ELECTRICAL & cOMPUTER eNGINEERING

Welcome to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at San Diego State University! We are committed to shaping a great future for each one of our students.
    ECE Home Page


The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at San Diego State University is interested in attracting exceptional students to our B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degree programs. Our graduates become leaders in many areas represented by our Department, both in private and public sectors.

Our faculty expertise includes antenna and microwave engineering, power electronics and electric drives, embedded systems, digital VLSI, signal processing, power systems, electromagnetic interference, machine learning, wireless communication, multimedia communication, rehabilitation electronics, electronics and system design for biomedical applications, robotic, artificial intelligence, and unmanned aerial systems.

We are proud to have seven awardees of the prestigious Monty Award, three NSF CAREER awardees, an Albert W. Johnson Research Lectureship awardee, and IEEE Fellows.

Our Department is home to several research laboratories such as the Antenna & Microwave Lab (AML) Group which is an antenna analysis, design, fabrication and measurement facility, the Emerging & Advanced Green Energy Lab (EAGEL), the Graduate Automotive Technology Education (GATE) Center for electrical drive transportation research, the SysteMs & InteLligEnce (SMILE) Lab that explores fundamental theories and innovative algorithms to improve dynamic systems and networks, and WIreless Networks & Communication (WINC) Lab whose research areas include Body Area Networks (BANs), Green Networking, Cloud Computing, and Research on Social Networking.

Program highlights:

  • Well-recognized graduate program
  • Distinguished faculty
  • Exemplary diversity and inclusion
  • Excellent support by local industry

The Department of ECE offers both graduate and undergraduate studies leading to a Master of Science or a Bachelor of Science degree. ECE offers both on-campus and online degrees in the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) and starting in Fall 2023, in Computer Engineering (MSCompE). For information on the online Master of Science degrees please click on online MSEE or online MSCompE. The Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) and Computer Engineering (BSCompE) are only offered on-campus.

In addition to our Master and Bachelor of Science degrees, ECE offers a Master of Engineering (MEngr) degree and a Joint Doctoral Program (JDP) degree. The Master of Engineering degree is a practice-oriented, interdisciplinary degree designed to meet the needs of students who are interested in furthering a career in engineering with a business/management emphasis. For the JDP program, faculty from both San Diego State University (SDSU) and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) are actively involved in research projects with the graduate students. The Ph.D. degree is awarded jointly by the two cooperating institutions. 

Visit the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Engineering Building 426
electrical.sdsu.edu
(619) 594-7013
Monday - Friday

8:00 am - 4:00 pm (PDT)

 

Important dates for FALL 2023

It is the student's responsibility to know the deadlines.

NOTE:  This list does not have everything that is listed on the University's calendar. For a more detailed calendar, go to the Office of the Registrar site https://registrar.sdsu.edu/.

Aug 17  

First day of Fall 2023 semester.

Aug 21   

First Day of Classes.

Aug 28 - Sept 1

 

Enrollment during this period is by permission number only.

Aug 30  

Administrative drop deadline. Students may be administratively dropped for non-attendance or lack of required course prerequisites.

Sept 1  

Last day to ADD/DROP, or change grading basis (11:59 p.m. deadline).
Last day to apply for Fall 2023 graduation.
Last day to file petition for Concurrent Graduate Credit for Fall 2023 semester.
Last day to opt-out of Immediate Access or Equitable Access for online course materials (if applicable).

Sept 2  

Last day for payment of fees for registration (3:30 p.m. deadline).

Sept 4  

Holiday - Labor Day. Faculty/staff holiday. Campus closed.

Sept 18  

Census

Oct 1  

Applications for admission or readmission to San Diego State University for the semester are accepted. Undergraduate applications are NOT accepted after November 30 (postmarked). Graduate applicants should consult Graduate Admissions for closing dates.

Oct 9  

Indigenous People's Day

Oct 31  

Last day to officially withdraw from all classes for Fall 2023 and receive a prorated refund (withdrawal after September 1 requires special approval and a penalty fee is assessed).

Nov 10      Holiday - Veteran's Day. Faculty/staff holiday. Campus closed.

