ECE Curriculum Revisions
November 10, 2011
Slide #1
Outline
• Presentation of Revised Curricula
– EE and CmpE Prerequisite Diagrams
– EE and CmpE Degree Requirements
– Senior Design
– Undergraduate Professional Communications Program
• Summary of Detailed Course Proposals
• Disposition of Current Breadth Courses
• Timeline and Work Remaining
• Discussion and Vote on Overall Curricula
• Discussion and Vote on Detailed Course Proposals
Slide #2
DRAFT
EE:
Typical 8 Semester
Schedule
Requires a grade
of “C” or better
May be taken
pass-fail
Prerequisite
Prerequisite with concurrency
Co-requisite
DRAFT
Slide #3
DRAFT
CmpE:
Typical 8 Semester
Schedule
Requires a grade
of “C” or better
May be taken
pass-fail
Prerequisite
Prerequisite with concurrency
Co-requisite
DRAFT
Slide #4
Degree Requirements
• Refer to handouts for details
• Key changes since 2010 Fall retreat:
– Approved Prob/Stat courses are ECE 3077 and
CEE/ISyE/MATH 3770
– Approved engineering electives include all 2000level non-ECE courses that are NOT on an
exclusion list (TBD, maintained by ECE-UGC)
– Junior communications requirement must be met
prior to enrolling in ECE 4011 (Senior Design 1);
details in later slides
Slide #5
Senior Design
• Two-semester sequence
– ECE 4011, ECE Culminating Design Project I (2-0-2)
– ECE 4012, ECE Culminating Design Project II (1-6-3)
• Offered Fall-Spring, Spring-Fall and Summer-Fall (ECE 4012
is not offered in the summer)
• Faculty members teaching ECE 4011 do not have to
participate in ECE 4012 (i.e., ECE 4011 is a “normal” lecture
course)
• Faculty members teaching ECE 4012 (the bulk of the actual
project) need to participate in ECE 4011 (presenting projects,
team forming, proposal evaluations)
Slide #6
Workload Model for Senior Design
• ECE 4011
– Workload credit is that of a normal lecture course (same as ECE 4001)
– Includes lecture topics, team forming, writing assignment (technical
background study), project proposal, proposal presentation
– Several lectures provided by ECE 4012 and UPCP faculty
• ECE 4012
– Normal workload credit (1 course equivalent)) is for supervising ~20
students over two semesters (currently ~24 students for one semester)
– Only new requirement is that all students must maintain an individual
design notebook that is graded at least twice during ECE 4012
– Essentially the same amount of work but with possibly fewer students
and required involvement in the first semester (during ECE 4011)
– Faculty are strongly encouraged to advise individual project teams
for commensurate workload credit
Slide #7
Additional Senior Design Items
• Scheduling issues are still being worked out
– Must be provisions for a common meeting time and place for all
students enrolled in ECE 4011 for team-forming purposes
– Teams formed in ECE 4011 must be able to register for the same
section of ECE 4012
• VIP projects can be used for the senior design project
– The VIP team advisor becomes the ECE 4012 project advisor
– The VIP section becomes the ECE 4012 project section (details on
course numbering to be worked out)
– VIP students register for and attend the common ECE 4012 lecture
– All ECE 4012 requirements must be met
• Senior Design Teaching Agreement
– Faculty members teaching ECE 4011 & ECE 4012 must read and sign
the ECE Senior Design Teaching Agreement (draft posted on website)
Slide #8
Undergraduate Professional
Communications Program (UPCP) Changes
Current Requirements
Writing and presentations
integrated into digital
design lab (ECE 2031)
Writing integrated into
required labs (ECE 3041
and ECE 3042)
Writing and presentations
in senior design (ECE
4007)
Year
Proposed Requirements
Sophomore No change
Junior
Students choose between:
• 1-hour technical communications
course (new course, ECE 3005)
• Co-curricular workshops and/or
individualized communications
deliverables
Senior
Similar to current requirements but
writing and presentations integrated into
the 2-semester senior design sequence
(ECE 4011 and ECE 4012)
Slide #9
Motivation to Change the Junior Year Technical
Communications Requirement (TCR)
• A junior year TCR is perceived as necessary to properly prepare
students for both senior design and the workplace
• There is no longer a common junior-year course for both EEs and
CmpEs
– The new required junior lab for EEs (ECE 3043) is more compressed
than the existing labs, and it would be difficult to integrate a writing
component
– Required junior courses for CmpEs do not appear to lend themselves to
