Information Technology Engineering

Vision

The MS and PhD programs in Engineering Science will be a nationally recognized program attracting new students and new research funds to the College of Engineering and contributing high quality graduates capable of engineering solutions to leading edge problems and opportunities in information technology fields.

Mission

The program will provide:

  • Capabilities for research and education that either do not exist within core engineering departments or require the expertise of faculty that cross departmental or college lines
  • Opportunities for research and education in information technology-related engineering for students from non-traditional backgrounds
  • Encouragement for the development of inter-departmental and inter-college initiatives in research and education in information technologies
  • A mechanism for students to initiate graduate engineering studies outside of traditional departmental programs
  • A mechanism for students within traditional engineering departments to pursue a concentration in information technology engineering

Structure

All students pursuing the ITE concentration must take the following three core engineering courses and obtain a grade of “B” or higher in each:

  • Databases: IE7425 Advanced Information Systems Design 
  • Networking: EE7770 Internetworking Principles, or EE4710 Communications in Computing. Students who have had a basic networking course in their undergraduate curriculum may substitute a 7000 level advanced networking course with approval of the ITE Coordinator.
  • Software Design: EE7780 Software Design Principles, or IE4426 Dist Info Sys Eng, or CSC 4330 Software Systems Development, or CSC 7135 Software Engineering

Beyond these core courses, the ITE student has considerable flexibility in tailoring their program. MS students pursuing a thesis option must complete 9 additional credit hours of coursework selected from the table below (most courses are 3 credit hours). These courses do not need to all be from the same category (categories are for informational purposes only). MS students pursuing a non-thesis (project) option, and PhD. students must complete 12 additional credit hours of coursework beyond the core from the elective courses below.

In addition, M.S. and Ph.D. students must meet the basic requirements of the engineering science program. Students work with their Major Advisor and Advisory Committee to develop a satisfactory course plan to meet their objectives.

Following are available electives by topic area. Electives may be chosen from any combination of topic areas.

E-Business Systems - Architectures and Technologies

  • IE4425 Information Systems Engineering
  • IE4426 Dist. Information Systems Engineering
  • ISDS7540 Electronic Commerce
  • ISDS7550 Enterprise Systems
  • Any graduate-credit College of Engineering Special Topics Course relating to E-Business Systems Architectures and Technologies

Manufacturing & Process Systems Integration

  • ChE4198 Process Dynamics
  • ChE7572 Adv Automatic Process Control 
  • ChE7574 Digital Control of Processes 
  • EE7580 Computer Process Control
  • EE7585 Adv Digital Control Systems
  • IE4485 Systems Integration 
  • Any graduate-credit College of Engineering Special Topics Course relating to Systems Integration

Data Analytics, Knowledge Management, Machine Learning, & AI

  • CSC7333 Machine Learning
  • CSC7442 Data Mining & Knowledge Discovery
  • CSC7443 Scientific Information Visualization
  • CSC7444 Advanced Artificial Intelligence
  • CSC7446 Soft Computing
  • CSC7481 Information Retrieval Systems
  • EE4785 Introduction to Expert Systems
  • EXST7036 Categorical Data Analysis
  • EXST7037 Multivariate Statistics
  • EXST7038 Statistical Methods for Spatial Data
  • EXST7142 Statistical DAta Mining
  • EXST7151 Bayesian Data Analysis
  • EXST7034 Regression Analysis
  • IE7428 Semantic Analysis
  • IE7470 Artificial Intelligence Manufacturing Systems
  • Any graduate-credit College of Engineering Special Topics Course in Data Analytics, Knowledge Management, Machine Learning, or AI

Vision & Multimedia Systems

  • EE4780 Introduction to Computer Vision
  • EE7730 Image Analysis I
  • EE7740 Image Analysis II
  • IE7429 Multimedia Semantic Analysis
  • Any graduate-credit College of Engineering Special Topics Course on Vision or Multimedia topics

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Robotics, & Assistive Technologies

  • CSC4243 Interface Design and Technology
  • CSC7374 Computational Models for Mobile Robots
  • CSC7375 Robot Vision
  • IE4466 Human Computer Interaction
  • IE7466 Human Interaction with Computers
  • IE7467 Cognitive Ergonomics and Work Environments
  • Any graduate-credit College of Engineering Special Topics Course in HCI, Robotics, or Assistive Technologies

Communications, Networks, & Cyber-Security

  • Any graduate-credit College of Engineering Courses in Telecommunications, Networks, or Cyber-Security (see courses in EE and CSC)

In addition to the course requirements, the student’s project or thesis (M.S.) or dissertation (Ph.D.) must relate to information technology. In all cases, a formal proposal is required and must be approved by the students full committee. The students major advisor must be a member of the College of Engineering graduate faculty, and thesis credit/project independent study credit must be conducted in the major advisors home department under the advisors direction.

Summary of ITE Requirements

Requirement MS Project Option MS Thesis Option Ph.D.
Core Courses* IE7425, (EE7770 or EE4710), and (EE7780 or IE4426 or CSC4330 or CSC7135) (9ch)    
Elective Courses* 4 from elective list (12ch) 3 from elective list (9ch) 4 from elective list (12ch)
Project/Thesis/Diss**  1 independent study under major advisor (3ch) 6ch thesis under major advisor 6ch dissertation under major advisor
Other Courses*** 4 (12ch) 2 (6ch) 11 (33ch)
Total Credit Hours 36 30 60
Major Advisor Must be member of graduate faculty in the College of Engineering    
Engineering Requirement At least 18ch of coursework must be from College of Engineering At least 15ch of coursework must be from College of Engineering At least 18ch of coursework must be from College of Engineering
7000 or Higher Requirement At least 18ch of coursework must be from College of Engineering At least 15ch of coursework must be at 7000 level or higher At least 27ch of coursework must be from College of Engineering
Ph.D. Minor Requirements - - See Engineering Science degree requirements checklist and distribution of coursework hours for additional details 

 

Prior approval (before course is taken) is required from the ITE Coordinator to accept courses for core or elective credit which are not in the core or elective course lists respectively. This approval is not given lightly and a strong rationale must be presented. Requests to accept courses already taken as substitutes for core or elective courses will generally not be granted.

** The project, thesis, or dissertation credit must be either in the major advisor's home department or under ENGR, and must be under the major advisors direction. The project, thesis, or dissertation must relate to ITE.

*** "Other courses" are determined by the major advisor and committee in discussion with the student. These courses do not have to relate directly to ITE.

Admission Requirements

To be accepted into the concentration, students must meet general admission requirements of the Graduate School and the Engineering Science program. In addition ITE applicants must meet the following requirements:

  • Hold a baccalaureate in any field of engineering or related sciences (e.g., computer science, mathematics, physics, etc). 
  • Have at least 1 year of engineering level mathematics, 
  • Have at least 1 year of Engineering level physics, 
  • Have at least one undergraduate course in probability, 
  • Have at least two undergraduate courses in programming, or programming proficiency demonstrated through documented work experience.

Students coming from undergraduate programs in engineering, computer science, math, or physics will generally meet these requirements. Students from other backgrounds are encouraged to contact the ITE coordinator (see "Contacting Us" below) to determine eligibility.

For students transferring from other programs, the ITE concentration requires a minimum of one academic year full-time residency (18 credit hours coursework) after admission to the ITE concentration.

Contact Information

Gerry Knapp, PhD, PE
Phone: 225-578-5374
Email: gknapp@lsu.edu
Office: 2523a Patrick F. Taylor Hall

Mailing Address: MIE Dept, 2508 Patrick F. Taylor Hall
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803