Embedded Systems Engineering Subplan, Professional Master's Program

From ESE to augmented and virtual reality engineer

“It’s amazing that I use fundamental learnings from my grad program—such as identifying bottlenecks in engineer workloads, or other steps that allow efficient processing in a complex environment—on a daily basis in my work." - Abhishikta Pandit

Read Abhishikta's story
The Embedded Systems Engineering (ESE) subplan in our Professional Master's Program provides comprehensive coverage of essential embedded technologies, current tools and trends. It is structured to provide students with a broad, versatile skillset and coupled with industry input for continuous curriculum updates.
 
Through flexible course options, students enrolled in the ESE subplan may pursue a 9-credit hour certificate or a 30-credit hour Master of Science degree. The certificate and degrees are able to be completed online, with the majority of classes having an online section option. 
 

Most of us casually encounter dozens of embedded systems by mid-morning each day — in our residences, on our roadways and in our workplaces. Fundamentally, an embedded system is some combination of hardware and software designed for a particular function. It senses a real-world condition, performs some computation, then produces output data or some form of control.

These intelligent machines are a permanent part of our global landscape, continuously expanded and upgraded by a world of forward-thinking engineers and entrepreneurs. Application domains include aerospace and defense, energy, industrial automation, medical devices, networking and communications, security, transportation and more. A major driver of continued growth is the Internet of Things (IoT) — the connectivity of embedded systems to the internet — enabling countless human-to-machine and machine-to-machine applications ranging from home automation to industrial monitoring and well beyond.

Fueled by dramatic reductions in size, cost and power consumption, combined with the ever-increasing availability of wireless networking technology, the number of connected IoT devices has surpassed 21 billion and is projected to nearly double within the decade. The global IoT market, spanning nodes, gateways, platforms, software and services, has crossed the trillion-dollar threshold and continues to expand rapidly. This growth brings with it greater design challenges around low-power operation, security, device management at scale, and the capture and analysis of vast amounts of real-time data. From whatever perspective students choose to examine it, the magnitude and breadth of opportunity is clear across a multitude of end markets.

The Embedded Systems Engineering certificate, offered by the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, provides students the competitive hardware and software knowledge and skills needed to design and implement these systems.

 
 

ESE Core Courses

ESE Electives

  • ECEN 5003 Embedded AI (Fall semesters only; this courser number will be updated to a new number in Fall 2027)
  • ECEN 5133 Fundamentals of Computer Security 
  • ECEN 5224 High Speed Digital Design 
  • ECEN 5593 Advanced Computer Architecture*  
  • ECEN 5713 Advanced Embedded Software Development*
  • ECEN 5730 Practical PCB Design and Manufacture
  • ECEN 5763 Embedded Computer Vision*
  • ECEN 5773 Developing Industrial Internet of Things*
  • ECEN 5313 Concurrent Programming 
  • ECEN 5523 Compiler Construction 
  • ECEN 5253 Datacenter Scale Computing
  • ECEN 5139 Computer Aided Verification

  • In some semesters, an ESE specific Special Topic offering may be offered. Department academic advisors will email students for these instances of additional elective-specific offerings in the semester they occur.

     

  • Those indicated with an asterisk (*) above have an online section.
  • All courses are 3 credits.
  • See our spreadsheet for when courses are generally taught. 

The ESE courses are a subplan in the Professional Master of Science degree. Students must apply and be admitted to the Professional MS program and the ESE subplan.  

ESE MS subplan requirements:

  • Any five ESE core courses.
  • Any two ESE elective courses (or additional ESE core courses).
  • Three open 5000-level electives, either ESE core or elective, other ECEE, or other technical coursework in College of Engineering and Applied Science departments (must be approved by academic advisor).
    • Students may take one nontechnical elective, if approved by academic advisor. 

Students graduate with a Master of Science in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Subplan: Embedded Systems Engineering.

Professor Eric Keller serves as the Director of the ESE subplan. 

Yes, the Embedded Systems Engineering subplan can be completed in-person or online.