The extensive departmental computing facilities include a network of work stations, minicomputers, and personal computers supporting a variety of operating systems and applications. A University-wide System Network Computing Center offers IBM supercomputer, and VAX and IBM mainframe power.
The department's Solid State Laboratory is the only one of its kind in Louisiana to carry out interdisciplinary research in the areas of semiconductor material growth, characterization, device fabrication, and measurements. The laboratory has a 200 square foot class 100 clean room for photolithography. The department faculty is involved in the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices (CAMD) established by the University for carrying out research in X-ray lithography for submicron devices.
The VLSI Systems Design Laboratory houses graphics terminals, state-of-the-art SUN work stations, and Berkeley CAD VLSI tools. The laboratory is used for instructional and research purposes, both for designing of smart silicon VLSI chips and for VLSI device modeling. Designs can be sent via electronic mail to Silicon Foundry (MOSIS) for chip fabrication.
The Systems Laboratory supports research in automatic control, communications, and signal processing. The laboratory houses several high powered SUN work stations and personal computers, TV camera and signal acquisition hardware and software, process simulators and advanced system simulation software.
The Power Electronics Laboratory offers the student hands-on experience with several power electronic devices, such as AC to DC converters, AC voltage controller, and DC to DC converters many of them rated at more than 6 kilowatts. Also available are facilities for experimenting with new power electronic circuit designs capable of handling large amounts of power.
Students seeking the M.S. degree may select either a thesis (24 semester hours of course work plus 6 semester hours of thesis credit) or a nonthesis (36 semester hours of approved course work) option. The Ph.D. degree is research oriented. Students are encouraged to enter the Ph.D. program directly after receiving the B.S., in which case requirements are a dissertation and 48 semester hours of course work. There are no required courses but all course work must be approved by the Graduate Studies committee.
Administratively, students are enrolled in the Graduate School which sets minimum requirements common to all academic units. The following profile is considered acceptable by the Graduate School: Undergraduate GPA 3.0, GRE (V+Q) 1000 and TOEFL 550 (if non-native speaker). The Graduate School may consider a lower GPA if the minimum GRE score is exceeded. Alternatively, it may accept a lower GRE score.
Admission into the graduate program in electrical and computer engineering is competitive. In certain areas it may be further restricted by limitations in the available facilities. Each case is decided on its own merits. In general, however, applicants are expected to exceed the minimum requirements set by the Graduate School concerning GPA, GRE and TOEFL, when appropriate. All three parts of the GRE are considered as well as the letters of recommendation and the statement by the applicant. Other evidence of scholarly potential may also be considered. The department is also well aware than some high quality students have unconventional academic records. Even though the department tries to provide support to outstanding applicants, this is not always possible, and availability of funds may be a factor in the admission process.
The department attempts to provide financial support to all qualified doctoral students and to outstanding M.S. applicants. Every semester, but particularly in the fall, the department offers teaching assistantships to selected new applicants. Spring assistantships are usually awarded to continuing students. These are very competitive awards which are decided based on the needs of the department and the academic credentials of the applicants. Decisions for the fall semester are made in February/March of each year. An assistantship applicant should submit the application for admission and all the required documents, well in advance of the decision deadline.
Research assistants participate in grants and research contracts. They are selected individually by the respective principal investigators and their stipend originates in research contracts. Interested students should contact the Coordinator in their area of interest.
At the present time the department supports approximately 30 teaching, and 40 research assistants. In 1995-96 the stipend for Ph.D. students was $10,500 for approximately half-time duties performed during the academic year.
Fellowships, some of which cover fees, are also available; they require no duties of the recipient and include the $15,000-per-year LSU Graduate Fellowships and $17,000-per-year Board of Regents Fellowships. Information on fellowships can be obtained from the Graduate Coordinator
Other sources of financial assistance may be available. Many students find positions as graduate assistants in other academic and administrative units in the university.
The graduate faculty of the department is very productive and well known in their respective fields, publishing an average of 35 refereed journal papers and 26 conference presentations per year; graduate student collaborators often appear as co-authors. A complete list of publications of the last three years is available from the departmental graduate office.
Four faculty members hold Associate Editorships in prestigious scientific journals and all faculty are frequent reviewers for IEEE Transactions and other journals. Members of the faculty have also organized special sessions or given invited presentations at various events.
Faculty research is supported by grants from federal, state and industrial sources, including:
Over the last three years the sponsored research contracts exceeded $5.2 million. Recent research grants include: