Popular M.Tech Courses for Electronics and Electrical Engineering

Once the GATE exam is over, the GATE aspirants have a few common questions, such as: What are popular M.Tech specialisations in Electronics and Electrical Engineering? What are the criteria for choosing these specialisations? What will they study in their coursework for their Masters? What key factors affect the decision-making for selecting a particular specialisation during counselling rounds? 

When we were in B.Tech, we must have pursued B.Tech in Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, and so on. Similarly, different branches were there in B.Tech. Still, pursuing an M.Tech after qualifying for the GATE exam will be like an M.Tech in Electrical Engineering or Electronics and Communication Engineering.

The answer is NO. In B.Tech, you must have gone through several subjects. For example, in Electrical Engineering, Electrical students must have gone through Power Electronics and in that subject. You must have read from the basic to advanced level of concept application for that particular subject, but when it comes to M.Tech, these particular subjects become an area of research. 

Certain areas of research eventually became essential specialisations in M.Tech. So, now the question arises.

What are the different specialisations available for EE/EC/IN students?

Some popular M.Tech specialisations are 

• Micro-Electronics & VLSI Design
• Power Electronics & Drives
• Power Systems
• Communication & Signal Processing
• Control & Instrumentation
• Electronic Systems 
• Solid State Devices 
• Electric Vehicle Technology
• RF & Photonics
• Integrated Circuit & Systems

So, these are the top 10 popular specialisations for MTech. Accordingly, the candidates can choose any of these specialisations, which will be their area of research in which they’ll be doing coursework followed by a project. Of the above-listed specialisations, few are available for Electrical Engineering students, and few are for Electronics and Communication students. In contrast, Electrical and Electronics candidates are eligible for some specialisations. 

Choosing a particular specialisation depends on the candidate’s field of interest in B.Tech. Suppose you are perfect in signals, then you should go for Signal Processing, and if your area of Interest is Power Electronics, then you should go for Power Electronics and Drives. If your area of interest is Electronic devices & circuits, then you should go for microelectronics and VLSI Design or integrated circuits. So like that
You should first decide which specialisation you want to apply for based on your area of interest.

What does this specialisation consist of and what one will be studying in that, and
ultimately, what will be the output they will get in terms of an excellent job after pursuing M.Tech? Whether they have a good scope of research in that particular specialisation and it matches your area of interest, these are the specific questions we will try to answer in detail under every specialisation. 

Microelectronics & VLSI design

• The VLSI Engineer is designing the functionalities of system-on-chip (SOC) modules according to input and output criteria. 
• At work, the individual creates SOC-module functions using software and design tools by specifications.
• Three major areas are 
• Design Engineer
• Verification Engineer
• Design for Test Engineer

A total of 12 lacs of jobs are going to be created in the next 7-8 years.

Power Electronics & Drives

• Power electronics is a multidisciplinary branch of electrical engineering. It deals with processing, controlling, and converting electric power. 
• Power electronics utilise high voltages and currents to deliver power to electrical equipment and devices. These devices range from Consumer Electronics, Industrial Electronics, Aerospace & Defense, and Transportation to industrial machinery.
• By 2030, it’s anticipated that up to 80% of electric power worldwide will rely on power electronics in some capacity.

Power Systems

• Power Systems deals with the Generation, Transmission, & Distribution of Electrical Energy.
• The Research area includes designing, creating, testing, and operating these systems to ensure maximum operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
• The Research area includes different aspects of the growing application of integrating renewable energy strategies and technologies into these systems.

Communication & Signal Processing

• The research area includes the challenges associated with the efficient processing and transmission of data such as sound, images, and sensor output signals & developing robust and efficient communication systems.
• The ultimate goal is to enable reliable, high-speed, and energy-efficient data transmission in applications such as wireless networks, satellite communications, the Internet of Things (IoT), and multimedia streaming.

Control & Instrumentation

• It provides advanced knowledge to monitor and control machinery. 
• Research includes various topics, such as advanced process control, analytical instrumentation, virtual instrumentation, and many others. 
• Researchers must work in various areas to improve productivity, reliability, safety, optimisation and stability.

Electronic Systems 

The research includes the following areas

•  Embedded control, 
•  Real-time systems, 
•  Model-based design and Verification,   Processor Architecture, 
•  Chip Design and implementation of Embedded Systems.

Solid State Devices 

The research includes the following areas

• Growth & Development of semiconductor principles & devices
• Evolution & synthesis of several semiconductor devices
• More R & D on next-generation devices.

Electric Vehicle Technology

• For the EV ecosystem, the R&D on EV powertrains, charging stations and associated power converters, micro-grids, energy storage devices, use of AI in battery performance analysis, charging stations, modelling and analysis.
• India will switch about 25% of its transportation to electric vehicles by 2030.

The Indian Labour Organization report stated that the Renewable Energy Industry’s job opportunities would rise to 38 lacs by 2030.

RF & Photonics

The Research area includes the following

• Integrated optoelectronics, Plasmonics & Quantum sensing
• Mixed signal electronics and microwave photonics
• Communication networks, Advanced encryption schemes using quantum key distribution
• Radar signal processing, satellite imagery.

Integrated Circuit & Systems

The Research area includes the following.

• Research covers all aspects of current-day integrated systems and system-on-a-chip solutions. 
• The research includes analog and digital integrated circuits, memory technologies and circuits, wireless and wireline communications circuits, and emerging circuits and systems.