Program Overview

Introduction to the MS in ECE, APD Program

The MS in ECE, APD (Master of Science, Applied Advanced Study Program) is a four-semester program offered by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. This program is comprised of 133 units of graduate coursework (600-level and above) and is currently available to students who begin their studies at the Pittsburgh campus.

Program Requirements

The Applied Advanced program has the following requirements:

• 60 units of ECE Core courses
• 36 units of CIT Elective courses
• 36 units of General Technical Elective courses
• 1 unit of Introduction to Graduate Studies
• 1 Summer Internship (18-993)

Up to 27 units of research project coursework can be used to satisfy program requirements. Students interested in conducting additional project work may pursue the Intensive Project Option.

Intensive Project Option Requirements

The Intensive Project Option provides students the option to work intensively on a single research project with a CMU faculty member. A student will take a total of 36 units of graduate-level research to count towards their degree in two separate phases.

ECE Core Coursework

60 units (for the course option) or 48 units (for the Intensive Project Option) must be graduate coursework (600-level or above) within ECE (18-XXX).

Exceptions:

• The following ECE (18) courses may not be counted toward ECE Core coursework:
  • 18-601, 18-602, 18-603, 18-605, 18-606, 18-700, 18-701, 18-702, 18-703

CIT Elective Coursework

36 units (for the course option) or 24 units (for the Intensive Project Option) must be graduate coursework (600-level or above) within CIT from the following departments:

• ECE (18)
• Carnegie Institute of Technology (CIT) (39)
• Biomedical Engineering (42)
• Chemical Engineering (06)
• Civil & Environmental Engineering (12)
• Engineering & Public Policy (19)
• Information Network Institute (14)
• Integrated Innovation Institute (49)
• Materials Science & Engineering (27)
• Mechanical Engineering (24)
• CMU-Africa (04)

Exceptions:

• The following CIT courses may not be counted toward CIT Elective Coursework:
  • Engineering & Public Policy (19): 19-602, 19-655
  • Integrated Innovation Institute (49): 49-750, 49-751, 49-761, 49-762, 49-763, 49-764, 49-765, 49-766, 49-767, 49-770, 49-771, 49-772, 49-773, 49-774, 49-775, 49-780, 49-781, 49-782, 49-788, 49-790, 49-791, 49-792, 49-793
  • Mechanical Engineering (24): 24-792
  • CMU-Africa (04): 04-601, 04-602, 04-605, 04-900, 04-980

General Technical Elective Coursework

36 units (for the course option) or 24 units (for the Intensive Project Option) of coursework (600-level or above) can be from the following programs (shown under their parent college) or individually approved courses:

• College of Engineering
  • ECE (18)
  • Carnegie Institute of Technology (CIT) (39)
  • Biomedical Engineering (42)
  • Chemical Engineering (06)
  • Civil & Environmental Engineering (12)
  • Engineering & Public Policy (19)
  • Information Network Institute (14)
  • Integrated Innovation Institute (49)
  • Materials Science & Engineering (27)
  • Mechanical Engineering (24)
  • CMU-Africa (04)
• Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Statistics (36)
  • Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (86)
• H. John Heinz III College (HC)
  • Heinz School of Information Systems (95)
  • Heinz College-Wide Courses (94)
• Mellon College of Science (MCS)
  • Biological Sciences (03)
  • Chemistry (09)
  • Mathematical Sciences (21)
  • Physics (33)
• School of Computer Science (SCS)
  • Computational Biology (02)
  • Computer Science (15)
  • Entertainment Technology Center (53)
  • Institute for Software Research (08)
  • Robotics Institute (16)
  • Human-Computer Interaction Institute (05)
  • Language Technologies Institute (11)
  • Machine Learning (10)
  • Software Engineering (17)
• Tepper School of Business (TEP)
  • Tepper School of Business (45)

Additional courses outside of these programs approved to be counted toward general technical elective coursework:

• 46-926, 46-929
• 47-830, 47-834
• 51-882
• 57-947, 57-948
• 80-713
• 84-688
• 85-777
• 90-756, 90-808
• 93-711
• 99-783

Summer Internship

One internship must be completed during students' first summer semester. Students will register for 18-993 via their academic advisor. Internships will be approved by faculty advisors prior to registration to ensure they are in line with the ECE degree. Internships should be at least 20 hours per week and last for at least 10 weeks.

MS Graduate Project Coursework

36 units (for the project option only) of 18-980 (MS Graduate Project) must be completed. For the project option, students will register for 12 units of 18-980 no sooner than their second semester in the program. Students will then register for the remaining 24 units of 18-982 in the following semester.

Maximum Units Allowed

Students pursuing the MS Applied Advanced Study program cannot register for their final semester if they have already completed 156 units of coursework. These units include courses taken for audit, pass
o pass, and withdrawal.