THE NEW ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER-ENGINEERING CURRICULA AT UNIVERSITY-OF-CALIFORNIA-DAVIS

In Fall 1993 the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, Davis introduced a new electrical engineeri ng and a new computer engineering curriculum, each characterized by a well-coordinated junior core leading to a carefully chosen set of seni or design elective courses. Through integration of a select but powerf ul set of computer tools into the junior core, students will be able t o concentrate on understanding basic engineering principals while simu ltaneously obtaining important analytic and computer skills for senior elective courses. The number of required courses has been decreased b ut the number of units has remained roughly the same while maintaining the lower-division (freshman and sophomore) program essentially uncha nged as required by the California higher education plan. The result i s a curriculum that focuses on fundamentals through modern design tech niques in such a way that both on-campus students and community colleg e transfer students will be able to complete the engineering curriculu m in four years.