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BS in ECE

Program objectives

The ECE program's objectives represent our vision for what our students will be doing in their engineering careers five years after graduation. The principal behaviors we seek to foster in our students are expertise, innovation, and leadership.

The ECE Academic Guide has everything you need to know about the Bachelor of Science degree in ECE:

For over 60 years, the Carnegie Plan of Professional Education has been a vital component of Carnegie Mellon University's educational objectives. The ECE Department continues to place great emphasis on problem-solving and design based upon the traditions of the Carnegie Plan.

With the introduction of its innovative broad and flexible curriculum in 1991, the ECE Department revitalized professional problem-solving and design in their proper role in the engineering curriculum. The goal of ECE's curriculum is to create a flexible undergraduate educational experience, comprising mathematics, science, computer science, and statistics; general education (humanities, social sciences, and fine arts); written and oral communication; and ECE Core, Breadth, Coverage, Depth, and Capstone Design Requirements as well as Free Electives.

By enabling multiple paths through our program, we accommodate students with different backgrounds, interests, skills, and career goals. Within the flexible requirements, students can customize and configure their programs to meet their objectives and particular career goals. Traditional students can prepare for technological careers in industry, graduate school, or management. Interdisciplinary students can utilize our program as a launching pad for professional careers in business, law, medicine, or public service.

Objectives and Outcomes

The BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering is a broad and highly flexible degree program structured to provide students with the smallest set of constraints consistent with a rich and comprehensive view of the profession. Our program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Electrical, Computer, Communications, Telecommunication(s) and Similarly Named Engineering Programs. Students are encouraged and stimulated to explore multiple areas of theory and application. ECE faculty have adopted the following outcomes from ABET and established the following objectives for the BS in ECE curriculum:

Program educational objectives

ECE's program objectives are shown below. They represent our vision for what our students will be doing in their engineering careers five years after graduation. The principal behaviors we seek to foster in our students are expertise, innovation, and leadership.

Our graduates will be:

Experts

They will solve problems by applying ECE fundamentals.
Their solutions will reflect depth of understanding in their sophistication.
Their solutions will reflect breadth of understanding by drawing on multiple disciplines.

Innovators

They will demonstrate creativity in their engineering practice.
They will consider holistic systems-oriented approaches in their designs.
They will think strategically in their planning and execution.

Leaders

They will take initiative and demonstrate resourcefulness.
They will collaborate in multidisciplinary teams.
They will be leaders in their organizations, profession, and society.

Student outcomes

An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

Enrollment and graduation data

	Sophomores enrolled	Juniors enrolled	Seniors enrolled	Fifth-year seniors enrolled	Degrees awarded
2013	183	136	123	24	124
2014	169	168	125	17	136
2015	174	156	141	22	150
2016	178	169	136	26	150
2017	192	177	161	22	164
2018	192	157	172	22	161
2019	188	179	139	20	190
2020	176	167	167	15	140
2021	205	160	161	22	165
2022	267	196	136	30	166
2023	225	252	175	16	157

Graduation statistics represent enrollment at the beginning of the fall semester. Degrees awarded information represents degrees awarded in the summer, fall, and spring semesters of the academic year.

Philosophy of education

The BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering is a broad and highly flexible ABET-accredited degree program structured to provide students with the smallest set of constraints consistent with a rich and comprehensive view of the profession. Students are encouraged and stimulated to explore multiple areas of theory and application.

ECE faculty have established the following objectives for the BS in ECE curriculum:

Fundamentals

To teach our students the fundamentals of science, mathematics, computer science, engineering, and statistics and develop in them the ability to formulate and analyze problems and synthesize well-designed solutions based on this knowledge and their intuition.

Depth and breadth

To provide our students with breadth and depth in disparate areas of electrical and computer engineering and the ability to apply knowledge from these areas to problem-solving and system building.

Flexibility

To provide an environment that allows each student to maximize their potential by giving them the flexibility to pursue their interests and academic strengths, thereby encouraging flexibility in their career thinking.

Teamwork

To ensure our students are able to work successfully in multidisciplinary teams with individuals whose expertise may span electrical and computer engineering, other engineering disciplines, or beyond engineering (social sciences, public policy, etc.).

Strategic thinking

To develop in our students the ability to think in a sophisticated manner about technology and their careers. To encourage our students to always evaluate themselves and be engaged in lifelong learning.

System builders

To develop an appreciation of the techno-socio-political environment in which engineering is practiced and define problems and formulate solutions from a systems perspective.

Leadership

To create societal leaders and help our students become individuals who will evaluate how and why electrical and computer engineering is practiced and pursue careers that will help improve the profession and society.

The department strongly believes in coupling theoretical concepts introduced in the classroom with hands-on experience in laboratories or projects. Design experience emphasizes contemporary problems and provides a background for developing logic and computer design skills at the professional level. Faculty in the department are involved in cutting-edge and multidisciplinary research, and undergraduate students of all levels of expertise (ranging from freshman to senior) are encouraged to be involved in research projects. Undergraduate research projects provide students with the opportunity to earn academic credit while participating in the research programs of individual faculty members.

Undergraduate concentration in Security & Privacy

In a world where data breaches and cyberattacks are ever-present, the need for technologists who have a solid understanding of the principles that underlie strong security and privacy practices is greater than ever. Learn more about the undergraduate concentration in Security & Privacy.

Concentrations allow for focused study in a specific area of electrical and computer engineering. Additional concentrations may be introduced into the curriculum in future semesters.