Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department offers two major courses of study: 1) Electrical Engineering (EE), and 2) Computer Engineering (CE). The Electrical Engineering/Materials Science Engineering major was moved to the Chemical and Materials Science Engineering department in 2006. Both majors are ABET-accredited. The department is based out of Kemper Hall with their office on the second floor in the east wing. It is a part of the College of Engineering.

Note that the departmental three-letter code for courses is EEC (not ECE), for Engineering: Electrical and Computer. Plenty of professors use ECE on syllabi, however.

Undergraduate Program

The department offers Bachelor's of Science (BS) degrees in the three courses of study listed above.

There is some overlap between the CE program in this department and the CSE program in the Computer Science department. Both require courses in hardware and software but CE has greater focus on electronics (e.g. electromagnetics, device physics) while CSE has greater focus on computer theory (e.g. algorithms, programming languages).

Degree Requirements

Like most engineering programs, the degree has strict course requirements and a high unit count. There is annual mandatory academic advising for ECE students to make sure they are on track, especially since requirements may change from year-to-year.

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Graduate Program

The department offers Masters of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees. There is also an BS/MS integrated degree program (IDP) that allows junior (3rd year) ECE undergrads to apply to the graduate program early and begin graduate coursework in their senior year.

All ECE grad students must take EEC290 - ECE Graduate Seminar every fall quarter.

MS Requirements

There are two programs that MS students can follow:

Plan I (Thesis) Program:

• 36 units (15 units from 200-level engineering courses, 12 of which are in ECE, excluding 29x)
• 3 quarters academic residence
• MS Thesis

Plan II (Exam) Program

• 36 units (24 units from 200-level engineering courses, 18 of which are in ECE, excluding 29x)
• 3 quarters academic residence
• Comprehensive exam

For more detailed information, see http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/Grads/students/ms.html.

Ph.D. Requirements

• 45 units (24 100/200-level units from ECE excluding 29x, 9 units outside ECE)
• Preliminary Exam
• Qualifying Exam
• Dissertation

For more detailed information, see http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/Grads/students/phd.html

Instructional Facilities

The ECE department has numerous labs located in Kemper Hall. Except for some of the computer labs, they are all kept locked unless there is a class. Most of the equipment in the larger labs is hooked up to an alarm system to prevent theft. Graduate labs are generally locked at all times by keypad.

• ECE Undergraduate Labs
• Microfabrication Lab — Class 100 clean room used for EEC146AB and graduate work. Locked by keypad.

Research

ECE has 37 faculty and adjunct faculty members as well as 14 emeritus faculty members. They are involved in research in areas including:

• Communications, Signal and Image Processing
• Computer Engineering
• Electronic Circuits
• Optoelectronics
• RF, Micro- and Millimeter Waves
• Solid-State Electronic Devices
• Systems and Control

Courses

Official course descriptions are available at the course department's website as well as the registrar.

For student perspective on ECE courses, see ECE Course Reviews.