Electrical Engineering
Dr. Keith Holbert
WISE Investments Program
Summer 2001
Electrical Engineering
1
What is Electrical Engineering?
– Professional activities of electrical engineers
directly affect the everyday lives of most of the
world’s population
– Design miniscule semiconductor circuits
– Design, control, and simulate an electric power
grid that covers North America
– Between these extremes, the electrical
engineer’s challenges run the gamut
– Electrical engineering is a broad field
Electrical Engineering
2
ASU Electrical Engineering
• Undergraduate Degree Program Info
– Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) degree
– Four-year program; 128 semester hours
– Accredited by ABET Engineering Commission
• Undergraduate Program Statistics
– About 700 students
– Approximately 110-120 graduates each year
– Starting B.S.E. annual salary of around $54K
Electrical Engineering
3
Discipline Breakdown of EE
Undergraduate Coursework
10 hrs
Engr. Core
18 hrs
EE Tech
Electives
43 hrs
Electrical
Engr.
Electrical Engineering
6 hrs
English
15 hrs
Humanities
& Social
Sciences
21 hrs
Math
15 hrs
Physics &
Chemistry
4
Electrical Engineering Coursework
Senior Capstone Design Project
Technical Electives
Junior Design Course
Circuits, Controls, Communications & Signal Processing,
Electromagnetics, Power, Solid-State Electronics
Electromagnetics I
Electronic Materials
Freshman Engr. Design
Random Signal Analysis
Electronic Devices
English Composition
Signals and Systems
Energy Conversion
Electrical Networks
Mathematics
Sciences
LD Engineering Courses
Calculus, Differential Eqs.
Linear Algebra, Adv. Math
Physics and Chemistry
Digital Design, C++ and
Assembly Programming
Electrical Engineering
5
UG Math and Science Requirements
• Mathematics (21 hrs)
–
–
–
–
Calculus, three semesters
Differential Equations
Linear Algebra
Advanced Math
• Sciences (15 hrs)
– Chemistry, one semester
– Physics, three semesters
Electrical Engineering
6
Electrical Engr. Course Requirements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Digital Logic, w/Lab
Circuits I, w/Lab
Circuits II
Electronics, w/Lab
Electronic Materials
Signals & Systems
Electromagnetic Engr.
Random Signal Analysis
Energy Conversion, w/lab
Senior Design Lab I & II
Electrical Engineering
• C++ and Assembly Prog.
Technical Electives:
• Communications and
Signal Processing
• Controls
• Electromagnetics
• Electronic Circuits
• Power Systems
• Solid state electronics
7
Senior Technical Elective Areas
•
•
•
•
•
•
Solid State Electronics
Communications and Signal Processing
Controls
Electronic Circuits
Power Systems
Electromagnetics
Electrical Engineering
8
Electromagnetics
• The study of electric and magnetic fields arising
from charged particles in rest and in motion
– The Electromagnetic force is one of the four
known fundamental forces of nature
– All theory of electrical engineering is based on
electromagnetics
• Radio, TV, Cellular telephones, Computers, Electric
Machinery, Particle Accelerators, Electrostatic
precipitators, Magnets, Superconductors.
• Lightning, Magnets, Light, Radiowaves
Electrical Engineering
9
Why Study Electromagnetics?
• Wireless communications systems require
antennas.
• PCs are on the verge of becoming
microwave devices.
Electrical Engineering
10
Why Study Electromagnetics?
• To better understand modern
communications and computer systems.
• To be able to design and analyze
electromagnetics-based devices such as
antenna systems, fiber optics systems and
microwave systems.
Electrical Engineering
11
Electromagnetics is Difficult
• Because Electric and Magnetic Fields
–
–
–
–
are three-dimensional
are vectors
vary in space as well as time
are governed by PDEs
• As a result:
– Solution of electromagnetics problems requires a high level of
abstract thinking - it is not possible to solve them by finding the
right formula in which to plug the numbers.
– Students must develop a deep physical understanding where math
becomes a powerful tool rather than a crutch
Electrical Engineering
12
Radar Cross Section (Top View)
Electrical Engineering
13
Radar Cross Section (Helicopter Overlay)
Electrical Engineering
14
Electric Power Engineering
– Conversion of energy from thermal, chemical,
nuclear or mechanical to electrical form, the
transmission of that energy over high voltage
transmission line, and the utilization of that
energy
•
•
•
•
•
Large electric generators,
nuclear power plants,
transmission and distribution lines,
insulator operation, economics,
reliability, power electronics
Electrical Engineering
15
Power Quality
Analysis of non-sinusoidal signals in
highly inter-connected power systems -to increase reliability and decrease losses
V OL TA GE OR
CURRE NT
D IST U R BA N C E
T IM E
SOLVE FOR X, Y, Z, T
S LID IN G W IN D O W
Electrical Engineering
16
Power Electronics
• Power electronics is the branch of circuits and solid state
engineering that is concerned with devices and circuits that
are designed for 1 kW operation and above
• Topics covered include converter design, PWM devices,
regulators, DC/DC converters, high power switching,
power flow control, innovative lighting techniques
• It is believed by many that the fastest growing area of
electrical engineering in the next five years will be in
power electronics
Electrical Engineering
17
Example Senior Design Project in
Electric Power Engineering
• To capture solar
energy during the day
and use fiber optics to
carry the light to an
indoor lighting
system. Tracking is
used to follow the
sun. Storage of the
luminous energy will
be used for nighttime
operation.
