What is Electrical & Computer Engineering? by Prof. Bitar

6 Blind Men Describing an Elephant

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 Lighting Motors Motors

And Communication

Early Radio Technology (circa 1920)

And... Early COMPUTING ENIAC ,468 Vacuum Tubes 7,200 Crystal Diodes 1,500 Relays 70,000 Resistors 10,000 Capacitors 5,000,000 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 technologies are represented here? images/blog/2012/07/samsung_gal axy_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 Analog Microelectronics Biomedical Engineering Biomedical Engineering Communications & Signal Analysis Communications & Signal Analysis Computer Engineering Computer Engineering Power Systems Engineering Power Systems Engineering RF Circuits & Microwaves RF Circuits & Microwaves

Major ECE Topics/Industries (provided by IEEE) Aerospace Aerospace Aerospace Biomedical Biomedical Biomedical Computing Computing Computing Energy Energy Energy Consumer Electronics Consumer Electronics Consumer Electronics Consumer Electronics Green Tech Green Tech Green Tech Green Tech Robotics Robotics Robotics Semiconductors Semiconductors Semiconductors Telecom Telecom Telecom Transportation Transportation Transportation