About the Program
Electrical and Computer engineering encompasses all areas of research, development, design, and operation of electrical and electronic systems and their components, including software. Emphasis in such varied areas as bioengineering, circuit theory, communication sciences, computers and automata, control systems, electromagnetic fields, energy sources and systems, and materials and electronic devices is available. Two degree programs are offered by the School: Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) and Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (BSCmpE).
Engineers in both fields must have a strong background in mathematics and physics, a broad base in the humanities, and a command of the English language in order to provide the scope of knowledge essential for optimum professional growth. The curriculum offered by the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering meets these objectives.
Graduates from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering are sought after by all major industries. Electrical engineers hold many unusual and challenging positions in the aerospace, chemical, nuclear, automotive, medical, metallurgical, textile, railway, petroleum, and other basically non-electrical industries, as well as in computers, electronics, communications, power, and other electrical industries. Their professional roles span industrial activity, research, development, design, production, marketing, operation, field testing, and maintenance of many types of equipment for government, industry, farm, and home.
Two degree programs are offered by the school:
Electrical Engineering encompasses the development, design, research, and operation of electrical and electronic systems and components. Disciplines include VLSI and circuit design, communication and signal processing, computer engineering, automatic control, fields and optics, energy sources and systems, and microelectronics and nanotechnology.
Computer Engineering is a specialization within electrical and computer engineering offering an in-depth education in both hardware and software aspects of modern computer systems.
Electrical and Computer Engineering provides students with a versatile education that will prove valuable looking toward a professional future. Along with problem-solving and design skills, students develop a strong foundation in math, science, and core electrical/computer engineering fundamentals. This skillset prepares them for research and development positions in industry, management, sales, teaching, medical school, and law school.
At Birck Nanotechnology Center, engineers and scientists conduct research in emerging fields where new materials and tiny structures are built atom by atom or molecule by molecule.
124 Credits Required
Major Courses (47 credits)
(An overall 2.000 cumulative GPA or better in these courses is required)
Required ECE Courses (25 credits)
Adv. EE Selectives - Select three (3) of the following courses (9 - 11 credits)
Senior Design (3-4 credits)
Electrical Engineering Electives (7 - 10 credits)
- Additional approved ECE courses to bring total ECE credit hours to at least 47.
- Must include at least three (3) Advanced-Level laboratory courses or ECE courses with laboratory components. Courses with laboratory components taken as Advanced EE Selectives (ECE 36200, ECE 43800 and ECE 44000) also contribute to the Advanced-Level Laboratory requirement. No more than two (2) of these labs may be EE Special Content courses.
- No more than 6 credit hours of EE Special Content (as designated by the ECE Curriculum Committee) courses can be used towards the 47 credit hours of Major Courses.
- See attached list of courses.
Other Department/Program Course Requirements (77 credits)
General Engineering Requirement (10 credits)
Mathematics Requirement (18 - 19 credits)
Choose one of the following 2 options:
Science Requirement (15 - 16 credits)
ECE General Education Requirement (24 credits)
While a comprehensive understanding of science and mathematics is central and foundational to effective engineering practice, real-world engineering problems are both complex and situated within dynamic social, political, and cultural contexts. Therefore, well-rounded engineering curricula must also include courses that encompass the breadth of human experience and culture, both past and present. Such courses may include, but are not limited to, those that explore individual behavior, social and political structures, aesthetic values, modes and dynamics of communication, philosophical and ethical thought, and cognitive processes. These types of courses provide engineering students with a framework for rational inquiry, critical evaluation, and judgment when dealing with issues that are non-quantifiable, ambiguous, and/or controversial. In addition, they offer engineering students the opportunity to develop interests and insights that will deepen their appreciation for the diversity of the world in which they live and work.
Based on these premises, the goals of the ECE General Education Program are to
- Provide the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context.
- Support and complement the technical content of the engineering curricula through coursework that emphasizes such skills as written communication, oral communication, information literacy, cultural awareness, leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, and managing change.
These goals are consistent with the objectives of the College of Engineering’s Engineer of 2020 initiative (Engineering Faculty Document 15-06), as well as the objectives of Purdue University’s Undergraduate Outcomes-Based Curriculum (University Senate Document 11-7).
To these ends, all B.S. students in Electrical and Computer Engineering are required to complete the ECE General Education Program described below. This program is consistent with the College of Engineering General Education Program (Engineering Faculty Documents 43-13 and 39-14).
