George Mason University Courses

Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure

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

Computer Science

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

Electrical and Computer Engineering

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.

Systems Engineering and Operations Research 

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

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

. 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

Information Technology

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

Mechanical 

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