Program Statistics
Visit Master's Program Statistics and PhD Program Statistics for statistics such as program admissions, enrollment, student demographics and more.
Computer Engineering
Degree Types: MS, PhD
Northwestern University’s Computer Engineering program is a joint program between the Department of Computer Science (CS) and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), and offers programs leading to the MS and PhD degrees in Computer Engineering (CE). Computer Engineering covers a diverse set of areas including, but not limited to, integrated circuits/VLSI, computer architecture, computer systems, operating systems, compilers, data mining, high-performance and parallel computing, distributed computing, design automation, embedded systems, reconfigurable systems, mobile and wearable computing, internet of things, cyber-physical systems, real-time systems, and database systems.
The broad interdisciplinary interests of our faculty lead to strong collaborative research with other engineering and science departments, the Feinberg School of Medicine, national laboratories including Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as well as industry.
When applying to the PhD or MS program, students should specify CE as the specific program which will represent their major field of study.
Additional resources:
Program Contact
Contact Ammon Johnson
Business Administrator
Error retrieving degree requirements data from Academic Catalog.
Degree Requirements
The following requirements are in addition to, or further elaborate upon, those requirements outlined in The Graduate School Policy Guide.
Course Requirements
- Total Units Required: 15 units that count for graduate (TGS) credit.
- The cumulative grade point average over these 15 units must be a B (3.0 GPA) or higher. Courses taken for P/N credit do not count toward calculating the grade-point average (GPA).
- Complete the zero-credit GEN_ENG 519-0 Responsible Conduct for Research Training during their first year.
- In each quarter, the study plan should be approved by the student’s adviser prior to registration.
- Restrictions:
- COMP_ENG 590-0 Research, COMP_SCI 590-0 Research, ELEC_ENG 590-0 Research do not count toward the 15 units requirement.
- COMP_SCI 301-0 Introduction to Robotics Laboratory, ELEC_ENG 302-0 Probabilistic Systems, COMP_ENG 399-0 Projects, COMP_SCI 399-0 Projects, ELEC_ENG 399-0 Projects do not count toward the Computer Engineering PhD degree. They are intended for undergraduate students only.
- At most 6 units of COMP_ENG 499-0 Projects, COMP_SCI 499-0 Projects, ELEC_ENG 499-0 Projects can be counted toward the 15 units requirement.
- At least 6 of the required 15 units should be from 400-level courses or above.
- All "Core Courses" below are mandatory and count toward the 15 units requirement.
- At least 6 of the required 15 units should be from the "Track Courses" category below.
- All courses that can be taken for a quality grade (i.e., ABC grading, not P/N) must be taken for a quality grade to count toward the CE PhD degree. Courses with grades of Pass (P) taken in the Spring 2020 quarter will count toward the course requirements of the PhD degree in Computer Engineering. COMP_ENG 590-0 Research can be taken as a P/N course.
Core Courses (1 unit)
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
COMP_ENG 361-0 | Computer Architecture I |
Track Courses (6 units)
- These courses must fulfill at least three of the six tracks.
- A track is fulfilled when the student completes at least two of the track’s courses. The Computer Architecture track requires only one additional course to be completed in addition to COMP_ENG 361-0 Computer Architecture I.
- A course that is listed in two different tracks can fulfill both track requirements, but can be counted only once toward the 6 units.
- Additional 300- level and above courses can fulfill track requirements with the consent of the student's adviser and the Director of Graduate Studies in Computer Engineering.
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| Track A. Digital Design & VLSI | |
COMP_ENG 303-0 | Advanced Digital Design |
COMP_ENG 355-0 | ASIC and FPGA Design |
COMP_ENG 357-0 | Design Automation in VLSI |
COMP_ENG 391-0 | CMOS VLSI Circuit Design |
COMP_ENG 393-0 | Advanced Low Power VLSI and Mixed-signal IC Design |
COMP_ENG 459-0 | VLSI Algorithmics |
COMP_ENG 493-0 | Advanced Low Power VLSI and Mixed-signal IC Design |
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| Track B. Embedded Systems | |
COMP_ENG 346-0 | Microcontroller System Design |
COMP_ENG 347-1 | Microprocessor Systems Project I |
COMP_ENG 347-2 | Microprocessor Systems Project II |
COMP_ENG 364-0 | CyberPhysical Systems Design and Application |
COMP_ENG 365-0 | Internet-of-things Sensors, Systems, And Applications |
COMP_ENG 366-0 | Embedded Systems |
COMP_ENG 464-0 | Cyber-Physical Systems Design and Application |
COMP_ENG 465-0 | Internet-of-things Sensors, Systems, And Applications |
COMP_ENG 466-0 | Embedded Systems |
ELEC_ENG 390-0 | Introduction to Robotics |
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| Track C. Computer Architecture | |
The Computer Architecture track requires only one course from the list below to be completed. | |
COMP_ENG 368-0 | Programming Massively Parallel Processors with CUDA |
COMP_ENG 452-0 | Adv Computer Architecture |
COMP_ENG 453-0 | Parallel Architectures |
COMP_ENG 468-0 | Programming Massively Parallel Processors with CUDA |
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| Track D. Software Systems | |
COMP_SCI 321-0 | Programming Languages |
COMP_SCI 322-0 | Compiler Construction |
COMP_SCI 323-0 | Code Analysis and Transformation |
COMP_SCI 339-0 | Introduction to Database Systems |
COMP_SCI 340-0 | Introduction to Networking |
COMP_SCI 343-0 | Operating Systems |
COMP_SCI 345-0 | Distributed Systems |
COMP_SCI 351-1 | Introduction to Computer Graphics |
COMP_SCI 354-0 | Computer System Security |
COMP_SCI 446-0 | Kernel and Other Low-level Software Development |
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| Track E. Parallel and Distributed Systems | |
COMP_ENG 329-0 | The Art of Multicore Concurrent Programming |
COMP_ENG 358-0 | Introduction to Parallel Computing |
COMP_ENG 368-0 | Programming Massively Parallel Processors with CUDA |
COMP_ENG 395-0 | Special Topics in Computer Engineering (Blockchain and Cryptocurrency) |
COMP_ENG 453-0 | Parallel Architectures |
COMP_ENG 468-0 | Programming Massively Parallel Processors with CUDA |
COMP_SCI 340-0 | Introduction to Networking |
COMP_SCI 345-0 | Distributed Systems |
ELEC_ENG 333-0 | Introduction to Communication Networks |
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| Track F. Algorithms | |
COMP_ENG 356-0 | Introduction to Formal Specification & Verification |
COMP_ENG 459-0 | VLSI Algorithmics |
COMP_ENG 510-0 | Seminar (Social Media Mining) |
COMP_SCI 336-0 | Design & Analysis of Algorithms |
ELEC_ENG 332-0 | Introduction to Computer Vision |
ELEC_ENG 390-0 | Introduction to Robotics |
IEMS 450-1 | Mathematical Optimization I |
IEMS 450-2 | Mathematical Optimization II |
IEMS 457-0 | Integer Programming |
Other PhD Degree Requirements
- Advising Requirement: students admitted to the Computer Engineering PhD program must secure a permanent research faculty advisor by the end of the 3rd quarter of study (typically the end of the spring quarter). The student-advisor pairing must be officially declared through GSTS. The permanent research faculty advisor must be a Computer Engineering faculty member.
- Teaching Requirement
- Admission to PhD Candidacy through coursework or oral qualifier examination
- Annual Academic Standing Review
- Prospectus Examination
- Dissertation and Defense
Additional requirements and processes are detailed in the Computer Engineering Graduate Study Guide and The Graduate School Policy Guide.