Nov 22   No classes will be held, but campus will remain open.

Nov 23 - 24

  Holiday - Thanksgiving recess. Faculty/staff holiday. Campus closed.

Dec 11   Last day to submit a Fall 2023 Petition for Late Schedule Adjustment.
Last day of classes before final examinations

Dec 12 - 18   Final Examinations.

Dec 21 - 26   Holiday - Winter recess. Faculty/staff holiday. Campus closed.

Dec 29     Grades due from instructors (11 p.m. deadline).
Last day for submission of incomplete and RP grade removals (excluding thesis) for December 2023 graduation with an advanced degree.
Last day of Fall 2023 semester.

Jan 1   Holiday - 2024 New Year's Day Observed. Faculty/staff holiday. Campus closed.
     

 

NEWs

For previous news items, please go to our News Archives.

 

Tong Huang & Chris Mi NSF Grant

Drs. Tong Huang and Chris Mi - SDSU Researchers Working to Protect Power Grids Against Natural Disasters and Cyberattacks
Article by Taylor De Leon, October 23, 2023

Electrical and Computer Engineering's Assistant Professor  Tong Huang and Distinguished Professor Chris Mi received a $1.5M grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) ASCENT (Addressing Systems Challenges through Engineering Teams) to develop technologies to advance cyber-physical resilience in the carbon-neutral era. To read the full article click on SDSU Researchers Working to Protect Power Grids.



Duy Nguyen

Dr. Duy Nguyen Receives a $599,800 Grant from the Army Research Office (ARO) 

Dr. Duy Nguyen, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received a $599,800 grant from the Army Research Office (ARO) to develop new signal processing algorithms for UAV communications. The grant is sponsored by ARO and is titled "Enabling high-mobility UAV communications with adaptive signal processing".
 
The primary goals of this research project are to develop statistical learning methods for estimation, detection, and precoding designs to support UAV communications in a high-mobility and contested environment.
 
 

Dr. Duy Nguyen Receives a $262,967 Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) 

Dr. Duy Nguyen, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received a $262,967 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop new signal processing and resource allocation algorithms for beyond-5G cell-free wireless networks. The grant is sponsored by NSF and is titled "Enabling Beyond-5G Wireless Access Networks with Robust and Scalable Cell-Free Massive MIMO".
 
The primary goals of this research project are to develop nonlinear statistical inference methods for estimation and detection and devise robust and scalable resource allocation solutions for cell-free massive MIMO under less favorable channel propagation conditions. 
 
This collaborative project brings together investigators from SDSU (Dr. Duy Nguyen, lead-PI), the University of California, Irvine (Dr. A. Lee Swindlehurst), University College Dublin (Dr. Le-Nam Tran), and Queen's University Belfast (Dr. Hien Q. Ngo). The project received over $1.4M in funding from NSF, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), and the Department of the Economy (Northern Ireland).



SDSU Fire Research

Enhance Power Grid Resilience via Artificial Intelligence
Article Preventing Wildfires Sparked by Power Lines by Susanne Clara Bard, July 31, 2023

Dr. Saeed Manshadi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering receive a grant from the National Science Foundation to study how to improve electrical grid resilience in fire-prone areas. Dr. Manshadi's team uses artificial intelligence to calculate fire risk and help utilities decide when to shut off power.

SDSU's NewsCenter's Susanne Clara Bard had the opportunity to interview Dr. Manshadi and asked how utilities calculate fire risk when making power shutoff decisions. To read the full article, click on Preventing Wildfires Sparked by Power Lines.


M. Sarkar-Distinguished Faculty Award

Dr. Mahasweta Sarkar Recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Faculty Award

Dr. Mahasweta Sarkar, Professor of Computer Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the WIreless Networks and Communication (WINC) Laboratory, received the 2023 Distinguished Faculty Award. The award is a symbol of achievement and success presented to distinguished faculty from each of SDSU's seven academic colleges, Library and Information Access, and SDSU Imperial Valley Campus. The Monty Awards honor those who have made significant contributions to San Diego State University, the San Diego community or California, nationally or internationally.

