USC: Academic Bulletins

Overview

Electrical engineering applies scientific principles to create materials, machines, and services that are useful to society. Electrical, magnetic, and other associated natural phenomena are applied to the principal tasks of creating, processing, and distributing both information and energy. The Department of Electrical Engineering prepares graduates for a wide range of professional practice through a program of study that includes a concentration in one of several career tracks. The first two years of study provide the necessary foundations in mathematics, physics, computer languages, software applications, signal processing, and instrument control. The last two years complete the baccalaureate education by focusing study into one of the following areas: communications, microelectronics, energy and controls, modeling and simulation, or another area as defined by the student and the academic advisor. To encourage graduates toward a necessary interest in lifelong learning, the Department of Electrical Engineering offers an easy transition into the Master of Engineering Program for qualified graduates, and into Master of Science or doctoral programs for academically gifted students. Areas of specialization include physical electronics, power systems, high voltage engineering, and semiconductor devices.

Our academic programs have been developed and tuned to help students achieve the following goals:

Broad Undergraduate Education

Objective 1: The student will develop an awareness of the world around us as necessary to practice engineering in a global economy.
Objective 2: The student will engage in the study of arts, humanities, foreign language, science and mathematics, and the role of the engineer in society.

Engineering Skills Showing Breadth and Depth

Objective 3: The student will actively participate in a broad educational experience in the fundamentals of engineering with emphasis on electrical engineering.
Objective 4: The student will study, in depth, one or more areas of electrical engineering.

Professional Skills

Objective 5: The student will demonstrate abilities to communicate effectively and to work as a productive member of teams.
Objective 6: The student will demonstrate the ability to engage in careerlong professional development.

Degree Requirements

Curriculum in Electrical Engineering

(121 hours)

ENGL 101, 102 (6 hours)
Liberal Arts (9 hours)
ECON 421 (3 hours)
MATH 141, 142, 241, 242 (14 hours)
STAT 509 (3 hours)
CHEM 111 (4 hours)
PHYS 211, 211L, 212, 212L (8 hours)
CSCE 145, 146, 211, 212 (14 hours)
ELCT 101, 102, 201, 221, 222, 301, 321, 331, 350, 361, 363, 371, 401, 402 (42 hours)
Career track electives (15 hours)
Free elective (3 hours)

Notes:

1. The liberal arts courses must include at least one history course, one fine arts course, and one course in technical literature or ethics. See department for approved list of liberal arts electives.

2. See department for list of approved career tracks and courses for each track. Five of six courses listed must be completed in at least one career track.

3. Any course or courses at the University may be taken as a free elective, subject to approval by the student’s advisor.

Course Descriptions (ELCT)

101 -- Electrical and Electronics Engineering. (3) Discussions and projects concerning audio and video electronics, communication systems and devices, computers, and automotive electronics.
102 -- Instrument Control. (3) (Prereq or coreq: MATH 142) Use of automated instrument control and data acquisition, circuit and systems simulation, and general mathematics solver software.
201 -- EE Laboratory I. (3) (Prereq: CSCE 211, ELCT 102; prereq or coreq: ELCT 222) Laboratory procedures, instrumentation and measurements, report writing, computer use, passive circuit analysis and design.
221 -- Circuits I. (3) (Prereq: MATH 142, ELCT 102) Linear circuit analysis and design.
222 -- Signals and Systems. (3) (Prereq: Grade of C or better in ELCT 221, MATH 242) Introduction to signal processing and linear systems.
301 -- EE Laboratory II. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 201, ELCT 371, CSCE 212) Design and implementation of programmable electronics systems and other electronic circuits.
321 -- Digital Signal Processing. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 222) Signal processing of discrete-time systems.
331 -- Control Systems. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 321) Analysis and design of control systems.
332 -- Fundamentals of Communication Systems. (3) (Prereq or coreq: ELCT 321, 371) Introduction to communication systems, sampling theorem, modulation theory, multiplexing, phase-lock loops, and related topics.
350 -- Computer Modeling of Electrical Systems. (3) (Prereq: CSCE 146, CSCE 212, ELCT 222) Use of appropriate computer and applications software and languages for modeling electrical and electronic systems.
353 -- Modeling of Electrical Systems. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 350, 371) Development of computer models for electrical systems with use of visualization tools and graphical environments.
361 -- Electromagnetics I. (3) (Prereq: PHYS 212, MATH 241, ELCT 222) Basic concepts of electric and magnetic fields, including electrostatics, magnetostatics, and quasi-statics with computer applications.
362 -- Electromagnetics II. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 361) Plane and guided electromagnetic waves with computer illustrations from microwaves and optics.
363 -- Introduction to Semiconductor Materials. (3) (Prereq: PHYS 212, MATH 241) Crystal structures, classical and quantum mechanical models, and properties of pn junctions.
371 -- Electronics. (3) (Prereq: CSCE 211, ELCT 222) Introduction to electronics design.
401 -- Control Systems Laboratory. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 301, ELCT 331) Control systems design.
402 -- Electrical Engineering Project Design. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 401) Capstone design project.
521 -- Introduction to Microwaves. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 361 or PHYS 504) Introduction to plane electromagnetic wave propogation, transmission lines, transmission line equations, input impedance, waveguides and cavities, antennas and antenna arrays, microwave modeling. Restricted to graduate students and senior undergraduate students.
530 -- Industrial Controls. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 331) The embedded electronics and software used in data acquisition, and process and instrument control in an industrial or manufacturing environment.
540 -- Nanotechnology. (3) Focus on materials and systems whose structures and components exhibit novel and significantly improved physical, chemical, and biological properties, phenomena, and processes due to their nanoscale size.
551 -- Power Systems Design and Analysis. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 331, ELCT 361) Transmission line design, load flow, and short circuit analysis of power systems.
553 -- Electromechanical Energy Conversion. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 331, ELCT 301) Analysis and design of electromechanical energy conversion systems, including electrical machines and electronic drives.
561 -- Advanced Electromagnetics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 362) Applications of electromagnetic concepts in high-frequency systems.
562 -- Wireless Communications. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 332, 361) Second and third generation wireless networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), Bluetooth, cellular concepts, mobile radio propogation, modulation techniques, multiple access techniques, wireless networking, wireless systems and standards. Restricted to graduate students and senior undergraduate students.
564 -- RF Circuit Design for Wireless Communications. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 361) RF design fundamentals, lumped elements, transmission line theory, transmission lines and waveguides, S-parameters, impedance matching, microwave resonators.
563 -- Advanced Semiconductor Materials. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 363) Crystal structures, energy-band theory, and charge-carrier physics.
572 -- Power Electronics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 371, ELCT 331) Basic analysis and design of solid-state power electronic devices and circuitry.
573 -- High Speed Digital Systems. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 371, ELCT 361) Introduction to digital system analysis and design.
581 -- Physics of Semiconductor Devices. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 363) Physics and characteristics of semiconductor junction and Schottkey diodes, field-effect transistors, including JFETs, MESFETs, and MOSFETs, bipolar junction transistors, light-emitting diodes, and photodetectors.
575 -- Advanced Electronics. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 371) Application of electronic design automation tools to the design of electronic circuits.
580 -- Audio Engineering. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 321, 371) Acoustic and electrical fundamentals for the design of systems for detection, measurement, and reproduction of sound with emphasis on high-quality audio systems and their environment.
582 -- Semiconductor Laboratory. (3) (Prereq: ELCT 363)

Return to College of Engineering