POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY 2005-2007

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM
Program Director: Peter J. Voltz
The Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering offers an
Electrical Engineering Program for the
degrees Bachelor of Science, Master of
Science and Doctor of Philosophy.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
PROFESSION
Electrical engineering is a rapidly growing
profession that has evolved from its
early beginnings in electric power generation
and distribution through the development
of radio, television, control, materials,
computers, telecommunications and
health care. Because of the advances electrical
engineers have brought about in
power distribution, computers and communications,
the world is a far different
place than it was 100 years ago. Their
inventions have made the world a smaller,
safer place, and allow for immediate
reporting and images from distant places,
making world events part of daily life.
While undergraduate and graduate
students in electrical engineering concentrate
on areas of electrical science, graduates
eventually apply their training to
such diversified fields as electronic
design, bioengineering, city planning,
astronautics, radio astronomy, system
engineering, image processing, telemetry,
the Internet, computer design, management
and patent law. As students mature
and realize their abilities, their professional
lives may center on engineering,
government, sales or education.
The electrical engineering faculty at
Polytechnic covers a wide range of fields.
Principal areas of teaching and research
are microelectronic devices and systems;
computer engineering and computer science;
telecommunications; speech and
image processing; electro-optics and
electroacoustics; microwave engineering;
wireless personal communications;
power systems and energy conversion;
plasma science and engineering; and systems
and control engineering.
Additional information about electrical
engineering careers can be found online at
www.ieee.org/organizations/eab/studentcareers.htm.
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UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
The BS program in Electrical
Engineering gives student a broad-based
background in electrical engineering,
preparing them for immediate employment
in industry or government or for
graduate study.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The Bachelor of Science program in
Electrical Engineering achieves the following
objectives for students:
• Instills in them a broad-based understanding
of the fundamental technical
subject areas associated with electrical
engineering
• Requires them to achieve technical
depth in at least one area of specialization
and allows them to take electives
in other areas
• Develops their problem-solving skills
with modeling, analysis, design and
computer simulation as tools
• Provides them with a broad educational
component that complements the
technical content of the electrical engineering
discipline, including multidisciplinary
experience, humanistic and
societal issues, with particular emphasis
on the development of effective
oral and written communication skills.
The BS program includes analysis and
design courses in the major areas of electrical
engineering that build on fundamental
courses in mathematics and science.
Many of the electrical engineering
courses include hands-on laboratory
components. A variety of electives are
available to undergraduates to provide
depth and specialization, many in commercially
viable areas such as local area
networks, wireless communication and
deregulated power systems.
Since most current engineering design
is computer facilitated, the department
includes computer-aided design (CAD)
programs in many undergraduate courses
to emphasize possibilities for large-scale
design, corrections for unmodeled complexities,
trade-offs among performance
criteria and real-time simulations. The
senior design project challenges each student
to integrate analytical and design
concepts from earlier courses to design a
device or system to meet specified performance
requirements.
The program recognizes that communication
and interpersonal skills are essential
to a successful career in any profession.
Students in the program are required
to take courses in history, writing and literature,
as well as elective courses in the
areas of humanities and social sciences.
Those skills are also developed in team
projects in design courses.
Students are taught by faculty familiar
with current issues through sponsored
research programs, such as those coordinated
by Polytechnic’s Center for Advanced
Technology in Telecommunications
(CATT), a World Wide Web lab and many
research grants awarded to individuals or
groups of professors.
The Electrical Engineering Program
keeps abreast of market changes through
the CATT Industrial Affiliates Program,
hiring of professors and part-time adjunct
teachers having industrial experience, frequent
contacts with alumni, review of professional
journals and encouraging faculty
to work in industry part-time or while
on sabbatical. Where possible, classroom
work challenges students to apply their
knowledge to current design situations.
Students are also able to apply broad technical
knowledge to practical problems
through interdepartmental cooperation in
photonics (with physics), in robotics (with
mechanical engineering) and in smart
materials (with materials science).
Industry’s need for the system
approach in engineering is also reflected
in the curriculum by senior projects in
areas such as control and robotics,
advanced hardware design, imaging,
wireless communications, power electronics
and areas mentioned above. The
economic aspects of engineering are
addressed by allowing undergraduates to
choose electives, such as macro/micro
economics, psychology, ethics and management
process. Cost evaluation is
required in the design projects for EG
1004 Introduction to Engineering Design.
Senior projects emphasize time management
and planning.
Exceptional undergraduate students are
given the opportunity for advanced study
in two programs: (1) the BS/MS Honors