Dr. Sarkar was born and raised in India and came to the U.S. in 1996. She became interested in the world of internet and wanted to make the world a smaller place by connecting people in real-time. Her research focuses on high social impact which will bring connectivity to people, not only in health and education, but also to unconnected areas of the world using drone networking. To learn more about Dr. Sarkar, please click on The Distinguished Faculty Award 2023 - Mahasweta Sarkar.

 

Chris Mi-2023 IEEE PELS Award

Dr. Chunting “Chris” Mi Recipient of the 2023 IEEE PELS Vehicle and Transportation Systems Achievement Award

Dr. Chris Mi, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering received the 2023 IEEE PELS Vehicle and Transportation Systems Achievement Award "For contributions to the advancement of battery management systems and of electric vehicle charging".

The IEEE PELS Vehicle and Transportation Systems Achievement Award is established to recognize innovators and researchers who have made outstanding technical contributions to the advancement of power electronics in-vehicle and transportation systems.

 

Tharm Ratnarajah

Dr. Tharm Ratnarajah, fred harris Endowed Chair in Digital Signal Processing

Dr. Tharm Ratnarajah joins the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at San Diego State University (SDSU) as the fred harris Endowed Chair in Digital Signal Processing. Dr. Ratnarajah's research interests include signal processing and information-theoretic aspects of 6G cellular networks, full-duplex radio, mmWave communications, random matrix theory, big data analytics and machine learning for wireless networks, statistical and array signal processing, and physical-layer secrecy. He has published over 425 Peer-reviewed papers in these areas and holds four US patents. He was the coordinator of the European Union (EU) projects HARP (4.6M€) in the area of highly distributed MIMO and ADEL (3.7M€) in the area of licensed shared access. Dr. Ratnarajah was also the coordinator of the European Union Future and Emerging Technologies project CROWN (3.4M€) in the area of cognitive radio networks and HIATUS (3.6M€) in the area of interference alignment. Prof Ratnarajah was an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 2015-2017, and Technical co-chair of the 17th IEEE International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications, Edinburgh, UK, 3-6, July 2016. Prof. Ratnarajah is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). He has supervised 18 PhD students and 23 post-doctoral research fellows and raised $11.0+ million (USD) of research funding. Dr. Ratnarajah published a book on "In-Band Full-Duplex Radios in 6G Networks: Implementation and Applications", Foundations and Trends® in Networking, 2023 and is also the editor of the book "Spectrum Sharing: The Next Frontier in Wireless Networks", published by Wiley in April 2020 (ISBN: 978-1-119-55149-2).

 

Naim Ahmed - New Faculty

Dr. Naim Ahmed, New ECE Assistant Professor

Dr. Naim Ahmed joins the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at San Diego State University (SDSU) as an Assistant Professor and is a scholar in the field of photonics. His research focuses on developing integrated photonics devices and systems for optical communication, high-speed computing, quantum engineering, and sensing applications. Dr. Ahmed earned his Ph.D. in ECE from the University of Delaware, where he pioneered the development of novel state-of-the-art devices by introducing a hybrid thin-film lithium niobate platform. Prior to joining SDSU, Dr. Ahmed made significant contributions to the field during his three-year tenure at leading integrated photonics companies, including Analog Photonics and Imec, USA."

 

Bo Zhang - Adjunct Faculty

Dr. Bo Zhang, P.E., ECE Adjunct Faculty

Dr. Bo Zhang joins SDSU Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as an Adjunct Professor. He currently works as a staff scientist III at Idaho National Laboratory. He is the INL lead scientist on wireless R&D, and the principal investigator (PI) of multiple DOE projects. Dr. Zhang is the 2023 DOE Boost Program inventor, and a core member fulfilling U.S. President’s Executive Order 14017 in a high-impact government report “Electric Grid Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment”. He served as session chairs/committee members for multiple IEEE conferences including ITEC, ECCE, ICPRE, and as a committee member for SAE J2954 Wireless Power Transfer and Alignment Task Force. He has authored more than 30 publications, held six patents, and served as guest editor/reviewers for multiple journal publications. He received B.E. and Ph.D. degrees both in electrical engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and had years of national lab and industry working experience now at INL and previously as team lead/senior electrical engineer at State Grid Corporation of China. His research interests include wireless charging of EV, EV charging infrastructure, electric grid supply chain, and renewable energy to grid integration. He is a U.S. licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.), and an IEEE senior member.