integrating technical communications
• Many ECE students are involved in co-curricular activities that have
a strong communications component, and it is desired to have a
means of that counting towards their junior year TCR
• Increased flexibility in meeting the junior year TCR is to the students’
advantage
Slide #10
Proposed Junior Year Technical
Communications Requirement
•
New 1-hour ECE technical communications course (ECE 3005)
– Required for transfer students who did not take ECE 2031 at Tech and who have not
had a comparable technical communications experience
– Optional means of satisfying the junior year technical communications requirement for
all other students
•
ECE Technical Communications Workshops
– Three “CUs” (communication units) required
– One writing, one presentation, one “elective”
– A variety of workshops will be offered each semester
•
Other ECE Technical Communications Activities
– ECE course work (e.g., UPCP assistance for a required group presentation)
– Other ECE activities (e.g., UPCP assistance for a conference paper)
– Can be substituted for one or more workshops
Slide #11
Detailed Course Proposals
Core Courses (EE/CmpE)
New Number Old Number New Course Name
ECE 2020
ECE 2030
Fundamentals of Digital System Design
ECE 2026
ECE 2025
Introduction to Signal Processing
ECE 2031
ECE 2031
Digital Design Laboratory
ECE 2035*
ECE 3035
Programming for Hardware/Software Systems
ECE 2036*
ECE 3090
Engineering Software Design
ECE 2040
ECE 2040
Circuit Analysis
ECE 4011
ECE 4001
ECE Culminating Design Project I
ECE 4012
ECE 4007
ECE Culminating Design Project II
* Both 2035 and 2036 required for CmpE, either required for EE
Slide #12
Detailed Course Proposals
EE Required Courses
New Number Old Number Course Name
ECE 3025
ECE 3025
Electromagnetics
ECE 3040
ECE 3040
Microelectronic Circuits
ECE 3043
ECE 3041
ECE 3042
Measurements, Circuits and Microelectronics
Laboratory
ECE 3072
ECE 3071
Energy Systems
ECE 3084
Signals and Systems
Slide #13
Detailed Course Proposals
CmpE Required Courses
New Number Old Number Course Name
ECE 3020
Mathematics of Computation
ECE 3030
Physics of Computation
ECE 3056
ECE 3055
Architecture, Concurrency and Energy in Computation
Slide #14
Detailed Course Proposals
Elective Courses
New Number Old Number Course Name
ECE 3005
Professional and Technical Communications for ECE
ECE 3077
Introduction to Probability and Statistics for ECE
Slide #15
Current Breadth Courses
• Existing breadth courses that are retained
“as is” or with revisions will become junior
electives and receive new numbers
consistent with their technical interest area
• Some breadth courses are replaced by
new core courses and will disappear
• Other breadth courses are being revised
or incorporated into new senior electives
Slide #16
Status of Current Breadth Courses
Number/Name
Status
ECE 3050, Analog Electronics
No change, renumber to ECE 3400
ECE 3055, Computer Architecture and Operating
Systems
Replaced by ECE 3056
ECE 3060, VLSI and Advanced Digital Design
Revisions in progress, renumber to ECE 3650
ECE 3065, Electromagnetic Applications
No change, renumber to ECE 3350
ECE 3070, Electromechanical and Electromagnetic
Energy Conversion
No change, renumber to ECE 3300
ECE 3071, Modern Electric Energy Systems
Replaced by ECE 3072
ECE 3075, Random Signals
Will be revised into a senior elective
ECE 3076, Computer Communications
Change prereqs, renumber to ECE 3600
ECE 3080, Semiconductor Devices for Computer
Engineering and Telecommunication Systems
No change, renumber to ECE 3450
ECE 3085, Introduction to Systems and Controls
Revisions in progress, renumber to ECE 3550
ECE 3090, Software Fundamentals
Replaced by ECE 2036
Slide #17
Timeline and Work Remaining
Date/Month
Item(s)
November 2011
•
•
•
•
•
•
December 2011
• UGC review/approval of above items
• Faculty vote on remaining courses (3000, 4000 level)
• Finalize materials for submission to institute
January 2012
• Projected schedule for offering new courses
• Update of faculty workload and course assignment plan
February 2012
• Advising sessions for current students
March 14, 2012
• Summer 2012 and Fall 2012 schedules on-line
Finish breadth course revisions
TIG review of prerequisite changes
TIG recommendations on EE senior lab courses
Course substitution rules for transition plan
Non-ECE engineering course exclusion list
Submission of any additional new courses to UGC
Slide #18