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Computers are machines that store and process
information. Desktop computers, portables, workstations, and mainframe computers are
the most readily recognized examples of such devices. Equally important, however,
are the millions of tiny computers (microprocessors) that are embedded in machines,
instruments, and products of all sorts. For example, there are embedded computers
in VCRs, cameras, telephones, CD players, tape players, televisions, washing machines,
ovens, robots, automobiles, airplanes, medical instruments, toys, and many other devices,
both familiar and exotic.
Computer Engineers are involved in the design,
development, manufacture, installation, and operation of general purpose and embedded
computers of all sorts. They are concerned with both hardware (i.e., the electronic
circuits and devices that actually store and process information) and software (i.e.,
the programs that control the operation of the hardware). The B.S. degree program
in Computer Engineering provides a solid foundation in the fundamentals of mathematics,
science, computer hardware, computer software, and engineering design that are needed
to practice the profession or to pursue a graduate degree in the field.
In addition to fundamentals, the curriculum
also includes training in the areas of rapid growth that are important to modern practice
of computer engineering. These include: Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits design
(i.e., the design of electronic circuits implemented on silicon chips); Multimedia
Systems (i.e., systems that process audio and visual information as well as text and
numbers); Embedded Systems; Digital Signal Processing (DSP), which plays a vital role
both in processing and continuous signals that are common in embedded system applications
and in compressing and processing the large volumes of information that are common
in multimedia systems; Computer Networks, which have become vital for connecting multiple
computers in distributed control applications, and connecting users of general purpose
computers who wish to share information and computing resources (e.g., Local Area
Networks, the Internet); Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), which are rapidly replacing
text-based interfaces in nearly all applications; and Object Oriented Programming
(OOP), a technique for designing more reliable and maintainable software.
The computer engineering curriculum provides
a balance between theory and practice that prepares the graduate both for immediate
employment and for continued study. The process of engineering design is emphasized
throughout the curriculum by including open-ended problems with realistic design constraints.
Creativity, consideration of economic and social factors, and the application of systematic
design procedures are required in major design projects during the senior year.
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