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Session 1793

Developing an Electrical Engineering Program

William Loendorf, Mick Brzoska, Min-Sung Koh, and Esteban Rodriguez-Marek Eastern Washington University School of Computing and Engineering Sciences Department of Engineering and Design

Abstract

The Department of Engineering and Design (E&D) within the School of Computing and Engineering Sciences at Eastern Washington University (EWU) is developing a new Electrical Engineering (EE) degree program that will prepare professional engineers to adapt quickly to new technologies and knowledge. Coursework, faculty, community, and industry partners will engage students in the fundamentals of critical thinking, communication, and teamwork. The program emphasizes the best of engineering theory, professional practice, cutting-edge software, design, and manufacturing processes while utilizing instructional methods in the way people learn best. The result will be highly capable engineering professionals with both theoretical and active knowledge of engineering.

The EE program is organized around an “experience-based learning” approach that gives equal importance and attention to service learning as well as industrial collaboration. Providing students with the necessary fundamentals to be able to solve technical problems both in industry and society will drive the curriculum.

A recruiting and retention plan is also being developed as part of the new curriculum design. The development of this plan is considered to be a crucial and fundamental component of the overall EE program. One of the biggest concerns is the recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups in the engineering field.

This paper describes the planning and development of the new Electrical Engineering program at EWU including the significance, infrastructure, goals, objectives, laboratory needs, program requirements, and curriculum.

Introduction

The EE program was conceived on the basis of three factors: industrial demand within the region and state, the small number of qualified graduates available to enter the workforce, and the increasing pool of potential students. Currently there is no additional capacity in the existing EE programs offered by The University of Washington and Washington State University. As a result, the 2003 Washington State Legislature approved and Governor Locke signed into law

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

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Loendorf, W. (2005, June), Developing An Electrical Engineering Program Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14331