Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering

• 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

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 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 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 Electrical and Computer Engineering 333T, 160, 260, 360, 460, and 379K requires completion of Electrical and Computer Engineering 312 or 313 with a grade of at least C-.

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 25 semester credit hours of transfer electrical and computer engineering coursework may be counted for credit toward the electrical and computer engineering degree.

Requirements		Hours
Electrical and Computer Engineering Courses
ECE 302	Introduction to Electrical Engineering (part II science and technology)	3
or ECE 302H	Introduction to Electrical Engineering: Honors
ECE 306	Introduction to Computing	3
ECE 411	Circuit Theory	4
ECE 312	Software Design and Implementation I	3
or ECE 312H	Software Design and Implementation I: Honors
ECE 313	Linear Systems and Signals	3
ECE 319K	Introduction to Embedded Systems	3
or ECE 319H	Introduction to Embedded Systems: Honors
ECE 333T	Engineering Communication (writing flag)	3
ECE 351K	Probability and Random Processes	3
ECE 364D	Introduction to Engineering Design (writing flag)	3
or ECE 364E	Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship
One of the following senior design project courses:		4
ECE 464G	Multidisciplinary Senior Design Project (independent inquiry flag)
ECE 464H	Honors Senior Design Project (independent inquiry flag)
ECE 464K	Senior Design Project (independent inquiry flag)
ECE 464R	Research Senior Design Project (independent inquiry flag)
ECE 464S	Start-Up Senior Design Project
Advance technical component: Within an identified "core": two core courses (6-7 hours), one core laboratory course (4 hours), one advanced mathematics course (3-4 hours)		14
Advanced technical component electives: Within the same identified “core”: four courses (minimum 12 hours)		12
Advanced technical elective: Within any core of Electrical Engineering: one upper-division electrical engineering course (or E E 316) (3-4 hours) 1		3
Set of free electives: at least 14 hours of additional coursework taken for a letter grade. 2		14
Other Technical 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 427J	Differential Equations with Linear Algebra (quantitative reasoning flag)	4
M 340L	Matrices and Matrix Calculations	3
Physics
PHY 105M	Laboratory For Physics 302K, 303K, and 317K	1
PHY 105N	Laboratory For Physics 302L, 303L, and 317L	1
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
Rhetoric and Writing
RHE 306	Rhetoric and Writing (English composition)	3
Remaining Core Curriculum Courses
E 316L	British Literature 3	3
or E 316M	American Literature
or E 316N	World Literature
or E 316P	Masterworks of Literature
American and Texas government 4		6
American history 4		6
Visual and performing arts 5		3
Social and behavioral science 5		3
UGS 302	First-Year Signature Course 6	3
or UGS 303	First-Year Signature Course
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1. E E Option: Advanced Technical Component (mathematics) is four hours and one Advanced Technical Component Requirement is three hours. C E Option: Advanced Technical Component (mathematics) is three hours and one Advanced Technical Component Elective is four hours.
2. Must include at least one advanced mathematics or basic science course (three hours); no more than three hours of lower-division coursework; all coursework must count for a major in the offering department; all coursework must be taken in residence, except that up to three credit hours can be transferred with approval; no course can duplicate a course the student has taken or is required to take as part of the other Electrical and Computer Engineering coursework requirements.
3. Some sections of the English humanities courses (E 316L, 316M, 316N, 316P) carry a global cultures or cultural diversity flag.
4. Some sections carry a cultural diversity flag.
5. Some sections carry a global cultures and/or cultural diversity flag.
6. In UGS 302, all sections carry a writing flag; in UGS 303, some sections carry a writing flag.
Total Hours		125

Electrical and Computer Engineering Honors Program

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Honors program is a curriculum program. Students admitted to, and who complete the program and all its requirements, receive a Bachelors of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering with the ECE Honors transcript distinction. Students entering the University as first time in college applicant may apply to the ECE Honors program by completing a separate online application available through the Office of Admissions. The ECE Honor’s committee considers and reviews all supplemental material required in the online application for the ECE Honors program. All admission decisions must be made by the UT Austin Office of Admissions, with the ECE Honors Selection Committee providing recommendations. Students may also apply and be admitted into the ECE Honors Program after matriculating to The University of Texas at Austin. External transfer students are required to complete the separate online application process. The internal application process for internal transfer students requires a copy of the student’s record at UT Austin; a transcript of high school courses and grades; a resume detailing relevant accomplishments, experience, and activities; and written statements. The ECE Honors Selection Committee will consider these applications, and on that basis, will decide admission to the ECE Honors Program. In order to remain in the program, ECE Honors Students must maintain a GPA of at least 3.3 in their ECE courses (honors and non-honors), and must be in good standing according to current policies of the ECE department.

