Focused ABET Visit University of Bridgeport October 29 – 31, 2000 Computer Engineering Stephen Grodzinsky Professor and Chairman

Presentation ABET Preparation Issues Addressed in Opening Remarks Major Developments Since Last Visit Curricular Issues Institutional Commitment Admission and Retention Issues Laboratory Plan Evidence of Commitment to Faculty, Laboratory Facilities and Needs of Computer Engineering Conclusion

ABET Preparation Departmental Review of Final Report Attend NEEDHA ABET Workshop – March 1998 Attend ABET Workshop at NAU Engage ABET Consultant (Edward Parrish) Collect ABET Materials in 1998 and 1999 All Faculty Members Attend ABET Workshop at WPI – March, 2000

Issues Addressed in Opening Remarks PWPA Loans - $100M in loans have been forgiven Enrollment Size – approximately 3,000 Faculty Size – now 7, will become 8 in January, 2001; 1 or 2 open positions Faculty Stability – Elleithy replaces Lyon, Dichter returns after a one-year absence Strength of Student Body Nature of the Computer Network Several Curricular Issues

Major Developments Since Last Visit Addition of Faculty – Dichter. Elleithy, Aref in 1/01 Improvement of Facilities –addition of 90+ Ultra Sparc workstations and 60+ PCs –creation of modest networking and embedded systems lab –improvement of computer network Student Accomplishments – ACM contests, ASEE paper presentation, publication with faculty, internships, job placement, graduate schools, et al Saturday Pre-Engineering Program Initiatives with Local Industry Improving Web Site

Student Outcomes Industry – EMC, TranSwitch, Pitney Bowes, Lucent, Motorola, IBM, Sikorsky, Northrup- Grumman, UPS, Sony, Synopsys, Oracle Graduate Schools – Columbia, Cornell, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Penn, UB

Curricular Issues Design Hardware/Software Integration Greater Inclusion of Safety, Reliability, Ethics, et al Blueprint of Design, Hardware, Software, Integration Threads

Design Expand Requirements of Course Design Projects Extend Senior Capstone Design Project to Two Semesters Seek Project Ideas from Local Industry Have Students Submit Interim Progress Reports and Meet Various Milestones Introduce Additional Design Tools – e.g. ModelSim Technology (functional VHDL for compilation and simulation), synthesis using Leonardo (Exemplar Logic), back annotation with digital simulation, new ASIC design kit

Hardware/Software (HW/SW) Integration Strengthen Labs in CpE 286 (µP) – Use Both Assembler and C; Bus Interfacing on PC; HW/SWTradeoffs Add CpE 387 – Embedded System Design, with additional laboratory work; design SW to access HW components (actuators, sensors, motors, et al) connected to a PIC processor Include the Design of a 32-bit RISC Processor in CpE 312 (Computer Organization) – VHDL introduced in prerequisite (CpE 315), pipeline design, virtual/cache memory interrupt design Require, Where Appropriate, that Capstone Projects Include Both Hardware and Software Components

Inclusion of Ethics, Social Impact, Safety, et al Course in Ethical Issues in Computing Now Required Inclusion of Topics in Engr 111 and 300 Inclusion of Topics in CS 101 and CpE 210 Senior Projects are Now Required to Include Economic Analyses, Social Impact and Safety Statements

Institutional Commitment Letter From President Salonen – commitment to “comprehensive institutional and financial planning”, “funds to improve the engineering facilities and labs” and “additional full-time faculty for the academic year.” Budget Commitment - increasing support in personnel and operating budgets Tenure of Professors Sobh and Mahmood Hiring of Professors Elleithy and Aref

Admission and Retention Issues (1) Incoming SAT Scores Average 1132 Without an Anomolous Admission Department is Consulted on Borderline Decisions Appropriate Scholarship Funding is Available Retention is Not a Major Issue - those leaving the program are the ones not equipped to handle it TAs Provide Tutoring - especially in CS 101 and 102

Admission and Retention Issues (2) Fall 1997 – CpE majors at UB 21 graduated or are within 2 months of graduating 3 separated 3 changed major 4 transferred to another university 2 unknown Of the remaining 81, 7 have GPAs < 2.0

Laboratory Plan Six-Year Plan Provided with Report New Acquisitions Have Been Delineated Obsolete Equipment has Been Eliminated Repairs and Calibration Occurred this Summer After Years of Deferred Maintenance Projections for Next Three Years are Indicated Faculty are Consulted at the End of Each year For Needs in the Upcoming Year Grant Proposal Opportunities are Indicated – will be submitting in areas of wireless communication and networking

Evidence of Commitment to Faculty, Laboratory Facilities and Needs of Computer Engineering President Salonen’s Letter Continuously Increasing Budgets Hiring of New Faculty Open Slots for Additional Faculty Support of the Lab Plan

Conclusion Great Strides Since the Last ABET Visit Looking for Additional Interaction with Local Industry Commitment to Hire More Faculty Expecting to Add Greater Breadth to the Curriculum