Plan of Study
The MSE Scalable and Embedded Systems programs are both 16-month long and consist of three traditional semesters and one summer internship. The programs begin in the fall and conclude the following year in December. While the summer session is reserved exclusively for the requisite internship, the second fall semester is dedicated to an intensive practicum project.
Courses in the first year are divided into 7-week mini-semesters to allow students to concurrently learn a wider range of topics, while scaffolding learning to more advanced topics later in the program. For example, Semester 1-2 is the second half of the first program semester, normally in the Fall.
Sample Curriculum — Scalable Systems Focus
Semester 1-1
17-603 Communications for Software Leaders I
17-611 Statistics for Decision Making
17-612 Business & Marketing Strategy
17-614 Formal Methods
17-695 Design Patterns
Semester 1-2
17-603 Communications for Software Leaders I
17-622 Agile Methods
17-623 Quality Assurance
17-625 API Design
17-626 Requirements for Information Systems
Semester 2-1
17-604 Communications for Software Engineers II
17-632 Software Project Management
17-635 Software Architecture
17-636 DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment
+ Elective course
Semester 2-2
17-604 Communications for Software Leader II
17-636 DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment
17-643 Quality Management
17-647 Data-intensive and Scalable Systems
+ Elective course
Semester 3
Semester 4
17-675 Software Engineering Practicum
+ Elective course
Sample Curriculum — Embedded Systems Focus
Semester 1-1
17-603 Communications for Software Leaders I
17-611 Statistics for Decision Making
17-612 Business & Marketing Strategy
17-614 Formal Methods
17-638 Engineering Embedded Systems
Semester 1-2
17-603 Communications for Software Leaders I
17-622 Agile Methods
17-623 Quality Assurance
17-625 API Design
17-627 Requirements for Embedded Systems
Semester 2-1
17-604 Communications for Software Leaders II
17-632 Software Project Management
17-635 Software Architecture
17-636 DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment
+ Elective course
Semester 2-2
17-604 Communications for Software Leaders II
17-636 DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment
17-643 Quality Management
17-648 Sensor-based Systems
+ Elective course
Semester 3
Semester 4
17-675 Software Engineering Practicum
+ Elective course