University of Southern California Courses

Los Angeles, California, United States

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Aerospace and Mechanical

The Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering aims to build advanced mechatronic systems through the interaction of mechanical, optical and electronic systems to boost the capability of aerospace systems and components. The department’s faculty includes associate professors, lecturers, adjunct faculty and Emeritus faculty. Prof. Ivan Bermejo-Moreno received the prestigious 2008 GALCIT, Caltech The William F. Ballhaus Prize. In 2018, the strength of Master's students was 382 and that of Full-Time faculty was 29 the department.

The key research areas of the department include Bio-inspired engineering, combustion and heat transfer, computational engineering, design and manufacturing, dynamical systems and controls, fluid mechanics and aerodynamics, materials, solid and applied mechanics, and robotics. The department has two students’ project labs – AeroDesign and Formula SAE. 

  • list items The Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering offers B.S. in Aerospace Engineering (BSAE)
  • list items B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (BSME)
  • list items M.S. in Aerospace Engineering (MSAE)
  • list items M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)
  • list items M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)
  • list items Energy Conversion; M.S. in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering (MSAME)
  • list items Computational Fluid & Solid Mechanics
  • list items M.S. in Product Development Engineering
  • list items MSAE / M.S. in Engineering Management
  • list items MSME / M.S. in Engineering Management Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering.

Areas of Expertise:

  • list items Combustion physics
  • list items Controls and dynamical systems
  • list items Solid mechanics and materials
  • list items Computer-aided design
  • list items Fluid dynamics and mechanics

List of Labs (Aerospace):

  • list items Space Engineering Research Center (SERC)
  • list items Pratt & Whitney Institute for Collaborative Engineering (PWICE)

List of Labs (Mechanical):

  • list items TCC (Tai Chong Cheang (TCC) Institute for Emissions Reduction in Marine Diesel Engines
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Chemical and Materials Science

The USC Chemical Engineering Program under the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science grants BS in Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Engineering.

It also offers:

  • list items MS in Chemical Engineering
  • list items MS in Materials Science
  • list items MS in Materials Engineering
  • list items MS in Petroleum Engineering
  • list items MS in Petroleum Engineering (Geoscience Technologies)
  • list items MS in Petroleum Engineering (Smart Oilfield Technologies)
  • list items Dual Degree Program: M.S. Petroleum Engineering / M.S. Engineering Management.

The department received $15 million from energy entrepreneur John Mork and his family in 2005. Michael Ernest Kassner, the Choong Hoon Cho Chair and Professor of Chemical Engineering, received the 2015 TMS Structural Materials Division Distinguished Scientist/Engineer Award.

The department has a grand total of 20 research laboratories.

The faculty and students conduct research in diverse fields including:

  • list items Energy
  • list items Structural and functional materials
  • list items Reaction engineering,
  • list items Nanotechnology,
  • list items Polymers,
  • list items Bioengineering,
  • list items Advanced computing.

The department has done some noteworthy work in the field of

  • list items Synthesizing novel cell phone
  • list items Phosphors
  • list items Implantable biomimetics
  • list items Synthetic cells
  • list items Constructing new human therapies.

Area of Expertise:

  • list items Reaction engineering & catalysis, membrane processes & separation
  • list items Polymer science and engineering, composite materials
  • list items Heterogeneous materials and porous media
  • list items Computational simulations, atomistic and molecular
  • list items Electronic/photonic nanostructures, crystal growth
  • list items Process optimization and control
  • list items Smart oilfield technologies, enhanced recovery and monitoring
  • list items Biochemical engineering of surfaces and interfaces, cell culture, bioreactor modeling

List of Labs (Chemical): USC-Chevron Center for Interactive Smart Oilfield Technologies
List of Labs (Materials): Airbus Institute for Engineering Research

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Civil and Environmental

The Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering offers:

  • list items Bachelor of Science (BS) in Civil Engineering
  • list items Bachelor of Science (BS) in Environmental Engineering
  • list items Master’s of Science in Civil Engineering
  • list items Master’s of Science in Environmental Engineering
  • list items Master of Construction Management
  • list items Master’s of Science in Transportation Systems Management
  • list items Ph.D. in Civil or Environmental Engineering.

