This is an archived copy of the 2014-16 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.utexas.edu/.

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering

Students seeking the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering pursue one of two curricula—electrical engineering or computer engineering. Both curricula contain the fundamentals of electrical engineering and computer engineering; they differ in their technical core requirements in order to suit different career objectives.

The curricula in electrical engineering and computer engineering are designed to educate students in the fundamentals of engineering, which are built upon a foundation of mathematics, science, communication, and the liberal arts. Graduates should be equipped to advance their knowledge while contributing professionally to a rapidly changing technology. Areas in which electrical and computer engineers contribute significantly are: communications, signal processing, networks and systems, electronics and integrated circuits, energy systems and renewable energy, fields, waves and electromagnetic systems, nanoelectronics and nanotechnology, computer architecture and embedded systems, and software engineering and design. Typical career paths of graduates include design, development, management, consulting, teaching, and research. Many graduates seek further education in law, medicine, business, or engineering.

The core requirements of the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering provide a foundation of engineering fundamentals. Students then build on the core requirements by choosing a primary and a secondary technical core area; students also choose two advanced laboratory courses. Once the primary technical core area is chosen, the student is assigned a faculty adviser with expertise in that area to help the student select technical core courses that are appropriate to his or her career and educational goals. The curriculum thus ensures breadth through the core courses and the choice of a technical elective; technical core area coursework provides additional depth.

Program Outcomes

Electrical and computer engineering graduates should demonstrate:

An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as analyze and interpret data
An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability
An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams
An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
An ability to communicate effectively
The broad education necessary to understand what impact engineering solutions have in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
A recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in lifelong learning
A knowledge of contemporary issues
An ability to use techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice

Program Educational Objectives

Within a few years of graduation, electrical and computer engineering graduates should:

Contribute to the economic development of Texas and beyond through the ethical practice of electrical and computer engineering in industry and public service
Exhibit leadership in technical or business activity through engineering ability, communication skills, and knowledge of contemporary and global issues
Continue to educate themselves through professional study and personal research
Be prepared for admission to, and to excel in, the best graduate programs in the world
Design systems to collect, encode, store, transmit, and process energy and information, and to evaluate system performance, either individually or in teams
Use their engineering ability and creative potential to create technology that will improve the quality of life in society

Portable Computing Devices

Students enrolled in a degree program in electrical and computer engineering will be expected to own a portable computing device capable of compiling and running a program suitable for use in the classroom and on the University wireless network. Use of these devices in the classroom and as a general part of the learning experience within our programs is at the discretion of faculty and not all classes or courses of instruction will require the use of these devices. Once admitted, students will be informed by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department (ECE) office about specific device requirements.

Curriculum

Course requirements are divided into three categories: basic sequence courses, major sequence courses, and other required courses. In addition, each student must complete the University’s core curriculum . In some cases, a course required as part of the basic sequence may also be counted toward the core curriculum; these courses are identified below. To ensure that courses used to fulfill the social and behavioral sciences and visual and performing arts requirements of the core curriculum also meet ABET criteria, students should follow the guidance given in ABET Criteria .

In the process of fulfilling engineering degree requirements, students must also complete coursework to satisfy the following flag requirements: one independent inquiry flag, one course with a quantitative reasoning flag, one ethics and leadership flag, one global cultures flag, one cultural diversity in the US flag, and two writing flags. The independent inquiry flag, the quantitative reasoning flag, the ethics and leadership flag, and two writing flags are carried by courses specifically required for the degree; these courses are identified below. Courses that may be used to fulfill flag requirements are identified in the Course Schedule . More information about flags is given in Skills and Experiences Flags .

Enrollment in major sequence courses is restricted to students who have been admitted to the major sequence. Requirements for admission to a major sequence are given in Admission to a Major Sequence . Enrollment in other required courses is not restricted by completion of the basic sequence.

Pre-approved courses are used to fulfill technical core, advanced math and/or science and core technical electives; other elective courses must be approved by the electrical and computer engineering faculty before the student enrolls in them.

