George Mason University

Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering at George Mason University offers professional and promising education in the sphere of sustainable infrastructure. The quality of academics is evident from its expert faculty which trains the students to question and experiment with the existing systems and come up with a foolproof solution to the challenges in the domain of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering.

It offers BS, MS, and Ph.D. programs. The Master of Science in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering program is of total 30 credits wherein the students must specialize in one of the five areas of concentration which are:

Construction Engineering and Management

Environmental and Water Resource

Geotechnical

Structural

Transportation Engineering

The students are required to present a Plan of Study which needs to be faculty-approved consisting of a minimum of 30 graduate credits. This includes two core courses in Infrastructure Modeling and Risk and Uncertainty in Civil Engineering. The degree requirements for the MS degree vary as per the concentration is chosen by the student, but each student needs to attend a minimum of five graduate seminars.

Students can also choose to gain research credits through a thesis or a project. The undergraduate program offers a number of provisions such as the opportunity to enroll in summer courses to gain a better understanding of civil engineering, a choice of their own applicable to the Honours program, and three undergraduate scholarships.

Areas of Expertise:

Structural Engineering

Infrastructure Systems

Artificial Intelligence

Data Analytics

Environmental Engineering

Geotechnical Engineering

Sustainability

Computer Vision

Transportation Engineering

Computer Visioning

Water Resources Engineering

Construction Management

The Department of Computer Science at GMU offers BS, MS, and Ph.D. programs. All MS programs have a total of thirty credits equivalent to ten graduate courses. The courses in MS in Computer Science are divided into two categories - Basic and Advanced. The former does not require a graduate course as a prerequisite, while the latter does have a requirement for the same.

It is mandatory for students to attend two courses, namely:

Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science

Computer Systems 

Fundamentals of Systems Programming

which they will later be tested upon.

All the courses in the Computer Science program are reduced to five main areas which are :

Artificial Intelligence and Databases

Programming Languages and Software Engineering

Systems and Networks

Theoretical Computer Science and Visual Computing

The students have the liberty to choose one from the two concentration areas given to them which are Cyber Security (CYSC) and Machine Learning (ML). The students also have the option of swapping six credit hours of advanced classes with a thesis or a project which has to be approved by a minimum of three faculty members.

It is mandatory for students in the MS in Information Systems program to attend basic core courses, namely :

Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science

Database Systems

Principles and Practices of Communication Networks

Information Systems Analysis and Design

Database Programming for the World Wide Web to understand the fundamentals of the program

Along with that, they must also select five courses out of six from a set of emphasis areas which are:

Database Management

Data Mining

Electronic Commerce

Software Engineering

Knowledge Management

Information Security and Assurance

They have the same option and requirements for thesis as Computer Science.

Area of Expertise:

Software Engineering

Data Mining and Analytics

Bioinformatics

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

Parallel and Distributed Systems

Computer Vision

Computer Graphics

Systems and Networks

Algorithms and Theory of Computation

Cyber-security.

List of Labs:

Assurance Research & Engineering

Configuration Analytics and Automation

Secure Information Systems

Learning Agents Center

Command, Control, Communications, Computing, Intelligence and Cyber

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at GMU provides BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Forensics, and Telecommunications and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering. All the MS programs are a total of 30 credits. MS in Electrical Engineering extensively works towards producing engineers who are well informed in the algorithms of electrical science.

The program covers some crucial areas as specializations such as :

Communications and Networking

Signal Processing

Controls and Robotics

Electronics

Space-Based Systems

Bioengineering

MS in Computer Engineering covers areas such as :

Computer Architecture and Embedded Systems

Internet of Things and Network Security

Hardware Security and Cryptographic Engineering

Computer Networks

Digital System Design

Digital Signal Processing

The thesis option for both of these programs is designed for students who are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. They must complete the Master’s thesis which is of six credits along with 24 hours of coursework. They must also attend a minimum of six graduate seminars. MS in Computer Forensics requires students to complete the degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher and a grade not less than C in six credit hours.

 Its plan of study consists of core courses of 21 credit hours, a mandatory capstone course, and the choice of either a nine credit elective course or an area of concentration. The degree requirements for MS in Telecommunications include acquiring a B grade or higher in all the core courses and a C grade or higher in the remaining core courses of 6 credits.