MS in Civil Engineering offers the following concentrations:

  • list items  General Option (Environmental Engineering, Water Resources, and Geotechnical Engineering);
  • list items Construction Engineering and Management;
  • list items Structural Engineering;
  • list items Transportation Engineering;
  • list items Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (interdisciplinary programs)
  • list items
    Transportation Systems,
  • list items
    Water and Waste Management.

Roger Georges Ghanem who is the Gordon S. Marshall Professor of Civil Engineering received the 2009 International Association for Structural Safety IASSAR Senior Research Prize.

The key research areas of the department (Civil) include:

  • list items Construction Engineering
  • list items Earthquake Engineering
  • list items Informatics for Intelligent Built Environments
  • list items Structural Engineering and Design
  • list items Structural Mechanics
  • list items Water Resources Engineering
  • list items Coastal Engineering

The Sonny Astani Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering aims to promote teaching and research in the discipline that is oriented towards creating solutions, structures, and spaces of the future with the sustainability goals of humanity in sight. Prof. Kelly Sanders of the Department was chosen as one of MIT Technology Review's “35 Innovators Under 35” in 2016.

The key research areas of the department in the field of Environmental Engineering are: Energy and Sustainability, Environmental Air Pollution, Environmental Chemistry, Global Warming, Transport of Environmental Contaminants: Water, Air, and Land, Water Quality Control. 

The department has around 7 laboratories and research centers. 

Areas of Expertise:

  • list items Structural engineering
  • list items Disaster and Extreme Event Analysis
  • list items Transportation engineering
  • list items Geotechnical engineering
  • list items Complex Systems Engineering
  • list items Environmental engineering
  • list items Construction management
  • list items Sustainable Development
  • list items Water Quality, Access and Distribution

List of Labs: Arid Climate and Water Research Center (AWARE)

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Computer Science

The Department of Computer Science provides various programmes in Computer Science which are as follows:

  • list items BS in Computer Science (CSCI)
  • list items BS in Computer Engineering and Computer Science (CECS)
  • list items BS in Computer Science (Games)
  • list items BS in Computer Science and Business Administration (CSBA)
  • list items Master of Science in Computer Science (General) with specializations in Data Science
  • list items Game Development
  • list items Computer Security
  • list items Computer Networks
  • list items Software Engineering
  • list items Intelligent Robotics
  • list items Multimedia and Creative Technologies
  • list items High-Performance Computing and Simulation
  • list items Master of Science in Computer Science for Scientists and Engineers.

The Department of Computer Science is also home to the USC Viterbi Data Science Program, which offers graduate degrees such as:

  • list items Master of Science in Applied Data Science
  • list items Master of Science in Cyber Security Engineering
  • list items Master of Science in Communication Data Science
  • list items Master of Science in Healthcare Data Science
  • list items Master of Science in Public Policy Data Science
  • list items Master of Science in Spatial Data Science.

An optional thesis option is also available to students pursuing the master's program.

The department faculty specializes in algorithms, computational complexity, computer viruses, cryptography, and quantum computing. Leonard M Adleman received the prestigious IEEE Kobayashi Award in 2000. The department has more than 90 faculty members, 360 Ph.D. students, 2,000 master’s students, and 1,200 undergraduates.

The key research areas of the department comprise:

  • list items Artificial Intelligence (Ai), Machine Learning, Privacy and Security
  • list items Systems, Databases, Software Engineering and Cyber-Physical Systems
  • list items Theory and Computation
  • list items Computer Vision, Graphics, Robotics, and Human-computer Interaction

The department has 10 research centers and institutes which include :

  • list items Information Sciences Institute (ISI)
  • list items Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT)
  • list items Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society (CAIS)
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Electrical/ Electronics

The Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering provides programs such as:

  • list items MS Electrical Engineering (EE)
  • list items Computer Engineering
  • list items EE-Computer Architecture
  • list items EE-Computer Networks
  • list items EE-Electric Power
  • list items ECE-Machine Learning and Data Science
  • list items EE-Multimedia and Creative Technologies
  • list items EE-VLSI Design
  • list items EE-Wireless Health Technology
  • list items EE-Wireless Networks
  • list items Financial Engineering
  • list items Electrical Engineering/ Engineering Management (dual degree). 

