Certificate Programs

Certificate programs are designed to provide intensive background in a narrow area at the graduate level. At roughly one-third of the units of a master’s degree program, the certificate is designed to be completed in a much shorter period of time. These certificate programs are appropriate for students working in industry who wish to update their skills or those interested in changing their career path.

To be accepted into a certificate program, the applicant must have a bachelor’s degree and meet any additional requirements for the specific certificate. Exceptions based on work experience may be granted for the Certificate in Fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Admitted students are responsible for ensuring that they have the prerequisites for all courses they take in the certificate program.

Students must receive a minimum grade of C in each course and have an overall GPA of 3.0 or better to earn a certificate.

All Santa Clara University graduate courses applied to the completion of a certificate program earn graduate credit that may also be applied toward a graduate degree. Students who wish to continue for such a degree must submit a separate application and satisfy all normal admission requirements. The general GRE test requirement for graduate admission to the master’s degree will be waived for students who complete a certificate program with a GPA of 3.5 or better.

Digital System Design

Advisor: Dr. Sara Tehranipoor

This certificate program has a triple purpose: (a) to increase design skills in digital system development; (b) to strengthen fundamental knowledge of computer architecture, digital design, and embedded systems; and (c) to introduce the digital system designer to state-of-the-art tools and techniques. Any change in the requirements must be approved by the academic advisor.  The program consists of the courses listed below totaling 16 units. Any change in the requirements must be approved by the academic advisor

Required Courses (16 units)

• ELEN 501 Embedded Systems (2 units)
• ELEN 511 Advanced Computer Architecture (2 units)
• ELEN 603 Logic Design Using HDL (2 units

Elective Courses (10 units)

• ELEN 387 VLSI Design I (2 units)
• ELEN 388 VLSI Design II (2 units)
• ELEN 500 Logic Analysis and Synthesis (2 units)
• ELEN 502 Real-Time Systems (2 units)
• ELEN 503 Hardware-Software Codesign (2 units)
• ELEN 512 Advanced Computer Architecture II (2 units)
• ELEN 513 Parallel System Architectures (2 units)
• ELEN 530 Hardware Security and Trust (2 units)
• ELEN 608 Design for Testability (2 units)
• ELEN 613 SoC (System-on-Chip) Verification (2 units) 

 

Integrated Circuit Design and Technology

Advisor: Dr. Shoba Krishnan, Dr. Cary Yang, Dr. Mahmudur Rahman

The study of integrated circuits consists of three interconnected areas: Design, Devices, and Process Technology. This certificate provides the necessary fundamentals in these areas and advanced concepts and applications in integrated circuit design and technology. The program will also introduce the IC designer to state-of-the-art tools and techniques. The program consists of the courses listed below totaling 16 units. Any change in the requirements must be approved by the academic advisor.

Required Courses (8 units)

• ELEN 252 Analog Integrated Circuits I (2 units)
• ELEN 261 Fundamentals of Semiconductor Physics (2 units)
• ELEN 270 Introduction to IC Materials (2 units)
• ELEN 387 VLSI Design I (2 units)

Elective Courses (8 units)

• ELEN 251 Transistor Models for IC Design (2 units)
• ELEN 253 Analog Integrated Circuits II (2 units) 
• ELEN 254 Advanced Analog Integrated Circuit Design (4 units) 
• ELEN 264 Semiconductor Device Theory I (2 units) 
• ELEN 265 Semiconductor Device Theory II (2 units) 
• ELEN 274 Integrated Circuit Fabrication Processes I (2 units) 
• ELEN 275 Integrated Circuit Fabrication Processes II (2 units) 
• ELEN 276 Semiconductor Devices and Technology (4 units) (In place of 274/275)
• ELEN 351 RF Integrated Circuit Design (2 units) 
• ELEN 352 Mixed-Signal IC Design for Data Communications (2 units) 
• ELEN 353 Power IC Design (2 units)
• ELEN 388 VLSI Design II (2 units)

 

Digital Signal Processing and Machine Learning

Advisors: Dr. Tokunbo Ogunfunmi and Dr. Sally Wood

This certificate program provides a basic understanding of digital signal processing the­ory and modern implementation methods as well as knowledge of at least one specific application area. Digital signal processing and machine learning have become important across many areas of engineering, and this certificate prepares students for traditional or novel applica­tions.

Required Courses (11 units minimum)

• ELEN 233 Digital Signal Processing I (2 units)
• ELEN 520, 520L Introduction to Machine Learning (3 units)
• At least one of: AMTH 210 Probability I or AMTH 245 Linear Algebra I  or AMTH 370 Optimization Techniques I  (2 units)
• At least one of: ELEN 223 Digital Signal Processing System Development (4 units) or ELEN 226 Machine Learning and Signal Processing Using FPGAs (2 units)  or ELEN 234 Digital Signal Processing II (2 units)
• At least one of: ELEN 421 Speech Processing I or ELEN 640 Digital Image Processing I (2 units) 

(Note: ELEN 233E Digital Signal Processing I, II (4 units) is equivalent to both ELEN 233 and ELEN 234.)

