Guidelines for MSEE Students

I want to put my expectations, as your advisor,  in writing so that there are no misunderstandings. I hope that these notes will help you to understand the goals on the MSEE program (as I see them) and assist you in getting started on your coursework and research.

What I am here to do is

1. provide you with guidance for developing your course plan,
2. approve courses you take, drop, or add,
3. guide your thesis, and
4. chair your graduate committee.

I am NOT HERE to

1. hold your hand through classes,
2. provide you guidance on international student issues, or
3. handle graduate school issues.

The MSEE degree is composed of 33 credit hours, which amounts to about 11 classes. A central element to your degree is your committee. The committee is made of your advisor and two or three other faculty members. This is the group you must satisfy to graduate.

There are two basic options for the MSEE program at UAB

1. Non-Thesis or Project

This program requires 10 courses and one project. The project is taken during the last term as EE697 for a credit of three hours. The project consists of work that you do on your own, with your advisors guidance. When the project is complete, you present your work to your committee, who then (a) approves it, allowing you to graduate, or (b) disapproves it telling you what else you need to do to have an acceptable work product. The completed project requires a write-up and the presentation to the committee – called the defense.

2. Thesis

The thesis requires nine courses and a written thesis, which counts for three courses as EE699. The EE699 hours can be taken when most of your regular coursework is complete. They can be taken all at once – 9 hours – or in individual terms at three hours each. The primary difference between the thesis and the project is the number of hours and the result of the work. The thesis, like the project, is written up in a report (thesis) and presented to the committee at the defense. The main difference is that the thesis is a formal publication in the graduate school and gets bound and published. As such, the graduate school has strict formatting and editing requirements for the thesis.

What is the difference?

As you can tell, these sound a lot alike. The difference is the thesis is publishable work and counts for more credit. It is my opinion that the thesis is a better deal and easier to do than taking the extra course load. However, if you want to take the extra courses because you want to learn more about the topic, than the project might be the way to go. (But not with me as advisor.)

As a rule, if you are planning on pursuing a PhD, I would recommend the thesis, since it is better preparation toward the rigor of research and writing that will be required for successful completion of a PhD program.

Initially you should develop a course plan. Go to this site and fill out the plan in MS Word. Print a copy and bring to your advisor for your first meeting. You should fill out this course plan the best you know how, and then go over the plan with the advisor. Each term you should update this form and copy to Sandra.

Here are the courses I suggest for a person interested in telecommunications. (The course plan is pre-filled out with the relevant telecom courses.)

Telecom Major (4 out of those listed below)

• EE 532 Introduction to Computer Networking
• EE518 Wireless Communications
• EE633 Experiments in Networking
• EE542 Computer Networking Protocols
• EE 733 Experiments in Computer Networking
• EE 523 Digital signal processing
• EE628 or EE629 Telecommunications I and II (Not both)

Related Courses (2 out of the list below)

• EE626 Digital Image Processing
• EE 533 Engineering Software Solutions
• EE 547 Internet/Intranet Application Development
• EE 740 Object-Oriented Design
• EE 634 Introduction to Neural Networks
• EE 641 Modern Control I
• CS 620 Computer Systems I
• CS 621 Computer Systems II
• CS 663 Knowledge discovery and data mining

Math Content Courses (2 out of the list below - the first two are the preferred courses)

• EE621 Random Variables *
• EE625 Information Theory and Coding *
• CS 680 Numerical Computing Foundations
• MA 540 Advanced Calculus I
• MA 541 Advanced Calculus II
• MA 642 Advanced Calculus III
• MA 671 Topology
• MA course in Linear Algebra
• MA course in Numerical Methods

Other Courses (You may take or need these)

• EE601 Seminar * (required for international students)
• EE699 Thesis * (Three of these are required)
• Any of the above courses

A Note about Special Topics Courses

• From time to time I might offer a special topics course (EE690) for directed research. However, I will not offer this to individual students unless they are in their last term and doing research on a thesis and showing good progress. As your advisor, I will NOT accept these courses from other faculty UNLESS IT HAS BEEN PREAPPROVED.

D. Keeping an Engineering Notebook

I strongly encourage you to keep an engineering notebook during your time at UAB as a graduate student. The practice of keeping a notebook has many benefits now as well as when you are working in industry. (See link - http://www-ece.eng.uab.edu/DGreen/notebook.html)

My typical approach is to try to direct your thesis toward a research topic related to that other graduate students I am advising. In this way we have a team effort around similar projects, and each persons work will help to benefit others on the team. The major areas of focus I have right now are listed here.

• Wireless networking.
• Robotic protocols - dealing with TCP/IP communication between distributed peer to peer robots or client server type robots.
• Vision systems.

A key is too start early. Get with me and get on the team immediately. Many students make the mistake of waiting until their last term to try to find a topic for the project or thesis. Waiting is a mistake that will keep you in school longer than you intended.

F. Thesis Guidelines

The goals of the MSEE program and the thesis are as follows.

• Learn to do research.
• Learn to present ideas - written and oral.
• Market yourself to industry through publications, conferences, and research relationships.
• Contribute to the field of engineering.

My requirements for deliverables for the 3 course thesis sequence.

• Do research in the filed.
• Publish paper(s).
• Develop and defend your thesis.

Dates/Deadlines - See the thesis web site for a minimum set of deadlines and guidelines. At least one month before you begin taking thesis hours I expect a hard and electronic copy of your thesis proposal.

Thesis Proposal - In addition to the departments required elements of the thesis proposal, I will require

• your cover sheet (see and example cover sheet),
• your completed application for degree, and
• your publication targets and dates.

Target Publications - The best way to determine what your target publications are is to see where similar papers are published. Search the IEEE and ACM databases. Also search Google Scholar.

Thesis Review - When the thesis is almost complete, you need to have it reviewed by an editor. FACULTY WILL NOT DO THIS PART. Contact the graduate school to get the names of reviewers/editors.

Thesis - When your thesis is ready to defend

• setup a suitable time with the committee,
• notify the graduate school (at least two weeks in advance)
• send the committee members a hard and electonic copy of your thesis, and
• send me a copy of you PPT slides (two weeks in advance).