Electrical & Computer Engineering (MS)

The MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) program at WPI offers extensive and rewarding research opportunities to advance your expertise in your specialty. With courses offered on campus or online, you’ll have the flexibility to earn your degree full-time or part-time around your professional obligations.

WPI is home to the first building in the nation devoted exclusively to electrical engineering education. Atwater Kent Laboratories houses extensive labs and workstation facilities for furthering the practical application of theories.

And no matter how you study, you get full access to our world-renowned faculty and the comprehensive and sophisticated facilities where transformative research happens.

Graduate Admissions

Curriculum

Students in the MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering program complete the majority of their courses and research in electrical and computer engineering, but can also select from courses in allied areas such as computer science, robotics, systems engineering, mathematics, and physics. WPI’s flexible degree program allows you to tailor the studies to your interests.

You’ll complete either a non-thesis option (which permits directed research and/or independent study) or a thesis option. The thesis option is strongly recommended if you plan to enter a PhD program. Students and faculty work closely together to develop a plan of study that matches both your interests and your professional goals.

Graduate Catalog

This degree is also offered online.

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Similar Degrees

Computer Science (MS)

Robotics Engineering (MS)

Electrical & Computer Engineering (MEng)

Electrical and computer engineering students working on a project

Research

Our approach is all about hands-on research. WPI’s world-class faculty are known for fueling breakthroughs that impact the world, and you’ll work alongside them in our labs using devices, instruments, and cutting-edge technologies.

Current ECE faculty research projects:

Secure communication for low-power and hand-held devices and advanced cryptographic algorithms and
Innovative medical devices in areas that include low-frequency electromagnetic modeling of the human body, magnetic resonance imaging, wearable sensors, and prosthesis control systems
Embedded systems, autonomous vehicle navigation (stoplight and lane detection using machine learning) and communication (vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure), solar/wind/renewable energy, cognitive and wireless radio systems, robotic control, power systems

You'll benefit from ECE's varied research focus areas:

Healthcare/Quality of Life: biomedical signal processing/modeling/instrumentation, wearable sensors, MRI/medical/electromagnetic imaging methods, body area networking, on-body antenna prototyping
Security and Privacy: secure control of cyberphysical systems, cryptographic algorithm implementation, network security, embedded security, physical security, side-channel cryptanalysis
Smart and Connected World
- CyberPhysical Systems: embedded systems, real-time digital signal processing, high-performance computing, logic synthesis, RF/microwave circuits, mixed-signal/VLSI circuits, applied and numerical electromagnetics, cognitive and software-defined radio, wireless communications and networking, localization, estimation, and detection
- Robotics: robotic controls, automata theory, optimization, localization for cooperative robotics, machine vision/recognition
- Energy & Sustainability: solar/wind/renewable energy, power electronics, high-voltage technology, energy conversion, smart cities, sustainability engineering, power systems and quality

Research & Facilities

Getting Involved

The graduate student experience at WPI is one that encourages grad students to become active members of the community. With many varied clubs and organizations, ECE grad students are especially welcome to join the Graduate Student Government or campus chapters of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers or Women in Electrical & Computer Engineering.

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Students walking around the fountain in the springtime

After Graduation

Graduates of the MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering program face interesting, rewarding, and well-paid job prospects in industries ranging from communications to robotics to aerospace or power systems. Because of the extensive project-based work here, employers know you’ll be effective and well prepared to jump into any project.

Career Outlook

Electrical & Computer Engineering Department