The fields of computer engineering and electrical engineering have co-evolved over the past several decades into an exciting interwoven tapestry of 10 thematic subdisciplines, all sharing common foundations from science, mathematics, and computing. Students in either plan of study share foundations and a portion of each theme to gain the breadth and depth of understanding necessary for lifelong learning in any area of computer or electrical engineering.

The Computer Engineering and the Electrical Engineering plans start out pre-structured to span the 10 themes in slightly different ways while still allowing flexibility for students to choose the full depth of study in any subdiscipline or to switch between the two plans. Within the specified framework of study, students make, according to their developing interests, choices to define their technical focus, choices regarding how they enhance their science background, and choices to expand their non-technical knowledge or skills. The goal is to graduate students with solid core engineering competencies but highly customizable depth, breadth, and focus. They are employed in an extremely varied set of occupations, essentially any place where there is design activity involving electricity, electronics, computers, or software.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), which administers the Computer Engineering and the Electrical Engineering plans, is itself a richly diverse unit and is a partner in offering four other interdisciplinary undergraduate plans, namely Biomedical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, Nanotechnology Engineering, and Software Engineering.

The following thematic subdisciplines are covered in varying degrees by the two plans.

Communications, modulation and coding, multimedia, and wireless systems. Networks and mobile/distributed computing. Energy distribution, motors/generators, power electronics, and energy marketing. Control, automation, robotics, and mechatronics. Computer architecture, embedded computers, and formal specification and design. Microelectronic devices, analog, digital and mixed-signal circuits, integrated circuits, and micro-/nano-fabrication methods. Microwave (radio frequency) and photonic devices and systems. Signal processing, computational intelligence, and soft computing. Software systems, components, security, and embedded software. Software engineering, requirements specification, software architectures, and verification.

Common elements of mathematics, science, and computing permeate these areas and tie them together with a concentration on engineering science (analysis) and engineering design (synthesis). Computer Engineering puts relatively more emphasis on digital hardware, embedded systems, software systems, and networks. Electrical Engineering puts relatively more emphasis on microwave/photonic systems, devices/fabrication, microelectronic circuits, and power. Because of commonalities between core offerings in either plan, it is relatively easy to transfer from one to the other, especially during the first three terms of study.

The curricula have elective choices in a wide array of non-technical fields, in technical areas both inside and outside of ECE, and in science. Engineered systems based on electronics or embedded computers are especially pervasive across most areas of society and it is increasingly important for students to be able to integrate their technical abilities with complementary skills. Teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration are important aspects of the plans. The curricula places a significant emphasis on communication skills, design, and engineering professionalism. Broad-minded and deeply-trained students of computer or electrical engineering will make important contributions over the next several decades as the world addresses potential issues such as environmental quality, energy supply, better health care, etc.

The ECE Department houses committees and staff supporting curriculum development, plan operation, and student advisement. Help and information are available by contacting the ECE Undergraduate Office or browsing the ECE website.

The curricula involve a prescribed course load in each term along with some academic milestones which must be completed at or before specified times. Laboratory sessions are compulsory where they form part of a course. Approval from the ECE Undergraduate Office is required for all changes from the specified plans. Permission to carry more than the normal load in any term is at the discretion of the ECE Undergraduate Office and is dependent on both the student's previous term average and their cumulative average.

There are six co-operative work terms and the normal rules of the Co-operative Education System apply, as further described in the Engineering Work Terms section of this Calendar. With permission and co-ordination through the ECE Undergraduate Office, it is possible to create eight-month co-operative work terms by rearranging the term sequence. At least five successful work terms are required to meet the degree requirements.

The promotion criteria used to determine progression through the plan, in either Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering, are described in the Engineering Examinations and Promotions section of this Calendar. These include term-average requirements, course-grade requirements, and milestone requirements.

Notes

Legend for the tables below



The tables below outline the contents of the eight academic terms and six co-operative work terms. The ordering of the terms is as described in the Study/Work Sequence Engineering section. The superscripts 8 and 4F are for information specific to Stream "8" and Stream "4F", respectively. For academic terms, the average scheduled hours per week are indicated in the columns Cls for class (LEC or SEM), Tut for tutorial (TUT), and Lab for laboratory (LAB or PRJ). Most laboratories are either open or scheduled every second or third week. Further details on electives and milestones are provided below.

Academic Plans

Work-term Reflections

For each of the Work-term Reflections (ECE 101) courses, students write a short two-page report (from an online template available on the ECE website) reflecting on their work experience during the previous co-op term. Students submit it for grading in the academic term that follows the work term. If a student did not secure a co-op position, they are to reflect on what skills they used to improve their chances of a co-op position in future work terms. These courses are graded as CR/NCR.

Elective Courses

Complementary Studies Electives

Students must complete three complementary studies elective (CSE) courses to satisfy the Complementary Studies Requirements for Engineering Students. These are in addition to those courses that are part of the core curriculum and contain complementary studies material, such as ECE 190, ECE 192, ENGL 192, and the Professional Development (PD) sequence. The three CSE courses are to be chosen according to the following constraints.

