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Corporate & Professional Education

Electrical Engineering

The Electrical Engineering program has been developed to meet the educational needs of professionals working within discipline. The graduate courses in the program will be taught by WPI faculty in Newport, RI with the use of distance learning technology to accommodate for those traveling on business. Anyone with an undergraduate degree is welcome to apply for admission into the program.

All of the courses will carry graduate credit and can be applicable to a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, upon admission into the degree program. For more information, please contact Rachel Yamartino at +1-508-831-6222 or riy@wpi.edu.

Program Curricula:

ECE 504 Analysis of Deterministic Signals and Systems
 Review of Fourier series and linear algebra. Fourier transforms, Laplace transforms, Z transforms and their interrelationship. State space modeling of continuous-time and discrete-time systems. Cannonical forms, solution of state equations, control-lability, observability and stability of linear systems. Pole placement via state feedback, observer design, Lyapunov stability analysis. (Prerequisite: Undergraduate course in signals and systems.)

ECE 532 Digital Communications: Modulations and Coding
 Studies various modulation techniques and coding schemes for digital communications over additive white Gaussian noise channels. Overview of communication networks, and relation to link design and modem design technology. Representation of bandpass signals. Binary and M-ary signaling, basic modulation techniques: PSK, FSK, PAM, QAM and MSK. Timing and phase recovery. Introduction to information theory, source coding and channel coding. Signaling with coded waveforms, soft decision and hard decision block codes, convolutional codes and Trellis Code Modulation. Characterization of time-dispersive band-limited channels and intersymbol interference (ISI). (Prerequisite: ECE 502.)

MG 576 Project Management
 This course presents the specific concepts, techniques and tools for managing projects effectively. The role of the project manager as team leader is examined, together with important techniques for controlling cost, schedules and performance parameters. Lectures, case studies and projects are combined to develop skills needed by project managers in today's environment.

ECE 531 Principles of Detection and Estimation Theory
 Detection of signals in noise, optimum receiver principles, M-ary detection, matched filters, orthogonal signals and representations of random processes. MAP and maximum likelihood estimation. Wiener filtering and Kalman filtering. Channel considerations: pre-whitening, fading and diversity combining. (Prerequisites: ECE 502 and ECE 504 or equivalent.)

ECE 539 Selected Topics in Communication Theory and Signal Processing
 Topics from the following: sensitivity and error analysis in linear systems; band-limited signals; the uncertainty principle; bandwidth compression, nonstationary processes; radio and inter-symbol interference. Current problems in digital and analog communications; two-dimensional Fourier analysis; pattern recognition; Fourier optics. Timeseries analysis, radar signals, graph theory and information theory.

MG 533 Negotiations
 This course focuses on improving the student's understanding of the negotiation process and effectiveness as a negotiator. Emphasizes issues related to negotiating within and on behalf of organizations, the role of third parties, the sources of power within negotiation, and the impact of gender, culture and other differences. Conducted in workshop format, combining theory and practice.

ECE 578 Cryptography and Data Security
 This course gives a comprehensive introduction into the field of cryptography and data security. The course begins with the introduction of the concepts of data security, where classical algorithms serve as an example. Different attacks on cryptographic systems are classified. Some pseudo-random generators are introduced. The concepts of public and private key cryptography are developed. As important representatives for secret key schemes, DES and IDEA are described. The public key schemes RSA and ElGamal, and systems based on elliptic curves are then developed. Signature algorithms, hash functions, key distribution and identification schemes are treated as advanced topics. Some advanced mathematical algorithms for attacking cryptographic schemes are discussed. Application examples will include a protocol for security in a LAN and a secure smart card system for electronic banking. Special consideration will be given to schemes which are relevant for network environments. For all schemes, implementation aspects and up-to-date security estimations will be discussed. (Prerequisites: Working knowledge of C; an interest in discrete mathematics and algorithms is highly desirable. Students interested in a further study of the underlying mathematics may register for MA 4891 [B term], where topics in modern algebra relevant to cryptography will be treated.)

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Last modified: December 12, 2007 13:08:32