Electrical Engineering

Overview

Through flexible core course options and electives, students enrolled in the ESE program pursue a 30-credit-hour MSEE degree. Many courses offer distance learning options through CU Boulder Connect.

Power Electronics (PPE) Track

Power Electronics is a key enabling technology in essentially all electronic systems and is increasingly important in the grid interface of renewable energy sources and in efficient electrical loads. The necessity for power electronics technology in these rapidly expanding areas creates an increasing need for design engineers equipped with knowledge and skills to actively participate in multidisciplinary teams.

Through flexible core course options and electives, students enrolled in this program pursue a 30-credit-hour MSEE degree. The program is intended for students and engineers with a BS degree in electrical engineering or the equivalent. Entering students must have adequate knowledge of circuits and electronics, as taught in undergraduate courses intended for EE majors.

Photonics (PHO) Track

While 20th-century technology was defined by the growth of electronics, the 21st century belongs to photonics. LEDs will light households powered by photovoltaic panels and filled with displays and cameras communicating by optical fiber to distant owners wearing virtual reality glasses. Laser 3D printing will transform manufacturing. New microscopes and telescopes will peer into the depths of living cells and distant galaxies. Photonics graduates will command skills in design, fabrication and laboratory practice to place them at the forefront of these industries and many more not yet invented.

Photonics is the electrical engineering sub-discipline concerned with the generation, modulation, radiative or guided transmission, sensing and detection of optical-frequency signals. Application areas include optical telecommunications, medical instrumentation, photovoltaic power generation, quantum information processing, optical instruments and environmental sensing. While some of these industries are mature, photonics continues to rapidly grow into new industries such as LED lighting and on-chip silicon photonics for multi-core CPUs.

Through flexible core course options and electives, students enrolled in this program pursue a 30-credit-hour MSEE degree. The program is intended for students and engineers with a BS degree in electrical engineering or the equivalent. Entering students must have adequate knowledge of photonics, as taught in undergraduate courses intended for EE majors.

Next-Generation Power and Energy Systems (PPS) Track

The Next-Generation Power and Energy Systems (PPS) track offers five core courses and numerous electives for the 30-credit hour program to prepare students with the specialized knowledge required to practice grid integration of renewable energy into integrated energy systems, taught by instructors from CU Boulder’s faculty and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) research programs

Through flexible core course options and electives, students enrolled in the PPS program pursue a 30-credit-hour MSEE degree. Many courses also offer distance learning options.

Distance Education Option

Students can take individual courses toward a master's degree or graduate certificate through distance education (online).