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at USC allows students to pursue research in virtually all branches of EE/CE. Ph.D. candidates have the chance to work in the labs with leading researchers in fields including Communication Sciences, Controls, Electromagnetics, etc. Prof. Murali Annavaram received the prestigious NSF CAREER AWARD in 2010. 
The department has over seventy research centers and labs.

Areas of Expertise:

  • list items Computer engineering and networks
  • list items Control systems
  • list items Plasma and Pulsed Power
  • list items Photonics and Quantum Electronics
  • list items Communications
  • list items Integrated Circuits and Hybrid Systems Integration
  • list items Signal and Image Processing
  • list items Nanotechnology and Microelectromechanical Systems
  • list items Electromagnetics, Energy Conversion, and Management

List of labs:

  • list items Signal and Image Processing Institute (SIPI)
  • list items USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center
  • list items Communication Sciences Institute (CSI)
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Industrial & Systems Engineering

The Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering provides

  • list items BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE)
  • list items MS in Engineering Management
  • list items Industrial & Systems Engineering
  • list items MS Industrial & Systems Engineering/MBA
  • list items Analytics
  • list items Manufacturing Engineering
  • list items Operations Research Engineering
  • list items Product Development Engineering
  • list items Systems Architecting and Engineering
  • list items Engineer’s degree in Industrial & Systems Engineering.

The faculty is engaged in the following areas for research: informatics, manufacturing, production, transportation, decision analysis, and systems modeling. Prof. Ali Abbas received the Decision Analysis Society of INFORMS: Decision Analysis Best Publication Award in 2010.

  • list items Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN)
  • list items Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM)
  • list items Center for Interdisciplinary Decisions and Ethics (DECIDE)
  • list items Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies (CRAFT)
  • list items Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE)
  • list items Center for Sustainable Cities (CSC)

Are some of the major research centers of the department.  

The faculty and students conduct research in diverse fields including energy, structural and functional materials, reaction engineering, nanotechnology, polymers, bioengineering, and advanced computing. The department has done noteworthy work in the field of synthesizing novel cell phone phosphors, implantable biomimetics, and synthetic cells and constructing new human therapies.

Areas of Expertise:

  • list items Health Systems
  • list items Manufacturing and Automation
  • list items Risk and Economic Analysis
  • list items Transportation and Logistics
  • list items Engineering Systems Design
  • list items Operations Research: Models and Algorithms

List of Labs: DoT National Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research (METRANS)

Is it possible for me to apply to more than one program?
 
For MS/PhD courses, you may apply to a maximum of three graduate programmes across the university in any one admission cycle. Regardless of the number of programmes chosen, just one set of transcripts and test scores must be submitted. To apply for a second programme, the USC Graduate Admissions office must give a unique SECOND PROGRAM APPLICATION FEE WAIVER code, which must be inserted into the online application.
What is the procedure for applying for a fellowship, scholarship, or assistantship?
 
USC's individual academic divisions and colleges give financial aid (such as fellowships or teaching/research assistantships) and can be contacted directly.
How can I identify if I've been awarded a fellowship, scholarship, or assistantship?
 
Any money that your planned programme may be able to grant will be communicated to you individually. Your admission decision will usually include this information.
Is USC a top 20 school?
 
USC was among the top 20 universities in all of California's educational institutions. USC is rated third overall among the 150 universities in the western U.S. In terms of engagement, which gauges how students feel their education prepares them for the real world, USC placed fourth in the top 25 universities.
Is USC hard to get into?
 
The application process for USC is very competitive. USC's acceptance rate is 12%. More than 25% of those accepted into USC received all A's in high school. Although it is currently optional to submit test results, the typical USC SAT score varied from 1340 to 1530. Why is USC so prestigious?
 
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