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MS in Telecommunication

The Master of Science in Telecommunications is an interdisciplinary, innovative blend of engineering-oriented courses in communications systems, wireless networks, optical communications, computers, and systems engineering, combined with courses on telecommunications policy, law, business, international issues and other topics.

The program is designed to meet the needs of working professionals and full-time graduate students who want to acquire knowledge about the current technology of telecommunication systems, and about other, general aspects of telecommunications. The program occupies the middle ground between the human factors oriented MA program in Telecommunications and the more specialized, and mathematically intense, engineering studies of communications systems that are part of the technical curriculum of the School of Information Technology and Engineering, such as the MS in Electrical Engineering. The MA and MS in Telecommunications programs share three core courses, with a total of 9 credit hours. Six certificate programs, three in the MS program and three in the MA program allow students in either program to gain in depth knowledge in the other.

Students in the MS in Telecommunications program come from a wide range of educational and work backgrounds. The MS in Telecommunications program is designed specifically to accommodate students who have not taken engineering course as part of their undergraduate degree. This is achieved through a group of foundation courses in the core that introduce Modern Telecommunications (TCOM 500), Local Area Networks (TCOM 501) and Wide Area Networks and the Internet (TCOM 502) to the students. These foundation courses include broad treatments in the theory and practice of data, voice, and video transmission, analog and digital communications systems, knowledge about the technology of communications systems such as computer networks, Internet and intranets, wireless communication systems, satellite communication systems, digital telephone systems, communications protocols and software, and distributed information systems.

In general, students in the MS in Telecommunications degree program will be expected to take 70% of their course material in engineering- and technology-oriented courses and 30% in more generally oriented courses from the existing MA in Telecommunications program. This multi-disciplinary program provides both a breadth in telecommunications through the core program and a depth in focused areas of telecommunications through the Specialty Module courses. Students have considerable flexibility to adjust the program to meet their specific career and educational needs.

The focused science and engineering part of the degree program is found in the five Specialty Modules: Network Technologies, Network Applications, Wireless Communications, Modeling of Telecommunications Systems, and Systems Engineering of Telecommunications. The first three of these modules focus on the technology of communications - optical communications, computer networks, Internet technologies and applications (e.g. Voice over IP), Digital Communications, Satellite Communications, Mobile Communications, PCS and 3G radio, etc. The last two modules concentrate on the systems engineering aspects of telecommunications that allow the student to design, evaluate and modify integrated telecommunication systems. Courses in these last two modules will cover such topics as reliability, maintainability and expansion issues in telecommunications design, critical business and policy issues facing the industry, such as the public policy and regulation, the implications of various standards on growth for the industry, the management of emerging technologies, security, and the extraordinary impact of electronic commerce, IT, and the entertainment industry on telecommunications.

This particular blend of knowledge of technology, coupled with the knowledge of broader issues of telecommunications, is increasingly necessary for people who intend to work in management or decision-making position in the telecommunications industry, telecommunications-related businesses, or government institutions dealing with telecommunications.

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