 

Vidya Rangaswamy

Mr. Vidya Rangaswamy, ECE Adjunct Faculty

Mr. Vidya Rangaswamy joins SDSU Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as an Adjunct Professor. He is a former VP of Engineering at Ohmium International and former Sr. Engineering Manager of General Atomics. Mr. Rangaswamy holds an MSEE degree from the University of Minnesota, MPLS and a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Dehli, India.

 

 

Outstanding Faculty Award-Ashrafi

2023 Outstanding Faculty Award

Dr. Ashkan Ashrafi, Associate Professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering was awarded the 2023 Outstanding Faculty Award in recognition as the most influential university professor in the academic career of Kyle Donoghue (BSEE ’22, Summa Cum Laude).

Dr. Ashkan Ashrafi received his Ph.D. at the University of Alabama, Huntsville in 2006. He has been teaching at San Diego State University since 2007. Dr. Ashrafi’s research areas include Digital Signal Process, Brain Signal Processing, and Estimation Theory.



Junfei Xie

Dr. Junfei Xi Receives a $314,818 CCRI Grant, National Science Foundation (NSF)

Dr. Junfei Xie, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering received a $314,818 CCRI grant from the NSF to develop an enhanced networked airborne computing platform. The grant is sponsored by the NSF and is titled "Enhanced Open Networked Airborne Computing Platform".

The project aims to develop an enhanced open networked airborne computing platform to facilitate the design, implementation, and testing of an airborne computing platform that seamlessly integrates control, computing, communication, and networking. The project will provide community support based on the flywheel model, and to attract and engage community users through organized support from four regional sites in the nation, hands-on workshops, testbed access, and technical user services.

This collaborative project brings together investigators from the University of North Texas (UNT), the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), San Diego State University (SDSU), and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM). All four participating universities are minority-serving (UPRM) or Hispanic-serving (UTA, UNT, and SDSU) institutions with a large number of underrepresented minority students. The project will reach out to local communities through K-12 activities, and also pursue broad dissemination through organizing student design competitions, tutorials, and workshops, participating in national demonstration efforts, and engaging domain professionals. The proposed education and outreach activities will produce a profound impact on broad communities and benefit a large number of underrepresented minority students. The proposed project on enhanced open networked airborne computing platform will address the design and evaluation needs of many researchers in the CISE community and benefit a wide range of applications in the emergency, energy, environment, and transportation sectors.


Longya Xu

Dr. Longya Xu, ECE Adjunct Faculty

National Academy of Engineering Member, Dr. Longya Xu joins SDSU Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as an Adjunct Professor. Dr. Xu, Fellow of IEEE, is the recipient of the prestigious 2018 Nikola Tesla Award which is presented annually by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He was named a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2023.

Dr. Longya Xu received his M.S. and Ph. D. from University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1986 and 1990, respectively. From 1971 to 1978, he participated in 150kVA synchronous machine design, manufacturing and testing for mobile power station in China. From 1982 to 1984, he worked as a researcher on linear machines at the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Sinica Academia of China. After his arrival in the U. S., Dr. Xu has served as a consultant to many industrial companies, including Honeywell, Boeing, General Electric, Raytheon Company, US Wind Power, Pacific Scientific Co., Ford Motor Company, and General Motor Company for various industrial concerns. He was a faculty member at The Ohio State University where he was a professor until 2022 when he was named Professor Emeritus. Professor Longya Xu is known for his “contributions to design and control of efficient electric machines for wind power generation and electrified vehicles.” His specific research and teaching interests include dynamics and optimized design of special electrical machines and power converters for variable speed drive and generating systems, application of advanced control theory and digital signal processor for motion control and distributed power systems in super-high speed operation. He served as Director for the Center for High Performance Power Electronics at Ohio State University.

 

AzTechs Hackathon

Go AzTechs: SDSU Team Wins First Place in National Hackathon
Article by Melinda Sevilla, March 14, 2023

A team of electrical and computer engineering students won first place with their solution to managing crowds in an emergency. Target: Petco Park.

