Graduate Programs - MS Theses/Projects

MS Thesis or Project Requirement

Students must take 4 credits of Thesis (EC 901) or Project (EC 910, EC 911, EC 912, EC 913, EC914, EC 915) or an approved project-oriented course (EC 712, EC 757, EC 772). This may also count as a concentration requirement but may not count as an advanced technical elective.

Thesis

Students wishing to undertake a research project must be supervised by a member of the department or by someone acceptable to the Associate Chairman for Graduate Studies. The suitability of the research is determined primarily by the student's thesis advisor, based on informal discussions and a brief written thesis proposal. Thesis proposal guidelines are available and should be consulted. Registration for ENG EC 901 Thesis cannot begin until an acceptable proposal has been submitted. Thesis students register for ENG EC 901 each semester they work on their project, and may apply up to 8 credits of EC 901 registration toward the 36 credits required for the degree. When a graduate student nears completion of his or her MS research, an oral defense of the work must be scheduled. For thesis submission deadlines, please see the the graduate bulletin. The thesis advisor and readers are responsible for establishing the format of the public defense. The results of the student's research must be communicated to the scientific and engineering communities as a formal thesis. Editorial guidance can be found in A Guide for the Writers of Dissertations and Theses, available in the departmental office or in the College Graduate Programs Office. The student must submit the thesis to Mugar Memorial Library and provide a copy to the advisor, to each reader, and to the Associate Chairman for Graduate Studies.

Project

The project requirement is generally satisfied through one of the 900-level EC project courses (EC 910, 911, 912, 913, 914 and 915). With the exception of EC 912 Software Engineering Project and EC 915 CSE Team Project, which are offered as a regularly scheduled courses, these courses are generally arranged by a student or group of students with an individual faculty member. Faculty members may also announce the availability of projects for interested students. Students taking the 900-level project courses will present their work at the end of the semester they finish the project. MS project guidelines can be found here and the MS Project Proposal form can be found here.

It is also possible to satisfy the project requirement by taking one of the designated 700-level courses (EC 712, EC 757, or EC 772) that include a substantial project as an integral part of the course material. Students should be aware that the 700-level project courses cannot be used to satisfy the advanced coursework requirement