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The principle difference between the Master of Engineering and the Master of
Science degrees is that the Master of Engineering degree does not require a
residency on campus. It is intended to meet the needs of those practicing
engineers who are working full time outside the University. It also allows
participants to pursue an integrated program of studies by specializing in one
engineering discipline and selecting courses from other engineering fields and
business subjects related to the individual student's professional work.
A successful program to meet these needs requires greater flexibility in
operation that is normally possible or intended under the Master of Science
degree program.
The program is offered both on campus and through the
Center for Advanced Engineering and Technology Education
(CAETE),
which delivers graduate courses taught on the Boulder campus to business,
industry, and government agencies by live television with two-way audio
communication. Engineers, computer scientists and technical managers may earn
a master's degree in several areas of concentration without driving to campus.
Plan of Study
The Master of Engineering degree requirements encompass the following areas:
A
plan of study
must be completed.
Thirty hours of coursework must be taken meeting the following requirements:
-
At least 18 credit hours of Computer Science courses at the 5000 level
or above are required.
CSCI 6800 (Master of Engineering Project)
cannot be counted towards these 6 Computer Science courses.
-
The MS breadth requirement
must be satisfied, but only in three Computer Science areas rather
than four.
-
12 credit hours of courses at the 4000 level or above are allowed. They
can be from any department in the College of Engineering as long as they
have "significant Computer Science content." However, the course must
be taught by a member of the graduate faculty, and the course must be
pre-approved by petition to the
Graduate Committee
via email to Rajshree Shrestha.
-
The Masters Comprehensive Exam
or CSCI 6800
(Master of Engineering Project) is required.
Each semester a written Masters Comprehensive Exam will be administered.
The due date and specific instructions for the exam will be announced via
email to the student's department email account. The due date will be announced
within the first three weeks of the semester (fall and spring only).
Below are the instructions from previous semesters.
Please note these might change slightly from semester to semester.
Write a paper on a topic in Computer Science or on an application of
Computer Science. The purpose of the examination is to show that you have
learned how to write a research paper. The paper need not report on your
own research -- it can report on any computer science topic -- but it
should be written in the style of a typical Computer Science journal
paper or review article. See an IEEE Transactions,
an ACM Transactions, the
Journal of the ACM and
ACM Computing Surveys
for examples.
Your paper can be either a survey paper or a research paper:
- Survey Paper
-
A survey paper presents a detailed overview of a limited subarea of
computer science. The goal is comprehensive coverage of current knowledge
in a prescribed domain. Furthermore the survey has an element of
originality. This could be, e.g., a new framework in which to understand
and evaluate the subject matter; original comparisons between different
sources or methods; focus on new key ideas or concepts. The paper cannot be
simply a transcription of course notes or a summary of several articles or
books.
- Research Paper
-
A research paper presents original results developed by the author. It is
similar to a research article in the above cited journals. It is not
required that the paper be accepted to a journal or conference -- the
original contribution can be much more modest. However it should have
original insights that with perhaps some further work could be published.
In both cases the paper should demonstrate mastery of some area of computer
science (i.e., one of the nine areas of the CU Computer Science Department
course curriculum) at the graduate level. The paper may be based on a paper
you have already written. Usually such a paper will need some modifications
to meet the format requirements.
It is not acceptable to work together with anyone else on this paper. If
you base the paper on a joint paper already written with others (such as a
faculty member or another student in a course) then you will need to
substantially rewrite it to differentiate it clearly from the joint paper.
In this case, hand in an additional statement identifying the original
paper and its authors, and explaining the difference between the two
versions.
Extensive quoting and paraphrasing is not acceptable. In addition to usual
citations, any figure, definition or equation taken from a source should be
clearly delimited and cited.
Students should make full use of the library and other sources. At least 20
relevant references to the literature must be included and cited in the
text. (Do not pad the list with equivalent references, e.g., five Java
textbooks.) Website references are permitted but should not be included in
the reference count, unless the website is refereed (e.g., an electronic
journal).
Handwritten submissions will not be accepted. Papers should be no less than
6000 words (excluding references) in length. Each paper should include an
abstract of at most 200 words that clearly summarizes the contents. Papers
must also have an Introduction, which sets the general context for the
paper (with appropriate references), and a Conclusion, summarizing the key
points. References should be placed at the end, not as footnotes.
Otherwise, the detailed format is up to the student, provided it has the
appearance (appropriate sections, section and equation numbering, reference
citation format, etc.) of a typical journal paper. Sections and pages
must be numbered. A word count should appear at the end of the
document.
A paper needing minor revisions to get a passing grade will be returned
with reviewers' comments. The paper should be revised to address all these
comments. In addition to the revised paper, a summary sheet should be
submitted, listing how each of the reviewers' comments was addressed.
Include specific page numbers and textual references, wherever appropriate.
A paper that needs substantial revisions, or a paper violating the
guidelines of this document, will receive a failing grade with no
opportunity for revision.
Questions about the exam can be addressed to the Graduate Program Advisor,
Rajshree Shrestha.
An alternative to the Masters Comprehensive Exam
is the Master of Engineering Project:
Students need a three-member committee to work on the project and must be
registered for CSCI 6800. Students may take
CSCI 6800 as many as two times during their ME degree at
CU Boulder and credit earned taking CSCI 6800 is counted
towards the required 30 hours of the ME degree.
The chair of the committee must be a faculty member in the Computer Science
Department at CU Boulder.
Students must work with their advisor to form the committee.
All three committee members must hold graduate faculty appointments
in the Graduate School. Once a student decides on his/her
committee members, he/she should inform the
Graduate Program Advisor,
Rajshree Shrestha,
as soon as possible.
All three members must sign the
exam form
once the project work is submitted.
This exam form is the means to inform the Graduate School whether
the student passed or failed the project.
It is up to the committee to decide on the format, content and evaluation
mechanism of the project work.
A GPA of 3.0 must be maintained.
You have 6 years to complete the required 30 credit hours.
Students enrolled in the ME program in the Fall 2000 semester can choose to
abide by the old rules or the new rules (but not a combination of them).
Contacts
Please contact the Computer Science Department directly about ME degree
requirements. For general information about the ME Degree Program, contact
CS Grad Info.
Applicants should follow the instructions in
Graduate School Admission Process
to download and complete the appropriate Graduate School application forms.
Applicants should also download and complete the Department of Computer Science
supplemental application form.
A grad packet with all necessary application materials can also be obtained
by contacting CS Grad Info.
Please Note:
Only the ME degree in the Computer Science Department is available through
CAETE. If you intend to complete your course
work primarily though CAETE rather than
enrolling for courses on campus, print "CAETE" at the top of each page of
your graduate application. This instructs the department to process your form
so that you will not be billed for the on-campus enrollment deposit and other
student fees.
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