San Diego State University students are working to solve pressing public safety issues for crowd control at concerts, sporting events, and other large-scale events. Team AzTechs, a group of SDSU electrical and computer engineering students, won the grand prize of $10,000 in a competition at the DASSH (Designing Actionable Solutions for a Secure Homeland) Student Design Challenge held February 24-26. To read the full article, click on Go AzTechs: SDSU Team Wins First Place in National Hackathon.

 

Nathan Russert

Nathan Russert ('22) Pens Children's Book on Engineering - The Great Harvest: An Engineering Story
Article by Melinda Sevilla, March 8, 2023

An electrical and computer engineering alumnus has written and published a children’s book on a group of animal engineers to introduce young readers to the world of engineering.

The Great Harvest: An Engineering Story” is a read-aloud story for kids with the aim of transporting kids to a fictional world where animals with different skills work together to solve a big problem. “They'll watch the animal friends use mechanical, electrical, civil, and aerospace engineering to come up with brilliant solutions,” said author, Nathan Russert (‘22). To read the full article, click on Nathan Russert.

 

Chris Mi

Dr. Chunting “Chris” Mi Receives a $959,932 Grant in Collaboration with Solid Energies, Inc.

Dr. Chris Mi, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering received a $959,932 grant for his work in collaboration with Solid Energies, Inc. The grant is sponsored by the California Energy Commission and is titled “High Safety, Wide-Operation-Temperature, Low-Cost All-Solid-Sates Li-Ion Battery and ASSLiB-Based Energy Storage Systems”.

 

 

Octavio Martinez

Octavio Martínez (BSEE '92, MBA '00) - From Internship to International Agreement
Article by Melinda Sevilla, January 17, 2023

Octavio Martínez’s (BSEE ‘92, MBA ‘00) immersion into semiconductors as a San Diego State University student led to a successful career in the field, and a recent high-profile involvement in the binational semiconductor chip agreement between the United States and Mexico.

Electrical engineering alumnus Martínez had what he called the “greatest privilege” of being selected as an honorary witness and signing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on semiconductor cooperation between the two nations. To read the full article, click on From Internship to International Agreement.

 

Eric Johnson What the Hell is an Economy?

Eric Johnson ('86) - What the Hell is an Economy? 
Article by Melinda Sevilla, January 4, 2023

It’s a question that Eric Johnson ‘86 wouldn’t have asked while an electrical engineering graduate student at San Diego State University. “I gave it no thought,” he said.

But throughout his career and life experiences, Johnson has learned that the economy includes goals of productivity, improving quality of life across the board, and “just the right amount of compassion.”  To read the full article, click on What the Hell is an Economy?

 

Events

Design Day 2023

2023 Engineering Senior Design Day

CBS8 video on Senior Design Day 2023.

For an in depth look at all of the senior design projects for 2023, please visit our digital 2023 Senior Design Day booklet.

  • The San Diego State University engineering Senior Design Day presents a collection of projects from graduating seniors.
  • The San Diego State University College of Engineering hosted its annual Senior Design Day on May 3, 2023 at Montezuma Hall in the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union building from 1:30pm-4:00pm.
  • The event featured project demonstrations from graduating seniors in the engineering program, as part of a capstone design class.
  • Senior Design Day exhibits a collection of projects from graduating seniors from Electrical and Computer engineering majors. This event is well attended by representatives from local industry, parents and faculty from other departments.
  • Please continue to check our Engineering Senior Design Day website for further information and this site also lists all of our past Design Day events.

 

Innovation Center

Innovation center

Zahn Innovation Platform Launchpad

  • Apply to the $50K Zahn Challenge for SDSU students, faculty and staff with an idea for a commercial enterprise, social enterprise or project resulting in a social impact.
  • The Zahn Innovation Center is a commercial and social incubator that supports San Diego State University innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs—students, faculty and staff from any major or department on campus—as they transform their ideas into companies.
  • Zahn Innovation center at San Diego State University College of Engineering is an incubator that support students, faculty and staff as they transform their ideas into products and companies.