Signals, Systems, and Sensing Option

Sensing and system monitoring have numerous applications ranging from wearable, flexible sensors for human health monitoring to nondestructive evaluation of flaws in industrial parts, machinery, or structures. With the continued advances in sensor technologies and the growing need for system identification and diagnostics across industries, there is an increasing demand for engineers specialized in advanced signal analysis, systems, and modern sensor technology.

This option is designed to provide the students with the fundamentals of signal processing, sensors, system identification, and related state-of-the-art applications. Required and suggested courses for this option focus on analyzing engineering systems and principles of system identification and diagnostics, fundamentals of sensor design and applications, and modern approaches to sensory data analysis (signal processing).

Students will be able to interface with and learn from a diverse group of faculty who are experts in various aspects of sensing, systems, and data analysis. This option will prepare the student for careers in a broad range of engineering and applied science fields where sensing is paramount; examples include biomedical, nuclear, automotive, aviation, defense, and manufacturing industries, among others.

Foundational Electives

One course in Signal Processing is required:

• EE 350: Continuous-Time Linear Systems or EE 353: Signals and Systems: Continuous and Discrete-Time

Other Foundational Electives: 

• ESC 313: Introduction to Principles, Fabrication Methods, and Applications of Nanotechnology  
• ESC 419: Electronic Properties and Applications of Materials 
• ME 370: Vibration of Mechanical Systems 
• EE 340: Introduction to Nanoelectronics 
• ESC 400H: Electromagnetic Fields 
• EE 212: Introduction to Electronic Measuring Systems 
• EE 211: Electrical Circuits and Power Distribution 
• EMCH 315/316: Mechanical Response of Engineering Materials 
• CHEM 112: Chemical Principles II 
• EMCH 397: Mechanics of Fluids  
• PHYS 213: General Physics: Fluids and Thermal Physics 
• MATSE 201: Introduction to Materials Science 

Technical Electives

• EMCH 440: Nondestructive Evaluation of Flaws
• ESC 481: Elements of Nano/Micro-electromechanical Systems Processing and Design
• BME 402: Biomedical Instrumentation and Measurements 
• BME 406: Medical Imaging 
• EMCH 470: Analysis and Design in Vibration Engineering 
• EE 453: Fundamentals of Digital Signal Processing 
• EE 455: An introduction to Digital Image Processing 
• IE 497: Manufacturing & Design of Nano Devices 
• EMCH 416H: Failure and Failure Analysis of Solids 
• BME 410: Microfluidics 
• ME 345: Instrumentation, Measurements, and Statistics 
• ESC 417 / MATSE 417: Electrical and Magnetic Properties 

Graduate courses that can be taken as TE: 

• ESC 505: Wearable Electronics 
• ESC 597: Machine Learning for Solving Science & Engineering Problems 
• EMCH 521: Stress Waves in Solids 
• EMCH 523: Ultrasonic Nondestructive Evaluation