Foundational Learning Outcomes
Students must select from the list of courses approved by the University Curriculum Council (UCC) to satisfy each of the following six Foundational Learning Outcomes of the University Core Requirements (see below) - the Science and Quantitative Reasoning Foundational Outcomes are satisfied elsewhere in the BSEE curriculum. Some courses may have been approved to meet more than one of the Foundational Learning Outcomes, so fewer than six courses can be used to fulfill this condition. There is no minimum number of credit hours needed to satisfy this component of the College of Engineering General Education Program. If a course taken to fulfill some other EE/CmpE degree requirement has also been approved as satisfying one or more of these Engineering Foundational Learning Outcomes, then those Engineering Foundational Learning Outcomes need not be satisfied again within the ECE General Education Program. Students must earn a grade of C- or better in courses used to satisfy this component of the ECE General Education Program. The pertinent Foundational Learning Outcomes are defined as follows:
- Written Communication
- Oral Communication
- Human Cultures: Humanities
- Human Cultures: Behavioral/Social Science
- Science, Technology & Society
ECE General Education Electives
Students must take additional approved courses to reach the minimum requirement of 24 credit hours. These courses must be drawn from those offered by the departments of Agricultural Economics, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Child Development and Family Studies, Communication, Economics, English, Entrepreneurship, Foreign Languages and Literatures, History, Interdisciplinary Studies, Management, Philosophy, Political Sciences, Psychological Sciences, Sociology and Anthropology, Visual and Performing Arts. Any course offered by these departments is allowable, provided that it is open to students in the offering department and is not focused primarily on professional training, natural science or mathematics. Other courses, as approved by the ECE Curriculum Committee, may also be selected. The list of approved courses is attached.
Advanced Level General Education Requirement
At least 6 credit hours must come from courses at the 30000-level or above, or from courses with a required prerequisite in the same department.
Educational Diversity Requirement
At least 12 credit hours must be taken from the College of Liberal Arts, the Krannert School of Management, and/or the Honors College - provided such courses are not focused primarily on engineering, technology, the natural sciences, or mathematics.
Complementary Electives (up 10 credits)
Choose additional coursework to bring total credits to the minimum 124 required for the BSEE degree. Students should carefully select these courses to complement their personal interests and their academic record.
Applicable Complementary Electives
- Any course that would otherwise satisfy a specific degree requirement (i.e., ECE Requirements, General Engineering, Mathematics Requirement, Science Requirement, and General Education Requirement), but is in excess of the minimum credits for that requirement, can be used as a Complementary Elective.
- ECE 19000 taken prior to acceptance into ECE.
- Courses taken to satisfy a minor requirement (unless that course is excluded below).
- One (1) credit per semester of ROTC, up to a maximum of six (6) credit hours.
- One (1) credit per semester of BAND, up to a maximum of six (6) credit hours.
- 2 credits of CGT taken while enrolled in FYE.
- Exploratory FYE (ENGR) courses.
- Seminar courses, including FYE seminars [limited to 3 credit hours]
- Activity courses (such as Engineering Ambassadors and First Robotics) [only a single instance of the course is applicable].
- Up to 2 credits total in two different PES courses [no more than 1 credit per course is applicable]
- Courses explicitly approved by the ECE Curriculum Committee.
- pre-calculus Mathematics (MA) courses.
- Statistics (STAT) courses without a calculus prerequisite.
- CS courses not intended for engineering students - for example, CS 11000.
- General Studies (GS) courses (however, credit for GS 10000 and GS 10100 are accepted as ECE General Education Electives).
- Courses from the College of Technology that have not been specifically approved by the ECE Curriculum Committee.
- Courses from the College of Health and Human Sciences that have not been specifically approved by the ECE Curriculum Committee.
- Courses from the College of Education that have not been specifically approved by the ECE Curriculum Committee.
[Note: UCC approved courses will still satisfy the University Core, but the credit hours are not applicable to BSEE degree requirements]
Some courses specifically excluded as complementary electives (not a comprehensive list):
- CS 11000
- CS 17700
- ECE 19000 taken after admission into ECE
- MGMT 20010
- STAT 11300 (IL Foundational Outcome satisfied, but credit hours are not applied to degree requirements)
- STAT 30100 (IL Foundational Outcome satisfied, but credit hours are not applied to degree requirements)
University Core Requirements
For current pre-requisites for courses, click here.
The following is an example of a 4-year plan that satisfies the BSEE degree requirements.
Spring 4th Year
- Adv. EE Selective w/Adv Lab - Credit Hours: 4.00
- ECE Elective w/Adv Lab - Credit Hours: 4.00
- ECE GenEd Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
- Complementary Elective - Credit Hours: 4.00
* Satisfies a University Core Requirement
2.0 Graduation GPA required for Bachelor of Science degree.
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