Why EE / CE?
You can’t go wrong with your decision to major in either electrical or computer engineering. Both majors are consistently ranked between the top 5 to 7 programs in the nation by U.S News & World Report, and students from both majors are highly recruited.
What’s the difference between the programs?
A major in electrical engineering gives a broad overview of specialties including information technology, circuits, wireless communications, robotics, power and energy, optics, nanotechnology, computer hardware, control, electromagnetics and more. It is a lab-intensive major especially in the upper classes, so if you like hands-on activities, you’ll enjoy this major.
A major in computer engineering focuses more deeply on computer hardware and software, and embedded systems. There are still plenty of hands-on projects, as most everything these days is controlled in some way with a computer.
What’s involved?
Graduate work in areas such as computer security, computer networks, machine learning, and data science can be pursued with any of these three undergraduate degrees.
Each major culminates in a major design experience course (MDE), taken in your senior year. Some students take more than one MDE, and if approved, students can substitute one of these for a different MDE, even from a different major. The current offerings (as of Fall 2020) are as follows:
Electrical Engineering MDE Courses | Computer Engineering MDE Courses |
EECS 411: Microwave Circuits I | |
EECS 413: Monolithic Amplifier Circuits | |
EECS 425: Integrated Microsystems Laboratory | |
EECS 427: VLSI Design I | EECS 427: VLSI Design I |
EECS 430: Wireless Link Design | |
EECS 438: Advanced Lasers and Optics Lab | |
EECS 452: Digital Signal Processing Design Laboratory | EECS 452: Digital Signal Processing Design Laboratory |
EECS 467: Autonomous Robotics | |
EECS 470: Computer Architecture | EECS 470: Computer Architecture |
EECS 473: Advanced Embedded Systems | EECS 473: Advanced Embedded Systems |