 555. Suggested elective courses include: CSCI 530, CSCI 555, CSCI 558L, CSCI 570, CSCI 694a, CSCI 694b, EE 532, EE 535, EE 554, EE 557, EE 558, EE 579, EE 590, EE 599, EE 650, EE 652, EE 659. Any other course must be approved by a faculty advisor. No more than three courses (maximum 12 units) may be counted at the 400 level – at least 18 advisor-approved units must be taken at the 500 or 600 level. Total units required for the degree is 27.

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (Electric Power)

See listing in the Sustainable Infrastructures Systems section.

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (Multimedia and Creative Technologies)

See listing under Multimedia and Creative Technologies.

Master of Science in Systems Architecting and Engineering

See the listing under Systems Architecting and Engineering.

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (Telecommunications)

See Sustainable Infrastructures Systems.

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (VLSI Design)

The Master of Science in electrical engineering (VLSI design) is earned by successfully completing the normal requirements for the Master of Science in electrical engineering, with the following additional required courses: EE 536a; EE 577a; EE 577b or EE 536b; and EE 552. If a student chooses to take EE 536b as well as EE 577b, the student may either count EE 536b as one of the courses for Area 2 or EE 577b as one of the courses for Area 1 or Area 3. No more than three courses (maximum 12 units) may be counted at the 400 level – at least 18 advisor-approved units must be taken at the 500 or 600 level.

The students must also take two courses from one of the following areas and one course from a second area:

With explicit approval of a faculty advisor, EE 599 Special Topics and/or 3 units of EE 590 Directed Research may be used to meet requirements for any of the approved areas.

The remaining courses must be technical electives approved by the advisor, and can including the following: EE 501, EE 502, EE 504L, EE 506, EE 540, EE 554, EE 560, EE 590, EE 601 and EE 677.

Financial Engineering

Faculty Contact: Professor Petros Ioannou, ioannou@usc.edu

Master of Science in Financial Engineering

The objective of this program is the training of graduate students with engineering, applied mathematics or physics backgrounds in the application of mathematical and engineering tools to finance. Financial engineering is a multidisciplinary education program that involves the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Marshall School of Business and the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (Department of Economics). Financial engineering uses tools from finance and economics, engineering, applied mathematics and statistics to address problems such as derivative securities valuation, strategic planning and dynamic investment strategies, and risk management, which are of interest to investment and commercial banks, trading companies, hedge funds, insurance companies, corporate risk managers and regulatory agencies.

A minimum grade point average of 3.0 must be earned on all course work applied toward the master’s degree in financial engineering. Transfer units count as credit (CR) toward the master’s degree and are not computed in the grade point average. In addition to the general requirements of the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Master of Science in financial engineering is also subject to the following requirements: (1) a total of at least 27 units is required, 18 of which have to be from the Viterbi School of Engineering; (2) every plan of study requires prior written approval by the contact faculty of the program; (3) units to be transferred (maximum of four with advisor approval) must have been taken prior to taking classes at USC; interruption of residency is not allowed.

Curriculum

Students are expected to have a background in probability at the level of USC’s EE 465 and linear algebra at the level of USC’s EE 441. Admitted students who do not meet prerequisites by placement examination will be assigned courses to complete the deficiencies.

The degree requirements are minimum of 27 units (18 units have to be from the School of Engineering) which corresponds to nine, three-unit courses. Three of the courses are required and the other six are electives from a restricted list of courses:

Required		Units
GSBA 548	Corporate Finance	3
ISE 563	Financial Engineering	3
EE 556	Stochastic Systems and Finance	3

Electives (advisor approved)		Units
Finance, Business, Economics Area:
Two courses (6 units) from the following:
ECON 500	Microeconomic Analysis and Policy	4
ECON 501	Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy	4
ECON 613	Econometric and Financial Time Series I	4
FBE 529	Financial Analysis and Valuation	3
FBE 535	Applied Finance in Fixed Income Securities	3
FBE 543	Forecasting and Risk Analysis	3
FBE 554	Trading and Exchanges	3
FBE 555	Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management	3
FBE 559	Management of Financial Risk	3
FBE 589	Mortgages and Mortgage-Backed Securities and Markets	3

Optimization, Simulations, Stochastic Systems:
Three courses (9 units) from the following:
CE 645	Uncertainty Modeling and Stochastic Optimization	3
EE 465	Probabilistic Methods in Computer Systems Modeling	3
EE 517	Statistics for Engineers	3
EE 553*	Computational Solution of Optimization Problems	3
EE 562a	Random Processes in Engineering	3
ISE 520*	Optimization: Theory and Algorithms	3
ISE 536	Linear Programming and Extensions	3
ISE 538	Elements of Stochastic Processes	3
ISE 539	Stochastic Elements of Simulation	3

Systems and Control Area:
One course (3 units) from the following:
AME 541	Linear Control Systems II	3
EE 500	Neural and Fuzzy Systems	3
EE 585	Linear System Theory	3
EE 587	Nonlinear and Adaptive Control	3
EE 588	Linear Quadratic Control	3

Viterbi Integrated Master of Science Program (VIP) for the General Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

The Viterbi Integrated Master of Science Program (VIP) allows selected undergraduates from U.S. institutions that are partnered with the Viterbi School to complete the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering with a 6-unit reduction of the total 27 units required.

