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Electrical Engineering

Program Director  Jay K. Lee, 335A Link Hall, 315-443-4395, Fax: 315-443-4441; leejk@syr.edu.

Faculty Ercument Arvas, Howard A. Blair, Per Brinch Hansen, Steven J. Chapin, Biao Chen, C.Y. Roger Chen, Shiu-Kai Chin, Ioana L. Coman, Wenliang (Kevin) Du, Ehat Ercanli, James W. Fawcett, Prasanta Ghosh, Amrit L. Goel, Carlos R.P. Hartmann, Can Isik, Philipp Kornreich, Jay Kyoon Lee, Duane L. Marcy, Kishan G. Mehrotra, Chilukuri K. Mohan, Ruixin Niu, Jae C. Oh, Susan Older, Lisa Osadciw, Daniel J. Pease, Frederick W. Phelps, Leonard J. Popyack Jr., James S. Royer, Tapan K. Sarkar, Ernest Sibert, Q. Wang Song, Pramod K. Varshney, Hong Wang

The mission of the electrical engineering program is to assist students to be ready for work and ready for change. This means preparing students to make professional contributions to electrical engineering immediately upon graduation and throughout their professional careers, and to adapt to technological and societal changes.
    The educational objective of the bachelor of science in electrical engineering (BSEE) program in the Department of EECS at Syracuse University is to prepare well-rounded graduates that are ready for work and ready for change.

  • Well-rounded graduates of the BSEE program are known by their professional competence, innovative thinking, ability to work individually and in diverse teams, leadership abilities, communication skills, and integrity.
  • Graduates of the BSEE program who are ready for work are engaged in applying the knowledge acquired in their major, combined with their problem solving abilities, to produce feasible solutions to problems, in a timely manner, which are deemed important in industry, government, or academia.
  • Graduates of the BSEE program who are ready for change exhibit the intellectual flexibility necessary to solve new problems in innovative ways by integrating multiple viewpoints from several disciplines in search of the best possible solutions.
    Electrical engineering is based on scientific principles governing the motion of charged particles through conductors, semiconductors, or even a vacuum. These phenomena can be harnessed in a variety of applications such as in the treatment of disease, optical, satellite, and computer communications, control of robots, radio and television broadcasting, and development of microelectronics for computers and analog circuits.
    This program is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
Engineering design is taught in each of the four years of the electrical?engineering program. Beginning with ECS 101 in the first year, students are required to formulate solutions to a variety of open-ended laboratory projects. As the students progress through their sophomore and junior years, the projects increase in complexity requiring additional creativity and knowledge. Finally, in the senior year the students are required to complete a major design project that builds upon their mastery of the fundamental concepts of mathematics, basic sciences, the humanities and social sciences, engineering topics, and communication skills.
   In addition to successfully completing the requirements for the bachelor of science in electrical engineering, graduates from this program must also achieve the following educational outcomes:
  • an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics and science.
  • an ability to design and conduct experiments, analyze and interpret data.
  • an ability to design systems to meet specifications.
  • an ability to function independently and on teams.
  • an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering and scientific problems.
  • an understanding of professional, ethical, and safety considerations.
  • an ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
  • an understanding of the role of science and engineering in society.
  • a recognition of the necessity of lifelong learning.
  • an understanding of contemporary issues through a broad liberal arts education.
  • an ability to use the modern tools necessary for professional practice.
  • an ability to think critically as evidenced by skills in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, argumentation, and reflection.
  • an understanding of the concept and process of modeling of electrical systems.
  • the ability to design and conduct experiments in electrical systems as well as to analyze and interpret data.
  • the ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs of electrical systems.
  • the ability to identify, formulate, and solve electrical engineering problems.
Program Components
The electrical engineering program has four fundamental components: mathematics and sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities, and general education. Within each component, a number of courses have been set aside as electives in order to allow students, with the guidance of their advisors, to customize their education according to personal and career objectives. A summary of required and elective credits within each component follows:

Mathematics and Science
30 required, 3 elective, 33 total credits;
Engineering 51 required, 12 elective, 63 total credits;
Social Science and Humanities 3 required, 9 elective, 12 total credits;
General Education 12 required, 6 elective, 18 total credits;
Free 6 elective, 6 total credits;
Overall 84 required, 48 elective, 132 total credits.

Elective Courses
In order to maximize the flexibility of the EE curriculum while maintaining its structure, electives have been divided into the following categories.

Technical Electives
Tracks of specialization (described in sequel) and minors are used to regulate technical electives. A student must complete four technical elective courses in electrical engineering (EE) or computer engineering (CE). At a  minimum, two of these courses must complete one EE track. A student with an engineering and computer science (ECS) technical minor needs to complete only one EE track (two elective courses). If a student chooses to complete two tracks, there are 12 credits of elective courses in technical areas. If a student chooses to complete one EE track and a technical ECS minor, the technical electives are increased to 21 credits. Courses that are not required for students who complete a technical minor or a technical second major are marked with a “*” in the curriculum table (ELE 346, 325, and 312).

Mathematics and Sciences Elective
This 3-credit elective may be fulfilled by any mathematics course with a calculus prerequisite, any physics course with a calculus-based physics prerequisite, or any college-level course in other science departments. By taking an appropriate math course, EE students can use this elective to complete a minor in mathematics.