Students must take and successfully complete at least 17 hours of ECE honors courses to be considered for graduation as an ECE Honors Student. Students who join the program in the first semester of their freshman year must take the following in their first year: one-hour lower-division ECE honors course, ECE 302H, ECE 312H, ECE 319H. Additional courses to be used towards the ECE Honors program include three-hour upper-division ECE honors course, ECE 364D, and ECE 464H. Approved ECE graduate courses used as part of the ECE Undergraduate Degree may also be counted or substituted for ECE Honors credit. Note that this does not apply for graduate courses taken for graduate credit as part of a graduate or joint ECE BS/MS program. All ECE honors courses are used to fulfill ECE course requirements. Students in the ECE Honors Program must complete all curriculum requirements and a minimum of 125 hours.

Honors Electrical and Computer Engineering and Business (ECB-Program)

Honors Electrical and Computer Engineering and Business (ECB) is a dual degree program between the Canfield Business Honors Program (Canfield BHP) and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). The dual degree program's four-year undergraduate curriculum is aimed at preparing students for engineering and business careers. Students must successfully complete all requirements for both programs to receive a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering with the ECE Honors transcript distinction and a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Admissions

Admission to the ECB program is limited to a small number of high-performing students who are chosen on a competitive basis. Students selected for the program will have demonstrated exceptional potential for success in both engineering and business. Admission decisions are made by the ECB committee. Students enter the program as a freshman. 

The ECB program has its own admissions criteria and requirements that supplement the standard admissions requirements for the Cockrell School of Engineering, Canfield BHP, and UT Austin. Students will apply to the dual degree program in parallel with their application to UT Austin, the Cockrell School of Engineering, and the McCombs School of Business. 

Students entering the university as freshmen may apply to the ECB program by completing a separate online application available through the UT Austin Office of Admissions. The committee considers the student's SAT Reasoning Test or ACT scores, high school rank, preparatory courses, extracurricular activities, evidence of leadership ability, and other objective criteria.

Academic Standards

A student who enters ECB as a freshman must have a grade point average of at least 3.25 on the Canfield BHP courses taken in residence during the fall and spring semesters of the first year to continue in the program. An ECB student must maintain a GPA of at least 3.3 in their ECE courses (honors and non-honors) and must be in good standing according to current policies of the ECE department and Canfield BHP. Students must complete at least 12 semester hours in residence on a letter-grade basis during the fall and spring semesters of the first year. 

After freshman year, students are dismissed from the program if their overall business GPA drops below 3.25 or ECE GPA drops below a 3.3. Students failing to meet these requirements will be placed on probation for one semester, and then dismissed from the ECB program if they fail to improve their GPA. Students dismissed from the honors program become part of their first-choice major indicated on their admissions application unless they petition to join their second-choice major. 

In addition to this grade point average requirement, students must know and abide by the academic and disciplinary policies given in this catalog and in the General Information Catalog. Those who fail to do so will be considered for academic dismissal from the program. Under special circumstances, and at the discretion of the ECB program committee, a student will be allowed to continue in the program under academic review. Students in scholastic difficulty should discuss their problems with the ECB program director(s) and their academic advisor(s). 

Graduation 

To graduate under the ECB program, the student must earn a university grade point average of at least 3.25, a grade point average of at least 3.25 in business courses, and a grade point average of at least a 3.3 in electrical and computer engineering courses. A candidate for any degree must be enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin in the semester or summer session in which the degree is awarded. 

Students in the ECB program must satisfy the university Core Curriculum and the combined degree requirements for a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering with the ECE Honors transcript distinction and a Bachelor in Business Administration. If students later elect to complete only one degree, they must consult their academic advisor(s) and fulfill all degree requirements. 