Transfer Coursework: No more than twenty-five semester credit hours of transfer electrical engineering coursework may be counted for credit toward the electrical engineering degree.

Requirements		Hours
Basic Sequence Courses
Mathematics
M 408C & M 408D	Differential and Integral Calculus and Sequences, Series, and Multivariable Calculus (mathematics; quantitative reasoning flag)	8
or
M 408K & M 408L & M 408M	Differential Calculus and Integral Calculus and Multivariable Calculus
M 427K	Advanced Calculus for Applications I (quantitative reasoning flag)	4
M 340L	Matrices and Matrix Calculations	3
Electrical Engineering
E E 302	Introduction to Electrical Engineering (part II science and technology)	3
E E 306	Introduction to Computing	3
E E 411	Circuit Theory	4
E E 312	Software Design and Implementation I	3
E E 313	Linear Systems and Signals	3
E E 319K	Introduction to Embedded Systems	3
Physics
PHY 303K	Engineering Physics I (part I science and technology; quantitative reasoning flag)	3
PHY 303L	Engineering Physics II (part I science and technology; quantitative reasoning flag)	3
PHY 103M	Laboratory for Physics 303K	1
PHY 103N	Laboratory for Physics 303L	1
Rhetoric and Writing
RHE 306	Rhetoric and Writing (English composition)	3
Major Sequence Courses
Electrical Engineering
E E 333T	Engineering Communication (writing flag)	3
E E 351K	Probability and Random Processes	3
E E 364D	Introduction to Engineering Design (writing flag)	3
or E E 364E	Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship
One of the following senior design project courses:		4
E E 464G	Multidisciplinary Senior Design Project (independent inquiry flag)
E E 464H	Honors Senior Design Project (independent inquiry flag)
E E 464K	Senior Design Project (independent inquiry flag)
E E 464R	Research Senior Design Project (independent inquiry flag)
E E 464S	Start-Up Senior Design Project
Primary technical core: Core courses (six hours), core laboratory course (four hours), advanced mathematics course (four hours)		14
Primary core electives: Four courses (twelve to fourteen hours)		12
Secondary technical core: Core courses (six hours), core laboratory course (four hours), advanced mathematics course (four hours)		14
Other Required Courses
Approved elective		3
Remaining Core Curriculum Courses
E 316L	British Literature (humanities)	3
or E 316M	American Literature
or E 316N	World Literature
or E 316P	Masterworks of Literature
American and Texas government		6
American history		6
Visual and performing arts		3
Social and behavioral sciences		3
UGS 302	First-Year Signature Course (some sections carry a writing flag)	3
or UGS 303	First-Year Signature Course
Total Hours		125

Integrated BSEE/MSE program

The integrated degree program results in simultaneously awarding a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering: Integrated Option (BSEE) degree, and a Master's of Science in Engineering (MSE) degree in any one of the ten graduate tracks offered by the graduate program in electrical and computer engineering (ECE).

There are two stages to admission, an informal non-binding department based stage and a second stage in which the student formally applies to the Graduate School within the integrated BSEE/MSE program and within one of the available ECE graduate tracks. At stage one, undergraduate students in the ECE department may apply to the integrated degree program after qualifying for admission to major sequence. The purpose of stage one is primarily to provide appropriate advising to students interested in and appropriate for the integrated program. Admission to the integrated program at stage one is based on the applicant's grade point average, letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, and other relevant examples of academic ability and leadership. Students will be advised by the integrated program adviser about the appropriate courses to take and reserve for graduate credit in their senior year in order to complete the integrated program as efficiently as possible. As for admission to the regular standalone MSE program, all admissions decisions at stage two are made by the admissions committee in the respective graduate track, with admission requirements set by the graduate track, with the exception that Graduate Record Exam (GRE) test scores are not required of integrated program participants. While optimal, application and admission at stage one are not required for application and admission to the integrated program at stage two.

