What is Electrical & Computer Engineering? by Prof. Bitar

What is Electrical & Computer Engineering?

byProf. Bitar

6 Blind Men Describing an Elephant

http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m59kgnTbUJ1qfvq9bo2_r1_1280.jpg

So lets try to describe it....

What do you think of when you think of ECE?

How many things did you use today that require electricity to operate?

My Broad Definition of ECE

The art of utilizing electricity and

electromagnetic phenomena to do

useful things...

In the past, it was about...

Electric POWER

• Lighting• Motors

And Communication...1837

1900

Early Radio Technology (circa 1920)

And... Early COMPUTINGENIAC 1946

17,468 Vacuum Tubes 7,200 Crystal Diodes 1,500 Relays 70,000 Resistors 10,000 Capacitors5,000,000 Hand Soldered Joints 30 Tons 1,800 sq ft 150 kilowatts

1947 Revolution! The Transistor

John Bardeen

Walter Brattain

William Shockley

1958 Jack Kilby Invents the Integrated Circuit Texas Instruments

What is so significant about the Transistor and

Integrated Circuits?

Modern Integrated Circuit

Millions (billions) of Transistors on a single die.

So, let’s pick a modern electronic device and

dissect it...

ONE Modern Example...A Cellphone

Q: How many technologi

es are represente

d here?http://r3.whistleout.com.au/public/images/blog/2012/07/samsung_galaxy_s3_review_10.jpg

How many different technologies are utilized

in a cell phone?

Here’s a Partial List Related to ECE Display Technology

LCD Displays Touch Screens LED Backlighting

Battery & Charging Technologies Lithium Ion Efficient AC-DC Power Supplies

Computer Technologies Microprocessor / Microcontroller Memory (Cache / SIM Card) USB Interface

Audio Technology Class-D Audio Amplifiers A-to-D and D-to-A Converters Filter Technology Microphone Technology

Camera Technology CCD Imaging

Sensor Technologies Touch Screen Switches Biosensors

Wireless Technologies RF Antennas / RF Transceivers WiFi / Wireless Routers Blue Tooth (local wireless)

Cellular Network Technology CDMA vs. GSM Cell Towers Base Stations Packet Switching Networks

And each of these areas represents a potentially

different career path within ECE...

Why?

And that’s just ONE product – a Cell Phone...

So how do you choose?

One Approach...

“Pick a problem in the world and dedicate

yourself to solving it... The rest will work itself

out on it’s own.”

Problem

One of My Heros...

“I saw a person in a wheelchair

unable to cross a curbing and I

was disgusted at the injustice of

it.”

~ Dean Kamen ~

First Robotics

Segway / “Luke” Arm

Major Areas of Study at WPI within ECE

Analog Microelectronics Biomedical Engineering Communications & Signal

Analysis Computer Engineering Power Systems Engineering RF Circuits & Microwaves

Major ECE Topics/Industries(provided by IEEE)

Aerospace Biomedical Computing Energy Consumer Elec

tronics

Green Tech Robotics Semiconductor

s Telecom Transportation