Two from List C (Humanities and Social Sciences Courses)

One from any of List A (Impact Courses), List C (Humanities and Social Sciences Courses), or List D (Other Permissible Complementary Studies Courses)

Students may take up to one technique course (i.e., learning a skill or language) as part of List D. Technique courses need ECE Undergraduate Office approval to be considered as complementary studies electives.

Students may take GENE 412/PHIL 315 as a List C CSE in which case the course will also satisfy the Ethics Requirement.

Ethics Requirement

In addition to the core technical courses, students must understand and be able to apply the Engineering Code of Ethics. To meet this Ethics Requirement, students must pass one of PD 22 or GENE 412/PHIL 315.

Natural Science Electives

Students are required to complete two natural science elective (NSE) courses, and are responsible for ensuring they meet the minimum Academic Units (AUs) using the AU calculator provided. The two NSE courses must be primarily concerned with natural science and are in addition to the science components of the core curricula, such as ECE 105, ECE 106, and ECE 109.

Technical Electives

All of the technical courses from the 3B term (i.e., ECE 313, ECE 320, ECE 331, ECE 351, ECE 356, ECE 358, ECE 360, and ECE 373) count as TEs. At least three of these courses must be taken in the 3B term, as specified in the academic plans above. At least three TEs must be courses chosen from ECE 406-ECE 493 or ECE 499, normally taken during the 4A and 4B terms. A list of current 4A and 4B TEs is provided below. At least one TE to a maximum of two, must be from another engineering (other than Computer or Electrical Engineering) plan; such courses must have sufficiently advanced engineering science or engineering design content to be allowed, and must be approved by the ECE Undergraduate Office. Some courses of interest may require prerequisite knowledge that is not part of the core curriculum in Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering. Students may require extra courses or may need to seek enrolment approval from the course instructor if the prerequisite knowledge was acquired by other means. The following courses are offered in the core curriculum in Electrical Engineering but are considered TE courses for Computer Engineering: ECE 260, ECE 340, and ECE 375. Some of these courses have prerequisites that must be met in order to enrol. The following courses are offered in the core curriculum in Computer Engineering but are considered TE courses for Electrical Engineering: ECE 224, ECE 252, ECE 327, and ECE 350. Some of these courses have prerequisites that must be met in order to enrol. In all terms, elective availability is subject to scheduling constraints.

Students are required to complete a total of eight technical electives (TEs), subject to the following conditions:

The following TE courses are normally offered for the spring (4A) term. The list is subject to change from year to year.

The following TE courses are normally offered for the winter (4B) term. The list is subject to change from year to year.

The following project elective is offered every term. Students may take it, at most, once as a TE course.

Course Title Cls Tut Lab ECE 499 Engineering Project 0 0 10

Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)

Under both the federal and provincial legislation, all students must take WHMIS training. Details are described in the WHMIS Requirements section of this Calendar. Students must meet this milestone in order to remain enrolled in 1A or to enrol in any academic term beyond 1A.

Available Options

The curricula in Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering are designed to offer a well-balanced and rewarding education. Students wishing to further enrich their studies may take any option, minor, or joint degree for which they meet the eligibility requirements (see the section on Engineering Interdisciplinary Alternatives). Options typically require extra courses and/or constrain the choice of elective courses. When taking courses from a different plan, the student may need to do extra work to compensate for a different background preparation. Time beyond the normal plan duration may be necessary due to the extra requirements and constraints on space or scheduling.

Communications and Signal Processing Specialization

We take for granted remote connection to complex services, which may involve high-quality video streaming, human-machine voice interaction, biometric monitoring, image or video understanding, and rapidly evolving forms of assistance using artificial intelligence. Indeed, many are possible from a cell phone barrelling down a highway or embedded on a massive scale in sensor networks. They hold promise of meaningful impact on global problems such as aging and health care, education, social cohesion, resource and environmental management, crime prevention, and countless applications yet to be imagined. Beyond applying known algorithms, engineers need to understand fundamental principles from communications and signal processing which are at the heart of sophisticated and powerful trade-offs in design. This specialization allows students to choose that depth of learning within various combinations of its two core topics.

Requirements

Students interested in pursuing this specialization must achieve an average of at least 60% in the specialization courses, and a grade of at least 50% in each of the courses. Students who satisfy the requirements for Faculty Options, Specializations and Electives for Engineering Students will have the appropriate designation shown on their diploma and transcript.

Required Courses

ECE 313 Digital Signal Processing

ECE 318 Communication Systems 1

Any three courses from the following list

ECE 358 Computer Networks

ECE 414 Communication Systems 2

ECE 415 Multimedia Communications

ECE 416 Advanced Topics in Networking

ECE 417 Image Processing

ECE 474 Radio and Wireless Systems