The integrated program requires 120 semester credit hours (SCH) for the BSEE portion of the integrated program, as opposed to the 125 SCH minimum required for the BSEE degree alone. Students in the integrated program begin taking graduate courses as seniors. Students admitted to the integrated program will normally take and reserve for graduate credit two graduate courses in place of approved electives from the primary and secondary technical cores that would otherwise be required in the regular/standalone BSEE program. However, precisely which BSEE electives are to be replaced by the graduate courses can be adjusted as approved by technical core faculty advisers.

Students in this program will receive the BSEE and MSE degrees simultaneously after successfully completing a minimum total of 150 semester credit hours, thirty of which must qualify for the MSE program of work in electrical and computer engineering. Students unable to successfully complete the integrated program may obtain a BSEE degree by satisfying all of the requirements for the standalone BSEE degree. Since the regular BSEE degree requirements are a subset of the Integrated BSEE/MSE Program degree requirements, an undergraduate student should still be on a trajectory to graduate with the regular BSEE degree in the same timeframe that the student was on when applying to the Integrated BSEE/MSE Program. A student dismissed from the integrated program while a graduate student should already meet the degree requirements for the regular BSEE degree.

Information regarding the integrated program requirements and policies may be obtained from the ECE advising offices.

Upper-Division Technical Core Areas

Both electrical engineering and computer engineering students must choose a primary and a secondary technical core area. Electrical engineering students must choose their primary technical core area from the electrical engineering technical core areas listed below; computer engineering students must choose their primary technical core area from the computer engineering core areas. For the secondary technical core area, students may choose any technical core area, including academic enrichment.

For all technical core areas, the student must complete all courses in the core area on the letter-grade basis. A course may not be counted toward more than one technical core area.

In cases where a single electrical engineering course appears on both the primary and secondary technical core area list, the student must replace the secondary technical core area course with an elective from the same secondary technical core area list or obtain approval from a faculty adviser for course substitution. In the case of a duplicate mathematics course, the student must choose an approved mathematics or science course to replace it.

Academic Enrichment Technical Core Area

A student may choose the academic enrichment technical core area, but only as his or her secondary technical core area. For this core area, the student selects a minimum of fourteen hours of elective coursework to support his or her personal or career goals, which must include an upper-division course in either mathematics or science. Before registering for these courses, the student must prepare a career plan statement and a list of relevant electives; this plan must be approved by the undergraduate adviser.

These electives may include traditional upper-division technical courses in electrical engineering and other engineering fields; courses in other fields at the University that satisfy degree requirements, such as business, economics, communication, music, and philosophy; or research done with a faculty member in Electrical Engineering 160, 260, 360, or 460, Special Problems in Electrical and Computer Engineering. The courses must be completed in residence; courses in an approved study abroad program require the approval of the undergraduate adviser. A minimum of fourteen semester credit hours is required, which may include Electrical Engineering 155R, Undergraduate Research Seminar and 325L, Cooperative Engineering, or up to three hours in Electrical Engineering 125S, Internship in Electrical and Computer Engineering, but not both. Students selecting software engineering and design as their primary technical core and academic enrichment as their secondary technical core must also ensure that their program of work includes adequate hardware coursework. That is:

If the senior design project consists of software only, then the electives include at least two of the following: Electrical Engineering 316, Electrical Engineering 445L, Electrical Engineering 445M.
If the senior design project involves a significant hardware design component, then the electives must include at least one of the following: Electrical Engineering 316, Electrical Engineering 445L, Electrical Engineering 445M.

Electrical Engineering Technical Cores

Communications, Signal Processing, Networks, and Systems

Communications, signal processing, networks, and systems broadly encompasses the principles underlying the design and implementation of systems for information transmission. The field considers how information is represented, compressed, and transmitted on wired and wireless links and how communication networks can be, and are, designed and operated. A student who chooses this technical core area should recognize that communications and networking is a broad application domain where many engineering tools come into play: from circuit design for wireless phones to embedded network processors to system and application software for networked systems.