Social Sciences and Humanities Electives
This 9-credit requirement may be fulfilled by any combination of courses listed in the social sciences division or humanities division of the College of Arts and Sciences.

General Education Electives
This 6-credit requirement may be fulfilled by any combination of courses that do not have technical engineering or computer science content. These courses, either by themselves or in combination with social sciences and humanities electives and free electives, present a very attractive opportunity to complete one of the many non-technical minors offered in the University.

Free Electives
This 6-credit requirement may be fulfilled by any combination of college-level courses, for example, to help fulfill the requirements of a technical or a non-technical minor.

Tracks
Tracks are intended to provide a cohesive set of technical electives for EE students. A track consists of a sequence of two senior-level elective courses and their appropriate prerequisites. The following are some example of tracks in EE. Actual composition of tracks are maintained by the EE program committee.

VLSI Track   
ELE 331 Digital Circuits and Systems
3
*ELE 346 Semiconductor Devices 3
ELE/CSE 464 Introduction to VLSI Design 3
ELE 541 Integrated Circuits
3

Electromagnetics Track
ELE324 Electromagnetics I 
3
*ELE 325 Electromagnetics II
3
ELE 424 TFundamentals of Radio Frequencies and Microwaves
3
  and one of the following: 3
ELE 425 Microwave Engineering
3
ELE 425 Electromagnetic Compatibility 3
ELE 524 Introduction to Applied Optics 3

Communications Track   
ELE 351 System and Signal Analysis 
3
ELE 352 Digital Signal Processing 
3
  and two of the following:
6
ELE 551 Communication Systems 3
ELE 558 Data Networks: Basic Principles 3
ELE 591 Special Problems in Electrical Engineering 3

Program of Study
First Year, Fall Semester
ECS 101 Introduction to ECS I 
3
CHE 106 Chemistry I 3
CHE 107 Chemistry Lab I
1
MAT 295 Calculus I 
4
WRT 105 Studio 1: Practices of Academic Writing 3
  SS/H elective 3
    17

First Year, Spring Semester   
ECS 102 Introduction to ECS II 3
MAT 296 Calculus II
4
PHY 211 Physics I 3
PHY 221 Physics Lab I
1
  SS/H elective 3
  Non-technical elective 3
    17
Second Year, Fall Semester
PHY 212 Physics II
3
PHY 222 Physics II Lab 1
ELE 231 EE Fundamentals I
3
ELE 291 EE Lab I 1
MAT 397 Calculus III
4
  SS/H elective 3
    15

Second Year, Spring Semester   
MAT 485 Differential Equations and Matrix Algebra for Engineers 3
WRT 205 Studio 2: Critical Research and Writing 3
ELE 232 EE Fundamentals II
3
ELE 292 EE Lab II 
1
*ELE 346 Semiconductor Devices 3
CSE 261 Digital Logic Design 3
    16

Third Year, Fall Semester
ELE 331 Digital Circuits 3
ELE 391 Digital Circuits Lab 3
ELE 351 System and Signal Analysis 3
ELE 324 Electromagnetics I 3
MAT 521 Introduction to Probability and Statistics
3
WRT 307 Advanced Writing Studio: Professional Writing 3
    18

Third Year, Spring Semester
ELE 333 Analog Circuits 
3
*ELE 325 Electromagnetics II
3
ELE 392 Analog Circuits Lab
3
  Free elective 3

Select two of the following three courses:
ELE 352 Digital Signal Processing 3
*ELE 312 Control Systems 3
ELE 424 Fundamentals of Radio Frequencies and Microwaves 3
    18

Fourth Year, Fall Semester
WRT 407

Advanced Workshop in Professional, Technical,
or Disciplinary Writing
3

ELE 497 Senior Design Project
3
  Technical elective 
6
ECS 392 Ethical Aspects of ECS 3
    15

Fourth Year, Spring Semester
ELE 497 Senior Design Project
1
  Technical elective 6
  Math/Science elective 
3
  Non-technical elective 3
  Free elective 3
    16
Total   132

*These courses may be replaced with technical electives by students who choose to complete an ECS technical minor.
CIS 321 Introduction to Probability and Statistics (4 credits) can be substituted if a student does not want a mathematics minor.
Minors

The electrical engineering curriculum is flexible enough to allow a student to complete up to three minors. Today’s engineers work in an environment where they are expected to know not only their specialty areas, but also a collection of other subject areas–from computers to finance. The EE curriculum responds to this need by providing students with a strong basis in the fundamentals of electrical engineering, coupled with an opportunity to broaden the scope of their education. An electrical engineering student may complete one or all of the following types of minors within the normal limits of the curriculum.

Engineering and computer science minor
A student who wishes to complete a technical minor offered by the college has up to 27 credits of electives distributed from the second year through the fourth year. Twelve of those credits are labeled as technical electives in the following curriculum. Nine of them are credits from the three courses marked by an asterisk, ELE 346, 325, and 312, which are not required for students who choose to complete an ECS technical minor. The remaining 6 credits are from free electives.

Non-technical minor 
A student who would like to complete a non-technical minor has 9 credits of social sciences and humanities electives and 6 credits of free electives in addition to 9 credits of general education electives, which can be used toward any one of more than 70 minors offered at Syracuse University.

Minor in mathematics 

Electrical engineering curriculum requires students to take 18 credits of courses from the mathematics department. With the 3-credit mathematics and sciences elective course also taken appropriately from that department, a minor in mathematics can be earned.

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