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PHD in Electrical Engineering

Chapter 6 Graduate Program Requirements/Course Description
College of Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Electrical Engineering

The Department of Electrical Engineering offers advanced coursework integrated with research leading to the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electrical Engineering. The program has emphases in Signals and Systems (communications, signal processing, digital systems, and control). The Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering will be awarded to candidates who have displayed an in-depth understanding of the subject matter and demonstrated the ability to make an original contribution to knowledge in their field of specialty.

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The regulations for this degree comply with the general University regulations (refer to Chapter 3, General Academic Regulations, and Chapter 5, Doctoral Degree Regulations).

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Admission Requirements. The minimum requirements for admission to the Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering degree program are as follows:

  • Normally, a student must hold a Master’s degree before being granted admission to the program. Some exceptionally talented students may enter the Doctor of Philosophy program directly upon receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, with the special approval of the Electrical Engineering Doctoral Studies Committee.
  • Applicants without a Master’s degree program must have a grade point average (GPA) of 3.3 or better in the last 60 hours of undergraduate coursework in Electrical Engineering.
  • Applicants with a Master’s degree must have a GPA of 3.3 or better in their Master’s degree program. Applicants with a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or in a related field may apply a maximum of 30 hours of previously earned graduate credit toward their doctoral degree. Each student’s transcript will be evaluated by the Doctoral Studies Committee and credit will be designated on a course-by-course basis to satisfy the formal coursework requirements of the degree. A maximum of six hours credit may be awarded for a Master’s thesis.
  • A satisfactory score, as specified by the Doctoral Studies Committee for Electrical Engineering, is required on the GRE General Aptitude Test. Students whose native language is not English must achieve a minimum score of 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). If an applicant’s performance on a standardized test is used for that purpose, it will be considered with other criteria when making an admissions or competitive scholarship decision and will not be used as the sole criterion for consideration of the applicant or as the primary criterion to end consideration of the applicant.
  • Letters of recommendation, preferably three, attesting to the applicant's readiness for doctoral study.
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A complete application includes the application form, official transcripts, letters of recommendation, GRE scores, a résumé, a statement of research experience, interests, and goals, and the TOEFL score for those applicants whose native language is not English. Admission is competitive. Satisfying these requirements does not guarantee admission.

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Degree Requirements and Program of Study. Typical doctoral studies will consist of 90 hours beyond the Bachelor’s degree or 60 hours beyond the Master’s degree. Undergraduate courses, general education courses, and prerequisites for graduate courses cannot be counted toward this total. The hours are divided as follows:

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a. Courses required of all students in the proposed program 9
b. Elective courses prescribed for those students 24
c. Courses freely elected by students 21

d. Electrical engineering research: either doctoral research plus master's thesis (6+12) or doctoral research only

 18
Doctoral dissertation 18

Total

 90

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9 semester credit hours of Required Courses selected from the following:

EE 5123 Computer Architecture
EE 5143 Linear Systems and Control
EE 5153 Random Signals and Noise
EE 5163 Digital Signal Processing
EE 5183 Foundations of Communication Theory

24 semester credit hours of Prescribed Elective Courses selected from the following:

EE 5223 Topics in Digital Design
EE 5243 Topics in Control Systems
EE 5263 Topics in Digital Signal Processing and Digital Filtering
EE 5283 Topics in Communication Systems
EE 5323 VLSI Design
EE 5343 Intelligent Control and Robotics
EE 5363 Digital Image Processing
EE 5383 Digital Information Theory
EE 5423 Topics in Computer Architecture
EE 5443 Discrete-Time Control Theory and Design
EE 5463 Artificial Neural Networks
EE 5483 Probabilistic Coding Theory
EE 6323 Advanced Topics in Computers
EE 6343 Advanced Topics in Control
EE 6363 Advanced Topics in Signal Processing
EE 6383 Advanced Topics in Communications
EE 6951-3 Independent Study
EE 6971-3 Special Problems
EE 7423 VLSI for Signal Processing
EE 7443 Nonlinear Control Systems
EE 7463 Pattern Analysis and Machine Vision
EE 7483 Communication Networks

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21 semester credit hours of Free Electives

Students may select free electives from the courses listed above, and from approved graduate courses in Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Physics, and other Engineering disciplines. At least two courses must be from outside of Electrical Engineering. Sample courses in related fields are described below.

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EGR 5093 Special Topics in Engineering Analysis
CS 6513 Advanced Architecture
CS 6593 Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems
CS 6643 Parallel Processing
MAT 5293 Numerical Linear Algebra
MAT 5313 Algebra II
MAT 5403 Functional Analysis
ME 5143 Advanced Dynamics
ME 5173 Nonlinear Systems
STA 5103 Applied Statistical Methods
STA 5253 Applied Time Series Analysis
STA 5513 Mathematical Statistics II

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Electrical Engineering Research (18 Hours):

EE 6961 Comprehensive Examination
EE 6983 Master’s Theses
EE 7991 Research Seminar
EE 7953 Doctoral Research

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Doctoral Dissertation (18 hours):

EE 7993-6 Doctoral Dissertation

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The entire program of study must be approved by the student’s dissertation advisor, dissertation committee, and doctoral studies committee and must be submitted to the Dean of Graduate Studies for final approval. The courses are intended to focus and support the individual’s mastery of his or her particular area of expertise.

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Advancement to Candidacy. All students seeking a doctoral degree at UTSA must be admitted to candidacy. One of the requirements for admission to candidacy is passing a doctoral qualifying examination. Students should consult the University’s Doctoral Degree Regulations for the other requirements.

Qualifying Examination. The qualifying examination is divided into written and oral portions.

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Written Portion of the Qualifying Examination . Prior to taking the written examination, the student must have a Program of Study on file. The written portion of the doctoral qualifying examination is scheduled near the end of the Fall and Spring semesters. Students wishing to take the examination must submit their request in writing to the Doctoral Advisor of Record by the fourth week of that semester. Normally, the written examination is taken in the Fall semester of the student’s second year. Students who fail their first attempt at the written examination are allowed to make a second attempt on the next written examination. No more than two attempts to pass the written examination are permitted.

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Students must select and pass three examinations from the five areas corresponding to the five core courses in the graduate program. One of the three examinations must be from the area of specialization declared on the student’s Program of Study. The Doctoral Studies Committee will select two Electrical Engineering faculty members per section to write the examination sections.

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Oral Portion of the Qualifying Examination. The oral examination must be taken within one year after passing the written portion of the qualifying examination. No more than two attempts to pass the oral examination are permitted.

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A four member Oral Examination Committee, chaired by the student’s Supervising Professor, conducts the oral examination. A written dissertation proposal should be submitted to the student’s Oral Examination Committee at least two weeks before the oral presentation. The format of the oral examination consists of a public presentation of the student’s dissertation proposal, followed by a period of questioning by the Committee based on the proposal and on relevant background from the student’s Program of Study. Unanimous approval of the Oral Examination Committee is required to pass the oral examination. After the student passes both the written and oral portions of the doctoral qualifying examination, he or she is admitted to candidacy. Admission into the doctoral program does not guarantee advancement to candidacy.

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Final Oral Dissertation Defense. After admission to candidacy, the next steps are writing the dissertation and passing the final oral defense. The final oral defense is administered and evaluated by the student’s Dissertation Committee and covers the dissertation and the general field of the dissertation. The final oral defense consists of a public presentation of the dissertation, followed by a closed oral defense. The Dissertation Committee must unanimously approve the dissertation.

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