Why ECE @ UF?

Why ECE @ UF?

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) offers two majors for undergraduates: electrical engineering (EE) and computer engineering (CPE). In short, both EEs and CPEs develop technology to control energy and information.

  • EEs master a broad mix of electromagnetics, power, devices, electronics, controls, communications, signal processing, and computers. These are the building blocks for the high tech revolution that continues to transform our world.
  • CPEs focus on the computer related aspects of EE but with additional emphasis in programming, data structures, algorithms and other topics from the CISE Department

ECE is everywhere! Electrical engineers succeed in every major industry, including:

SOFTWARE
It may be counterintuitive, but many electrical engineers spend their careers developing software. It’s not so surprising when you consider that electrical engineers first invented the computer. Also, their engineering problem-solving skills, mathematical sophistication, and hardware knowledge are leveraged to build state-of-the-art simulations and software products. Electrical engineers are among the founders of “software” companies such as Amazon, Yahoo, and Yelp.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
Artificial intelligence is in the process of changing everything. Machine learning is advancing rapidly and will have a major impact on every industry from robots and autonomous vehicles to education, healthcare, and cybersecurity. Electrical engineers’ mathematical sophistication, signal processing experience, and computer hardware background position them well to lead the AI revolution. At UF, ECE faculty lead the NSF Center for Big Learning, a center with dozens of industry member that leverages both the algorithm sophistication and knowledge of computer systems of electrical engineers.
AUTOMOTIVE
Modern cars are electrical engineering marvels containing lots of sophisticated sensors and electronic circuits. New cars sport scores of microprocessors programmed to run various control loops, communications systems, and state-of-the-art signal processing algorithms. “Electric” vehicles are becoming commonplace and sophisticated machine learning algorithms are driving the current autonomous vehicle revolution. What was previously a mostly mechanical engineering venture is now dominated by electrical engineering. EEs are sought after in the automotive industry and EEs currently lead General Motors and Mercedes Benz.
AEROSPACE
Modern day aircraft, missiles, rockets, and satellites are packed with electrical engineering. EEs develop sensors, electronics, power systems, computers, control & guidance systems, communication modules, networks, and signal processing hardware & software. Needless to say, EEs are in huge demand in the aerospace industry.
BIOMEDICAL
EEs design biomedical sensors, instruments, and signal processing systems to treat patients and save lives. Not surprisingly, EEs are in great demand in the biomedical industry. In fact, the CEO of one of the most successful biomedical engineering companies, Medtronics, is an EE. At UF, EE faculty are designing brain-machine interfaces and fabricating nanoscale devices and sensors for biomedical applications. Recently, a bio option was added to the EE curriculum to include courses in bio-electrical systems and neuro-engineering.
INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT)
By connecting many billions of smart devices, the internet of things will transform how we live, learn, work and play. This is the next industrial revolution, soon to become a multi-trillion dollar industry. IoT relies on many of the traditional strengths of EEs including sensors, embedded processing, communication, networks, cloud computing, and machine learning. At Florida, ECE is leading the Warren B. Nelms Institute for Connected World together with partners throughout the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering.
CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity breaches/Cybercrimes have reached a crisis level. The global economy loses over $400B annually in cyber thefts and the problem is rapidly getting worse with greater connectivity providing more vulnerabilities. At UF, ECE faculty have teamed with CISE faculty to form the Florida Institute for CyberSecurity (FICS) Research. FICS is particularly strong in hardware and systems security.
SMART POWER
ECE powers the world and the power grid itself is an innovation of electrical engineering. However, the antiquated power grid must evolve into an intelligent energy delivery system that provides everyone abundant, affordable, high-quality, environmentally-conscious, efficient, and reliable electric power. At UF, EE faculty ae building power electronics and power distribution systems for more efficiently charging electric cars, interfacing with solar energy panels, and building the smart grid.

ECE is everywhere! Broad EE training is excellent preparation for success in these and many more fields. EEs often rise to the top of organizations or start their own companies. EEs are CEOs at numerous companies including IBM, Texas Instruments, Samsung, and even McDonalds. Rather than pursue a traditional engineering career, many EEs choose medicine, law, or business.