The VIP Master of Science in Electrical Engineering is subject to the following requirements: (1) students must complete a total of at least 21 units; (2) at least 18 units must be completed at the 500 or 600 level; (3) at least 18 units must be taken in electrical engineering; (4) a minimum grade point average of 3.0 must be earned on all course work applied toward the master’s degree in electrical engineering and all course work attempted at USC beyond the bachelor’s degree. Students are encouraged to complete two technical courses outside their area of specialization but within EE to achieve a degree of breadth in their plan of study.

To be eligible for the VIP program, students must have completed the equivalent of at least two 400-level preparatory courses at their undergraduate institution from the list below prior to enrollment at USC. A designated department advisor for the USC VIP program must approve the course selections.

Preparatory Courses		Units
Complete equivalent of at least two courses
EE 401	Transform Theory for Engineers	3
EE 441	Applied Linear Algebra for Engineering	3
EE 448L	Communication Electronics	4
EE 450	Introduction to Computer Networks	3
EE 454L	Introduction to System Design Using Microprocessors	4
EE 457	Computer Systems Organization	3
EE 464	Probability Theory for Engineers	3
EE 465	Probabilistic Methods in Computer Systems Modeling	3
EE 470	Electromagnetics II	3
EE 477L	MOS VLSI Circuit Design	4
EE 482	Linear Control Systems	3
EE 483	Introduction to Digital Signal Processing	3
CSCI 402x	Operating Systems	3

Students applying to the VIP must be recommended by a faculty representative at a partner undergraduate institution; complete the regular graduate admission application (with exception of the GRE); and hold junior standing in electrical engineering with a 3.5 GPA or better on major related course work.

Second Master’s Degree

A graduate student who already holds a master’s degree from USC or another accredited engineering school may apply up to four units toward a second master’s degree with the permission of the chair of the major department. All credit, including the transferred units, must be earned within seven calendar years.

Engineer in Electrical Engineering

Requirements for the Engineer in electrical engineering are the same as those listed under Engineer degree, except that both areas of concentration must be in electrical engineering.

Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering

The Doctor of Philosophy with a major in electrical engineering is awarded in strict conformity with the general requirements of the USC Graduate School. See general requirements for graduate degrees. Departmental requirements for this degree consist of a concentrated program of study and research and a dissertation. Each student wishing to undertake a doctoral program must first be admitted to the program and then take the screening examination. This examination will emphasize comprehension of fundamental material in one of the 13 specialized areas of electrical engineering listed below. Listed under each area are courses offered by the Department of Electrical Engineering which will provide basic background for the examination and partial preparation for the dissertation. Not all courses listed are required for preparation for the screening examination in any specific area. Consult a separately published guide, available from the department office, for more information concerning examination content and scheduling. Further guidance concerning the full completion of courses, including those given outside the department, which are recommended for preparation for the dissertation, can be obtained from the faculty in each technical area.

Major Fields in Electrical Engineering — Electrophysics

Students may major in the following fields: Electromagnetics-EE 570ab, EE 571ab, EE 572ab, EE 573ab, EE 575, EE 576, EE 578, EE 604; Plasma Science-EE 539, EE 570ab, EE 572ab; Power and Machinery-EE 510, EE 521, EE 524, EE 525; Quantum Electronics-EE 529, EE 530, EE 531, EE 539, EE 540; Solid State-EE 501, EE 502, EE 504L, EE 506, EE 507, EE 508, EE 537, EE 601, EE 604, EE 606, EE 607; Integrated Circuits-EE 471, EE 501, EE 504L, EE 506, EE 536ab, EE 537, EE 540, EE 569, EE 577, EE 585, EE 601, EE 604, EE 605, EE 606, EE 630; Optics-EE 529, EE 530, EE 531, EE 539, EE 540, EE 559, EE 566, EE 569, EE 589, EE 642, EE 669.

Major Fields in Electrical Engineering — Systems

Students may major in the following fields: Biomedical Engineering and Biomathematics-EE 593; Communication Theory-EE 535, EE 538, EE 550, EE 551, EE 562ab, EE 563, EE 564, EE 565ab, EE 566, EE 567, EE 568, EE 569, EE 583, EE 595, EE 663, EE 664, EE 666, EE 667, EE 669; Computer Engineering-CSCI 561, EE 532, EE 545, EE 547, EE 548, EE 549, EE 550, EE 552, EE 553, EE 554, EE 555, EE 557, EE 560, EE 574, EE 577ab, EE 578, EE 579, EE 650, EE 653, EE 657, EE 658, EE 677, EE 680, EE 681 (see program listing for the Master of Science in Computer Engineering); Intelligent Systems-EE 559, CSCI 561, CSCI 574; Signal Processing-EE 500, EE 517, EE 519, EE 522, EE 559, EE 562a, EE 566, EE 569, EE 583, EE 586L, EE 589, EE 591, EE 592, EE 596, EE 619, EE 669; Systems and Controls-EE 553, EE 563, EE 585, EE 586, EE 587, EE 588, EE 593.

Graduate Certificate in Engineering Technology Commercialization

See listing in the Special Educational Opportunities section.

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