Systems Science & Mathematics, MSSSM (ESE)
Either a thesis option or a course option may be selected. The special requirements for these options are as follows:
Course Option
The Master of Science in Systems Science & Mathematics (MSSSM) is an academic master's degree that requires the completion of 30 credit units. It is designed for both full-time and part-time students interested in proceeding to the departmental full-time doctoral program and/or an industrial career. Under the course option, students may not take Master's Research (ESE 7998) or Master's Project (ESE 7970). With faculty permission, they may take up to 3 units of graduate-level independent study (ESE 5999).
Thesis or Project Option
These options are intended for ESE students engaged in research projects. Candidates for this degree must complete a minimum of 24 units of course instruction and 6 units of Master's Thesis (ESE 7998) or Master's Project (ESE 7970); up to 3 thesis or project units may be applied toward the 15 core electrical engineering units required for the MSEE program. Up to 6 thesis or project units may be applied as electives for the MSEE, MSSSM, and MSDAS programs. Students can take at most 3 thesis or project units in a semester. For the thesis, the student must write a master's thesis and defend it in an oral examination. For the project, the students must complete a paper documenting their work and either present their work orally or at a departmental or school wide poster session.
Degree Requirements
- Required courses (15 units) for the MS degree include the following:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ESE 4150 | Optimization | 3 |
or ESE 5130 | Large-Scale Optimization for Data Science | |
| ESE 5200 | Probability and Stochastic Processes | 3 |
| ESE 5510 | Linear Dynamic Systems 1 | 3 |
| ESE 5530 | Nonlinear Dynamic Systems | 3 |
| and one course chosen from the following: | ||
| ESE 5240 | Detection and Estimation Theory | 3 |
or ESE 5440 | Optimization and Optimal Control | |
or ESE 5450 | Stochastic Control | |
| Total Units | 15 | |
- At least 15 units of the 30 total units applied toward the MSSSM degree must be in ESE courses which, if cross-listed, have ESE as the home department.
- A maximum of 6 credits may be transferred from another institution and applied toward the master's degree. Regardless of the subject or level, all transfer courses are treated as electives and do not count toward the core requirements for the degree.
- All full-time graduate students are required to take Electrical & Systems Engineering Graduate Seminar (ESE 5980) each semester. This course is taken with the unsatisfactory/satisfactory grade option.
- The degree program must be consistent with the residency and other applicable requirements of Washington University and the McKelvey School of Engineering.
- Students must obtain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0 out of a possible 4.0 overall for courses applied toward the degree. Courses that apply for the degree must be taken with the credit/letter grade option.
Degree Electives
- Any course numbered 4001 or greater in the Engineering (with the prefix of BME, CSE, EECE, ESE, or MEMS), Physics or Mathematics department, excluding the exceptions listed below, are approved by the department as electives.
- Students may take either ESE 4170 or CSE 4107, but they may not use both as electives for the degree.
- For students who have already taken ESE 3180 and ESE 3190, ESE 5010 may not be used as an elective for graduate credit.
- Undergraduate lab course, research, independent study, senior design or capstone course are not approved as electives. Requests for an exception to this policy may be submitted to the graduate program coordinator with the approval of the student's academic advisor.