Areas of Expertise:

Adaptive Signal Processing

Digital Forensics

Detection

Estimation and Tracking

Nano-Electronics and Device Fabrication

Sonar and Array Signal Processing

Information Theory and Error Control Coding

Bioengineering Signal Analysis

Statistical Signal Processing

Electronics

Robotics

Communications

Electromagnetics

Cryptography

Digital Signal Processing

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

Image and Video Processing

VLSI and Embedded Systems

Wireless and Optical Communications

Green Computing and Computer Networks

Architectures.

The Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research is a domain for Systems Engineers, Operations Researchers, and Data Analysts. The department offers BS, MS, accelerated MS, Ph.D., and Graduate Certificates. MS in Operations Research guides students to be proficient in the features such as mathematical programming, queueing and network theories, applied and computational probability, and computer simulation and modeling.

The program requires a total of 30 credits. 15 credits are allocated to courses which are :

Operations Research: Deterministic Models Operations Research Stochastic Models Applied Predictive Analytics, and Discrete System Simulation

Deterministic Models

Operations Research

Stochastic Models

Applied Predictive Analytics, and Discrete System Simulation

or a project, and the rest fifteen are distributed among electives chosen from any one of the five concentration areas which are :

Data Analytics (DNIC)

Decision Analysis (DA)

Financial Engineering (FNNE)

Military Operations Research (MOR)

Optimization (OPT)

Stochastic Models (STM) or an individual plan authorized by the graduate advisor.

MS in Systems Engineering is a thirty to thirty-three credit hours course consisting of five core courses, namely, Systems Engineering Principles, Systems Definition and Cost Modeling; System Engineering Design; Systems Engineering Management I; and System Methodology and Modeling, three concentration courses, an elective, and a project on systems engineering.

MS in Data Analytics Engineering is a course of 30 credits wherein the core courses are :

Analytics: Big Data to Information Principles of Data Management and Mining or Theory and Applications of Data Mining Data Analytics Project Analytics and Decision Analysis or Operations Research Deterministic Models Applied Statistics and Visualization for Analytics  or Applied Statistics

Big Data to Information

Principles of Data Management and Mining or Theory and Applications of Data Mining

Data Analytics Project

Analytics and Decision Analysis or Operations Research

Deterministic Models

Applied Statistics and Visualization for Analytics  or Applied Statistics

. The department entails a list of career possibilities such as data scientist, analytics expert, government analyst, policy analyst, supply-chain manager, systems analyst to name a few. 

List of Labs: Air Transportation Systems Research

The Department of Information Sciences and Technology at GMU provides BS, MS, Ph.D. degrees and a number of certificate and concentration choices. MS in Applied Information Technology recognizes the growing need for experts in the areas of Cyber Security, Big Data Analytics, Knowledge Mining, Data Analytics in Social Media, and Cyber-Human Interaction.

The faculty of the department does not limit learning within a theoretical frame but encourages the students to tackle the pragmatic challenges faced in the IT field. It’s a 30 to 36 credit hour course. All students are required to complete a minimum of four core courses in addition to which the students must choose one out of four areas of concentration which includes six courses.

MS in Data Analytics Engineering is not only restricted to data analysis but expands and covers a myriad of sectors such as data visualization, statistical models, optimization, risk analysis among many others. It’s a course of a total of 30 credit hours inclusive of core subjects and areas of concentration.

Areas of Expertise:

Web Science

Big Data

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Artificial Intelligence

Human-Centered Design

Data for Social Good

Data Analytics

Information Science

Information Science and Technology Education

Information Security and Assurance

Mobile Communications

Intelligent Agents

Personalized Learning

Educational Data Mining

Machine Learning

Learning Analytics

Social Informatics

Wearable Technologies

Semantic Web

Social Networks Systems and Security

The Department of Mechanical Engineering forms a part of the larger ambit of engineering disciplines in the college. The department narrows it down to two focal points within this wide field of study, namely, thermal fluid systems and mechanical systems.

It offers a BS and a Minor in Mechanical Engineering. The BS program is of 121 credit hours touching on courses such as

Engineering

Mathematics

Science

Communications and Economics

Additional Mason Core

Writing Intensive Requirement

Capstone Experience Requirement

While Minor in Mechanical Engineering is a 20-21 credit hours course with core subjects in Introduction to Engineering or Practicum in Engineering, Statics, Solid Mechanics, Thermodynamics and Dynamics and two elective courses.

Areas of Expertise:

Composite Structure Mechanics

Variational Methods in Mechanics

Sustainable Energy Systems

Fluid Mechanics

Heat Transfer

Dynamical Systems