Master of Engineering

The Master of Engineering (MEng) degree prepares graduates with the knowledge and skills needed for mid-level and advanced positions in industries related to computing technology. It is completable by students participating part time, full time, or full time accelerated (i.e., in one year). The program provides students with in-depth knowledge about software development, the research and development process, communications skills, and ethical issues related to computing technology. It also provides access to a broad range of specialty areas within computer science. These include the opportunity to specialize in topics such as software engineering, internet software development, human-computer interaction, data analytics and machine learning, computer security, and artificial intelligence.

The MEng requires 30 credit hours of graded coursework. This must be at the 4000 level or higher, with a maximum of six credits at the 4000 level. The Final Exam requirement is typically completed by successfully passing CS5934 Capstone Project. Students must complete a three-course concentration area. Students satisfy University requirements related to ethics, diversity, conflict of interest, and conduct of research by taking CS5024 Ethics and Professionalism in Computer Science.

Concentration Requirements

All students are required to satisfy a requirement for a 3-course concentration. We plan to initially provide courses in the following three concentration areas. 

1.      Data Analytics and Machine Learning: Pick 3 of CS5664 (Social Media Analytics), CS5525-6 (Data Analytics), CS5824 (Adv Machine Learning)

2.      Computer Security: Pick 3 of CS5560 (Fundamentals Info Security), CS5580 (Cryptographic Engineering), CS5584 (Network Security), CS5590 (System and Software Security)

3.      AI: Pick 3 of CS5804 (Intro to AI), CS5824 (Adv Machine Learning), CS5834 (Introduction to Urban Computing)

As student enrollment increases, the following three concentrations will be added.

4.      Software Engineering: Pick 3 of CS5704 (Software Engineering), CS5744 (Software Design and Quality), CS5774 (User Interface Software)

5.      Human-Computer Interaction: Pick 3 of CS5714 (Usability Engineering), CS5724 (Models and Theories of HCI), CS5734 (Social Computing and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work), CS5764 (Information Visualization), and CS5774 (User Interface Software)

6.      Internet Software Development: Pick 3 of CS5244 (Web Application Development), CS5254 (Mobile Application Development), CS5614 (Database Management), CS5774 (User Interface Software)

Graduate School Ethics, Inclusion, and Diversity Requirements

The Graduate School requires that all graduate students satisfy two sets of requirements: one addressing training in Scholarly Ethics and Integrity, and one addressing Inclusion and Diversity. This is done by completing CS5024 Ethics and Professionalism in Computer Science.

Credit Distribution Requirements

Note: Each of the lines above must be interpreted as an individual, distinct, constraint so that all constraints have to be simultaneously satisfied. The columns are not meant to "add up", i.e., 30+3+3+9 is obviously not equal to 30.

All courses must be in CS, except that one course outside CS may be used if it appears on the cognate course list.

Additional credit hours may be taken in any category, but do not count toward degree requirements. Substitutions for degree requirements are allowed only under rare or exceptional circumstances. Requests for substitutions must be made to the GD.

All courses must be at the 5000 level or above with possibly at most two 4000-level courses included. If a 4000-level course is included, it must be from the list of CS 4000-level courses approved for graduate credit. Credits from CS5894 Final Examination, CS5904 Project and Report, CS5944 Graduate Seminar, CS5994 Research and Thesis, and CS7994 Research and Dissertation cannot be used to satisfy any MENG credit requirements.

Advisor and Committee

All graduate students have access to a faculty advisor who can help with both academic advising (i.e., issues related to getting a degree) and career advising. The composition for an MENG advisory committee typically consists of three members as follows:

• The chair of the committee (advisor) is the instructor for CS5934 Capstone Project.
• The two Associate Department Heads (ADH-GS and ADH-US) typically serve as the second and third members.

Typical Schedule

The table below shows a typical distribution of courses and other responsibilities over the 2 years that is one path for a student to complete the MENG degree. Note that this assumes the student starts in the Fall. Also of note is that some of the order of courses shown is a recommendation, not a requirement.