Independent Study

About a third of ECE majors take an independent study course. Independent study research projects are an integral and immensely popular component of undergraduate ECE education at Duke.

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Overview

Independent study courses are designed to allow sophomores, juniors, and seniors to work individually with a faculty member on a project or topic of mutual interest. Courses are arranged on an individual basis at the instigation of the student or faculty member.

Most students who undertake Independent Study do so in their senior year, but qualified students can undertake Independent Study sophomore year or later. Students who anticipate Independent Study are encouraged to complete their foundation courses in mathematics, chemistry, physics, and engineering as early as possible, so that they will have the background to address challenging engineering problems in collaboration with their faculty study mentor.

Up to two Independent Study courses may be used as an ECE Elective and/or ECE Extension Elective in the ECE Program, but Independent Study courses may not be used in place of the other required courses in the ECE Program, except for the Free Electives. Students may take Independent Study courses as Free Electives, and all successfully completed Independent Study courses count toward the total of 34 courses required for a Duke degree. Many students find that Independent Study is a rewarding educational experience.

Related Opportunities

Graduation with Departmental Distinction

Independent study (under ECE 493 or 494) is a central element of the department’s awarding the honor of Graduation with Distinction.

Click to view criteria and recent projects.

Pratt Research Fellows

A unique, immersive opportunity for undergraduates to conduct authentic research with a faculty member.

Course credit is given in the ECE major via a linked three-semester independent studies course sequence of ECE 392, 493 and 494. Other course sequences may be approved for students in special programs such as dual majors.

Poster Session

All students taking ECE independent-study courses, including Pratt Fellows and Graduation with Departmental Distinction candidates, must participate in ECE Independent Study Poster Session to present their research results and to answer questions from faculty and other students. Poster sessions are scheduled by the ECE Department late in each semester for the independent study done during that semester. The poster presentations are judged by the ECE faculty, and the top three are recognized with both honor and monetary compensation ($100 for 1st place, $75 for 2nd, and $50 for 3rd).

    • Nicholas Steinly and Allen Zhang, “3D Locomotion” (Advisor: Tyler Bletsch) – 1st place
    • Aarzu Gupta, “Radiology Biomarker Discovery” (Advisor: Kyle Lafata) – 2nd place (tie)
    • Ryan Chen, “Augmented Reality App Development for Misophonia” (Advisor: Maria Gorlatova) –     2nd place (tie)
    • Xushu (Andy) Wang, “Deep Learning Ultrasound Imaging” (Advisor: Leslie Collins) –   3rd place
    • Erin Liu, “EPP in Experiment” (Advisor: Ken Brown) – 1st place
    • Naomi Patel, “Hardware Development for Quantum Computing” (Advisor: Crystal Noel) – 2nd place
    • Anthony Fernando, “Ultrasound Microfluidic Driver” (Advisor: Jim Morizio) – 3rd place (tie)
    • Ritvik Janamsetty, “IoT-Based Dynamic Augmented Reality Maker” (Advisor: Maria Gorlatova) –          3rd place (tie)
    • Quinn Edwards, “Robotic drivetrain development” (Advisor: Tyler Bletsch) – 1st place (tie)
    • Megan Richards, “Deep time series modeling” (Advisor: Ricardo Henao) – 1st place (tie)
    • Alex Xu, “Impact of the Environment on Eye Tracking Efficacy in Headset Augmented Reality” (Advisor: Maria Gorlatova) – 1st place (tie)
    • Simon Gorbaty, “Developing a Fabrication Methodology for MoS_2 Nanodevices On Kapton Substrate” (Advisor: Aaron Franklin) – 1st place (tie)
    • Megan Richards, “Development of a Maternal Early Warning System with Machine Learning” (Advisor: Ricardo Henao) – 1st place (tie)
    • Guangyu Feng, “Bionic Robust Memristor-based Artificial Nociception System for Robotics” (Advisor: Hai Li) – 1st place (tie)

Undergraduate Contacts

Rabih Younes Profile Photo
Rabih Younes Profile Photo

Rabih Younes

Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies, Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Department of ECE