Degree Requirements 

1. The Core Curriculum requirements and the BBA Degree Requirements.
2. Mathematics 408C and 408D, or 408K, 408L, and 408M; 340L, and 427J.
3. Physics 303K and 105M, 301 and 101L or 317K and 117M; and 303L and 105N, 316 and 116L, or 317L and 117N.
4. Economics 304K and 304L
5. Three semester hours of coursework in anthropology, psychology, educational psychology, or sociology with a primary focus other than statistics or data processing. Courses dealing primarily with statistics or data processing may not be used to fulfill this requirement. Social Science 302C, 302D, 302E, and 302F (for Plan II dual majors only), are also accepted.
6. Students must take and successfully complete at least 16 hours of ECE Honors courses.
   1. Electrical and Computer Engineering 302Hand 319H in their first year.
   2. Additional courses to be used towards the ECE Honors program include: two three-hour upper-division ECE honors courses, Electrical and Computer Engineering 312H, and 464H.
   3. Approved ECE graduate courses used as part of the ECE undergraduate degree may also be counted or substituted. Note that this does not apply for graduate courses taken for graduate credit as part of a graduate or integrated BSECE/MSECE program.
   4. All ECE honors courses are used to fulfill ECE course requirements.
7. Students in the ECB Honors Program must complete all ECE curriculum requirements and a minimum of 125 hours. Please refer to the Engineering “Degrees and Programs” section of this catalog for technical course options within each linked degree major program.
   1. 17 hours of business honors courses that substitute for ECE courses required for the ECE degree:
      - Business Administration 324H (substitutes for Electrical and Computer Engineering 333T)
      - Accounting 311H (substitutes for ECE lower-division elective)
      - Statistics 235H (substitutes for ECE advanced math or basic science)
      - Finance 357H (substitutes for ECE technical elective)
      - Management 336H (substitutes for ECE free elective) 
      - Management 327H (substitutes for ECE free elective)
   2. Electrical and Computer Engineering 306, 411, and 313.
   3. Advance technical component within an identified component area: two component area courses (6-7 hours), one component laboratory course (four hours), one advanced mathematics course (3-4 hours).
   4. Three electrical and computer engineering advanced technical elective courses (nine hours).
   5. Advanced technical elective: Within any core of electrical and computer engineering: one upper-division electrical and computer engineering course (or Electrical and Computer Engineering 316) (3-4 hours).​
8. Completion of the following business and business honors courses:
   1. Accounting 311H (may fulfill the quantitative reasoning flag)
   2. Accounting 312H (may fulfill the quantitative reasoning flag)
   3. Business Administration 101H
   4. Business Administration 151H
   5. A professional, business-related experiential learning course chosen from the following: Accounting 366P, Business Administration 353 653, Finance 366P Management 347P, 366P, 367P, 369P, Management Information Systems 366P Marketing 366P, Operations Management 366P. Only one of the following courses may be counted toward the degree: Business Administration 353, Business Administration 653
   6. Business Administration 324or Communication 324H (may fulfill the writing flag)
   7. Decision Science 235H
   8. Finance 357H
   9. Legal Environment of Business 323H
   10. Management 101H
   11. Management 336H (may fulfill the ethics flag)
   12. Management 327H
   13. Management 374H (may fulfill the writing and independent inquiry flags)
   14. Management Information Systems 301H
   15. Marketing 337H
   16. Operations Management 235H
   17. Statistics 301H
   18. Statistics 235H(may fulfill the quantitative reasoning flag)
       
       This dual major program requires 155 hours for completion of both degrees

Integrated Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering/Master of Science in Engineering Program

The integrated degree program results in simultaneously awarding a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering: Integrated Option (BSECE) 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 BSECE/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 advisor 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 BSECE portion of the integrated program, as opposed to the 125 SCH minimum required for the BSECE 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 advanced technical coursework that would otherwise be required in the regular/standalone BSECE program. However, precisely which BSECE electives are to be replaced by the graduate courses can be adjusted as approved by technical core faculty advisors.

Students in this program will receive the BSECE and MSE degrees simultaneously after successfully completing a minimum total of 150 semester credit hours, 30 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 BSECE degree by satisfying all of the requirements for the standalone BSECE degree. Since the regular BSECE degree requirements are a subset of the Integrated BSECE/MSE Program degree requirements, an undergraduate student should still be on a trajectory to graduate with the regular BSECE degree in the same timeframe that the student was on when applying to the Integrated BSECE/MSE Program. A student dismissed from the integrated program while a graduate student should already meet the degree requirements for the regular BSECE degree.

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

Upper-Division Technical Component Areas

Electrical and computer engineering students must choose an advanced technical component area from the electrical engineering or computer engineering areas listed below.