Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University

The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department provides high-quality degree programs that emphasize fundamental principles, respond to the changing demands and opportunities of new technology, challenge the exceptional abilities of Rice students, and prepare students for roles of leadership in their chosen careers.

The department's research areas include: Computer Engineering; Data Science; Neuroengineering; Photonics, Electronics, and Nano-devices; and Systems.

• Computer Engineering topics include: computer architecture, high performance application specific systems, mobile and embedded systems, integrated circuits and antennas for medical imaging and bio-sensing, and parallel I/O for large-scale network storage systems.
• Data Science topics include: data acquisition, data analytics, data storage, and computing infrastructure. 
• Neuroengineering topics include: neural signal processing, brain-computer interfaces at the device, circuit, and systems levels.  
• Photonics, Electronics, and Nano-devices topics include: nanophotonics/nanospectroscopy, molecular electronics, biophotonics, ultrafast optics and optoelectronics, materials for energy, semiconductor optics and devices, multispectral imaging and terahertz imaging, and condensed matter physics/materials science.
• Systems topics include: communications systems, dynamical systems and computation, networks, signal and image processing, wireless networking, pattern recognition, scalable personal healthcare, and computational neuroscience and neuroengineering

The Electrical and Computer Engineering department offers two undergraduate degree programs. The Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) degree program is comprehensive and covers fundamental and emerging hardware and software topics. Courses, research, and design projects grouped in four areas of specialization prepare students for technical leadership in engineering, computing, and science careers. The ECE department also offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Electrical Engineering degree program.

The Electrical and Computer Engineering department offers two graduate degree programs. The Master of Electrical and Computer Engineering (MECE) degree is a course-based program designed to increase a student’s mastery of advanced subjects; no thesis is required. The MECE prepares a student to succeed and advance rapidly in today’s competitive technical marketplace.

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree program prepares students for a research career in academia or industry. The PhD degree program consists of formal courses and original research conducted under the guidance of a faculty advisor, leading to a thesis. Students in the PhD program complete a Master of Science (MS) degree as part of their program; the Electrical and Computer Engineering department does not admit students for a terminal MS degree.