Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineers design and manufacture computer hardware; sensors; biomedical instrumentation; communication systems; control systems; radar and navigation equipment, as well as power generation equipment and propulsion systems.

Brown's Sc.B. degree in Electrical Engineering is designed to allow students to construct a program tailored to their interests. Building on the broad scientific foundation provided by the core curriculum, students may select combinations of upper level courses designed to prepare them for seven areas of specialization within Electrical Engineering. It is possible to switch between these specializations as late as senior year.

The program has the following general structure:

  • The interdisciplinary engineering core, taken during the first two years; 
  • Three advanced Electrical Engineering courses (ENGN1570 ‘Linear Systems,’ ENGN1620 ‘Design of Electronic Circuits,’ and ENGN1630 ‘Digital System Design’)
  • One advanced Electrical Engineering foundation course that serves as a gateway to the traditional Electrical Engineering specializations of bioelectrical engineering, communication systems, computer engineering, multimedia signal processing, microelectronic systems, and solid-state electronics and photonics.
  • Two additional upper level courses may be selected from a list of Electrical Engineering elective courses to define a student-designed specialization.
  • A capstone design course
  • An advanced science course 
  • Four approved humanities courses 

For complete requirements, please see the University Bulletin.

SEM. COURSE DESCRIPTION
I ENGN 0030 or ENGN 0031 Introduction to Engineering or Honors Introduction to Engineering
  CHEM 0330 Equilibrium, Rate, and Structure
  MATH 0190 AP Calculus (Physics/Engineering)
  Elective †  
II ENGN 0040 Dynamics and Vibrations
  MATH 0200 § Intermediate Calculus (Physics/Engineering)
  CSCI0111 or APMA0160* Computing Foundations: Data or Introduction to Scientific Computing
  Elective  
III ENGN 0410 Materials Science
  ENGN 0510 Electricity and Magnetism
  APMA 0350 Applied Ordinary Differential Equations
  Elective  
IV ENGN 0520 Electrical Circuits and Signals
  ENGN 0720 Thermodynamics
  APMA 0340 Methods of Applied Mathematics II
  Elective  
V ENGN 0310 or ENGN 0810 Mechanics of Solids and Structures or Fluid Mechanics
  Upper Level Course EE Specialty Course #1
  Advanced Science**  
  Elective  
VI Upper Level Course EE Specialty Course #2
  Upper Level Course EE Specialty Course #3
  Elective  
  Elective  
VII Upper Level Course EE Specialty Course #4
  Upper Level Course EE Specialty Course #5
  Elective  
  Elective  
VIII Upper Level Course EE Specialty Course #6
  Upper Level Course EE Specialty Course #7
  Elective  
  Elective  
† A minimum of four electives must be in the humanities and social sciences
* Students interested in more advanced programming can satisfy the CS requirement via CSCI 0150, 0170, or 0190
§ Students with advanced placement credit and a strong interest in Electrical Engineering may elect to take MATH 0200 in the first semester and ENGN 0520 in the second semester
** May be taken in any semester after prerequisites have been satisfied

Suggested upper level specialized courses
These are provided for guidance only. The requirements allow you to construct plans with other focus areas. For full requirements see the University Bulletin.

 

Bioelectrical Engineering

ENGN 1230; and one of (ENGN 1220ENGN 1930BENGN 2500 or ENGN 2912L); and one additional course from the following: (ENGN 1220ENGN 1610ENGN 1930BENGN 2500ENGN 2912LCLPS 1491CLPS 1520, or NEUR 2110).

Communication Systems

ENGN 1580; and (ENGN 1560 or ENGN 1690); and one additional course from the following (ENGN 1560ENGN 1610ENGN 1640ENGN 1650ENGN 1690, or ENGN 2530).

Computer Engineering

CSCI 0330; amd ENGN 1640; and one additional course from the following (ENGN 1580ENGN 1600ENGN 1610ENGN 1650, or ENGN 2530).

Multimedia Signal Processing

ENGN 2530 or ENGN 1610; and two additional courses from the following (ENGN 1580ENGN 1610ENGN 1640ENGN 1650ENGN 2500ENGN 2530ENGN 2540ENGN 2560 or CSCI 1230).

Microlectronic Systems
ENGN 1600ENGN 1640; and one additional course from the following (ENGN 1590ENGN 1680ENGN 2530, or ENGN 2912K)
Solid State Electronics and Photonics

ENGN 1590; (ENGN 1560 or ENGN 1690); and one additional course from the following (ENGN 1450ENGN 1560ENGN 1600ENGN 1680ENGN 1690ENGN 1931A, or PHYS 1420).