EECS Area IV Engineering Physics topic: Materials Area IV Engineering Physics: Electromagnetics

Electromagnetics is a basic theme within Area IV and underlies most Area IV research, from power to photonics, and most Area IV graduate students either have or acquire some expertise. Beyond the Area IV research specialties discussed elsewhere, there are also faculty who study electromagnetic computational issues, magnetic fluids, meta-materials, plasmas, remote sensing, and sensors, among other topics. Both the electromagnetic subjects and the associated research focus on the complex ways in which electromagnetic fields and waves interact with all forms of matter to produce interesting and useful phenomena and devices that often motivate new mathematical approaches to the problem. Maxwell’s equations and quantum mechanics are the basic tools used, although the research usually has an experimental side as well. Research Assistantships are primarily available in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, and, by arrangement, at Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, MA.

Although the EECS section of MIT’s Open Course Ware (OCW) and the Course-6 section of the MIT Catalogue provide more complete lists of subjects, many of which touch on electromagnetic issues; those EECS subjects emphasizing electromagnetics include the undergraduate and graduate subjects listed below.

Undergraduate Subjects:
6.007 Fall, Spring Applied Electromagnetics: From Motors to Lasers
6.013 Fall, Spring Electromagnetics and Applications (meets with 6.630)
6.023J Spring Fields, Forces, and Flows in Biological Systems
6.122J Fall, Spring Instrumentation and Measurement for Biological Systems
6.161 Fall Modern Optics Project Laboratory (meets with 6.637)
6.602 Spring Fundamentals of Photonics (meets with 6.621)
6.608 Spring Introduction to Particle Accelerators

First Year and Introductory Graduate Subjects:
6.336J Fall Introduction to Numerical Simulation
6.339J Fall Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations
6.621 Spring Fundamentals of Photonics (meets with 6.602)
6.630 Fall Electromagnetics
6.631 Fall Optics and Photonics
6.632 Spring Electromagnetic Wave Theory
6.634J Spring Nonlinear Optics
6.637 Fall Optical Signals, Devices, and Systems
6.641 Spring Electromagnetic Fields, Forces, and Motion
6.651J Fall Introduction to Plasma Physics I
6.673 Spring, alt odd yrs Introduction to Numerical Simulation in Electrical Engineering

More Advanced Graduate Subjects:
6.561J Fall Fields, Forces, and Flows in Biological Systems
6.638 Fall, alt even yrs Ultrafast Optics
6.642 Fall, alt even yrs Continuum Electromechanics
6.652J Spring Introduction to Plasma Physics II


The following seminars cover material relevant to the topic of Electromagnetics in Area IV Engineering Physics:

Optics and Quantum Electronics Seminar
Wednesdays, 11 am, room 36-428 (Haus Room)

Micro/Nano-Technology Seminar Series
Thursdays, 3pm, RLE Converence Center, room 36-462/428

Center for Integrated Photonic Systems (CIPS) Brown Bag Seminar Series

The following laboratories provide significant resources for research emphasizing Electromagnetics:

Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC)
Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems (LEES)
High Voltage Research Laboratory (HVRL)
Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE)
Optics and Quantum Electronics Group