Welcome to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Michigan State University. I hope you find this website both informative and filled with a sense of pride for the Department and its long tradition of excellence in teaching and research that has made it one of the premier programs in electrical and computer engineering.
Electrical and computer engineers are part of a dynamic and ever changing field. Technological advances in the past ten years have been astonishing and the future workforce shows a critical need for electrical and computer engineers to help advance such areas as nanoscale technologies, advanced microsystems, ubiquitous communications, biological and biomedical engineering, signal processing, autonomous vehicles and robotics, and efficient energy production, transmission and conversion. An ECE degree also offers an excellent background for advanced training in medicine, law, business, and other analytical disciplines. With an eye to the future and the challenges and excitement it holds, we strive at MSU to continually improve program quality - in classroom instruction, laboratory research, industrial internship experiences, international exchange programs, and project teaming.
Our Department has accredited B.S. degree programs in both Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. The current enrollment is approximately 300 full-time graduate students and 848 undergraduate students. Our students acquire a solid foundation in electrical and computer engineering theory. They gain experience in critical thinking and explore new and innovative ways to address advanced engineering problems. Design and hands-on labs and courses are offered in all years of the curriculum. The undergraduate capstone class engages students in teaming and open-ended problem solving. As a result, our students learn how to work with people from other science or engineering fields and are prepared for true-to-life work environments. In fact, over the past few years the department has put a strong emphasis on all the undergraduate students having opportunities for engineering experience outside the classroom by participating in cooperative education, internships, education abroad, and/or undergraduate research. Surveys of graduating seniors show that more than 90 percent have had some type of engineering experience outside the classroom.
The ECE graduate program is built on the quality of our 45 faculty and their research. Our research activities have witnessed strong growth in recent years with annual research expenditures now around $15M. Our faculty members are leaders in their chosen field and are highly respected by their peers and we have 14 IEEE Fellows, 14 NSF CAREER awardees, three DARPA YFA awardees, one AFOSR Young Investigator awardee, and four University Distinguished Faculty in the department. While the ECE faculty are continually investigating in new areas of research, our focus remains on Computer Engineering (computer architecture, computer networks, and VLSI/microelectronics), Electrosciences (electromagnetics, electronic materials and devices, and nondestructive evaluation), and Systems (biomedical engineering, control and robotics, power electronics and systems, and signal processing and communications).
Please take time to look through our website or visit us in person to see the possibilities available in a growing, research-centered, student-oriented department. These are exciting times and we do want to share our enthusiasm with you. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
John Papapolymerou
Chairperson and MSU Foundation Professor