Electrical Engineering
Collection lenses/mirrors
system
Fiber optic
Tracking
system
Indoor lighting system
18
Solid State Electronics
– Study of the behavior of solid conductors and
semiconductors
– Most important is silicon - integrated circuits
• Electronic memory
• Digital electronic IC’s
• Transistor and linear electronics
– Cars (Engines, Brakes), Radios, TVs, Microwaves,
Semiconductor Lasers, Light Emitting Diodes, Photo
Diodes for Fiber Optic Communication, Power Converters
AC to DC
Electrical Engineering
19
Solid State Electronics
• Electronic systems are driven by
semiconductor chips
• These chips perform analog and
digital circuit functions
• Semiconductor chips contain
semiconductor devices
• Semiconductor devices have to be:
– Designed, fabricated, measured, modeled,
sold, marketed
• Need to know:
– Device physics
– Fabrication techniques
Electrical Engineering
20
Semiconductor Industry
What do engineers in the semiconductor industry do?
• Circuit design: design and lay out circuits to be
manufactured
• Simulation/modeling: simulate semiconductor
manufacturing, device, circuit, and systems behavior
(simulation is faster and cheaper than manufacturing)
• Fabrication: fabricate these circuits, maintain yield
• Measurement/characterization: characterize the
performance of the devices/circuits/chips
• Sales/marketing: sell and market devices, chips, systems,
equipment, services
Electrical Engineering
21
Personal Systems Scaling
System Size, L+W+H
(inches)
100
Low Power
Ultra Low
Power
Desktop
10
Notebook
Credit Card
Phone
PDA
Ring
5-7 Yrs
Watch
1
Time
Source: Texas Instruments
Electrical Engineering
22
Communications
Study of how human speech, music, text and image
data can be encoded on electrical signals and transmitted via radio, cable, television, and optical fiber
Signal Processing
The manipulation of digital signals by computers to
extract or encode useful information and to suppress
noise and other distortion
Electrical Engineering
23
Communications
• Cellular Telephony
• Personal
Communication
Systems (PCS)
• Satellite telephone
systems (Iridium)
• Global Positioning
System
Electrical Engineering
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Computer Networking
Internet
Intranets
Telephone system
Cable TV
Satellite data networks
Military
communications
24
Signal Processing
• High Definition
Television (HDTV)
• Digital Radio
• Sound, Image, and
Video compression
• Speech Recognition
• Image Recognition
• Noise Cancellation
Electrical Engineering
• Military Applications:
Radar, Sonar
• Autonomous Vehicles
• Communication
Systems
• Special Purpose
Computer
Architectures
25
Controls
– Study of making complicated systems behave
in a desirable manner
• Self-steering Cars, Auto Pilots in Aircraft
– Robotics
Electrical Engineering
26
Controls Applications
• Acoustic - acoustic cancellation
for a concert hall; intelligent
hearing devices
• Aerospace - all-weather
landing system; launch
vehicles
• Automation and
Manufacturing navigation for
autonomous robot (e.g.
pathfinder)
• Biological - cardiovascular
control systems
• Defense - high performance
fighters; tactical missiles;
guidance and navigation;
attack helicopters
Electrical Engineering
• Electrical - diffusion furnaces;
semiconductor processes;
read/write head control for
optical storage
• Mechanical - active suspension
for mobile laboratory
• Materials - control of smart
composite materials
• Medicine - telemedical robotic
systems for precision surgery
• Ocean - submarine
• Space Based Surveillance weather, surveillance,
monitoring system; satellites
• Structural - active earthquake
control for skyscrapers
27
Vehicle Cruise Control System Example
• P - Vehicle
• r - Reference (desired)
speed
• y - Actual speed
• u - Fuel flow to engine
• K - Controller
error
r
desired output
e
control
u
K
Controller
di
disturbances
Electrical Engineering
y
P
actual output
Plant
sensor noise
do
n
28
Electrical Engineering
Communications
Control
Systems
Radar,
Antennas
Computers
Electronics
Power
Digital Signal Processing
Electrical Engineering
29