Elective Courses (Additional courses to make a total of 16 units) Selected from the list below.

• AMTH 308 Theory of Wavelets (2 units) or AMTH 358 Fourier Transforms (2 units)
• ELEN 241 Introduction to Communications (2 units)
• ELEN 243 Digital Communications Systems (2 units)
• ELEN 244 Information Theory (2 units)
• ELEN 247 Communication Systems Modeling Using Simulink I (2 units)
• ELEN 334 Introduction to Statistical Signal Processing (2 units)
• ELEN 422 Speech Coding II (2 units)
• ELEN 431 Adaptive Signal Processing I (2 units)
• ELEN 521/521L Deep Learning (3 units)
• ELEN 643 Digital Image Processing II (2 units)
• ELEN 644 Computer Vision I (2 units)
• ELEN 645 Computer Vision II (2 units)

 

Digital Signal Processing Theory

Advisors: Dr. Tokunbo Ogunfunmi and Dr. Sally Wood

This certificate program provides a firm theoretical grounding in fundamentals of digital signal processing (DSP) technology and its applications. It is appropriate for engineers who want a better working knowledge of DSP theory and its applications. A novel feature of the program is a hands-on DSP hardware/software develop­ment laboratory course in which students design and build systems for various applications using contemporary DSP hardware and development software.

Required Courses (8 units)

• AMTH 308 Theory of Wavelets (2 units) or AMTH 358 Fourier Transforms (2 units)
• ELEN 233E or ELEN 233 and 234 Digital Signal Processing I, II (4 units)
• ELEN 334 Introduction to Statistical Signal Processing (2 units)

Elective Courses (8 units)

• ELEN 223 Digital Signal Processing System Development (4 units)
• ELEN 226 DSP Design in FPGA (2 units)
• ELEN 235 Estimation I (2 units)
• ELEN 241 Introduction to Communications (2 units)
• ELEN 244 Information Theory (2 units)
• ELEN 336 Detection (2 units)
• ELEN 431 Adaptive Signal Processing I (2 units)
• ELEN 640 Digital Image Processing I (2 units)
• ELEN 641 Image and Video Compression (2 units)
• ELEN 643 Digital Image Processing II (2 units)

Fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Advisor: Dr. Shoba Krishnan

This certificate has been designed for those individuals who have significant work experience in some area of electrical and computer engineering and wish to take graduate-level courses but may lack some prerequisite knowledge because they have not earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in electrical and/or computer engineering. This one-year program consists of 16 to 28 units, depending on the background of the individual student, and covers electrical and computer engineering core areas. Units from courses at or above the 200 level may be credited toward a Master's of Science in electrical and computer engineering degree after successful completion of the certificate.

The specific required courses for a certificate are selected with the help of the program advisor according to the student’s background.

• ELEN 21 Introduction to Logic Design (4 units)
• ELEN 50 Electric Circuits I (5 units)
• ELEN 100 Electric Circuits II (5 units)
• ELEN 104 Electromagnetics I (5 units)
• ELEN 110 Linear Systems (5 units) or ELEN 210 (2 units)
• ELEN 115 Electronic Circuits I (5 units) or ELEN 250 (2 units)
• ELEN 120 Microprocessor System Design (5 units)

 

RF and Applied Electromagnetics

Advisors: Dr. Timothy Healy and Dr. Kurt Schab

The purpose of this certificate is to meet the increasing need for knowledge in mi­crowave, antenna and RF integrated circuits in present electronic products. This program is offered for students who have a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. Students are expected to have knowledge of multivariate calculus and preferably partial differential equations, and they must ensure that they have prerequisites for the courses in their program.

The curriculum consists of 16 units: two required courses (4 units) and 12 units of elective courses listed below:

Required Courses(4 units)

• ELEN 201 Electromagnetic Field Theory I (2 units)
• ELEN 701 Microwave System Architecture (2 units)

Elective Courses(12 units)

• Signal Integrity: ELEN 624 (2 units)
• RF Circuits: ELEN 351, 354 (2 units each)
• Laboratory-oriented: ELEN 726 (3 units)
• Passive components: ELEN 706 (2 units)
• Active components: ELEN 711, 712 (2 units each)
• Antennas: ELEN 715, 716 (2 units each)
• Bio-Electromagnetics: ELEN 203 (2 units)
• Electromagnetic Field Theory II: ELEN 202 (2 units)

Substitutions for these courses are only possible with the approval of the certificate advisor and the chair.