Computer Engineering, Bachelor of Science
The College of Engineering offers a complete computer engineering undergraduate program to students on the city (Lincoln) campus and the Scott (Omaha) campus of the University of Nebraska. Curriculum requirements are nearly identical on both campuses and students can complete all degree requirements on either campus.
In the college, the School of Computing and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering offer this challenging baccalaureate degree program in computer engineering that prepares graduates for professional practice in commerce, industry, and government and for post graduate education to enter careers in research and academia. The focus of the program is hands on integrated hardware/software system design. Increasingly, diverse systems, products, and processes depend on computers for design, control, data acquisition , and other functions. The computer engineer possesses the range of expertise to have an integrated view of computer-based systems and to make global decisions.
The 124 credit-hours program in computer engineering leads to the Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering. Thirty (30) hours of mathematics and science complement the required 58 hours of work in the computer engineering area. Six (6) hours in written and oral communications, twelve (12) hours in humanities and social sciences, and eighteen (18) hours of engineering electives provide the opportunity for the student to acquire a general educational background and gain cultural attributes with a university education.
The individual holding this degree will have advanced knowledge in his or her field of engineering interest and in addition will have a university educational background involving mathematics, the physical sciences, and the humanities and social sciences. Completion of this curriculum will enable the graduate to enter employment in positions involving computer hardware design and applications, computer software design and development, microcomputer based applications, and computer networking. The program also leads to the preparation for graduate work in computer engineering, computer science or electrical engineering.
Program Educational Objectives
The Program Educational Objectives (PEOs) are a statement of what graduates are doing, or are capable of doing, three to five years after graduation. The students in the Computer Engineering program receive a strong foundation in engineering science and design that not only enables them to pursue productive careers in the computer engineering fields but also play an integral role in advancing other areas including business, management, medicine and manufacturing through computer engineering technologies. The Program Educational Objectives for the Computer Engineering program are that graduates will be:
- Employed in business, non-profit, academia, government, or industry.
- Successful engineers who view computer systems as an integrated contiunuum of technologies, which engaging and collaborating with professionals in related fields to provide innovative, effective, responsible, and sustainable computer engineering solutions.
- Capable of quickly adapting to new work environments, assimilating new information, solving new problems, and creating new devices.
- Engaging in lifelong learning, which may include postgraduate education and being part of professional organizations, to successfully adapt to technological, industry specific, and cultural changes and to foster adept functioning in society.
- Performing engineering practice in a context that reflects awareness of the ethics of their profession and of the impacts of their work on the profession and society at large.
These Program Educational Objectives were developed with input from the program’s constituency, consisting of employers (including the Industry Advisory Board), graduates of the program, and faculty .
Student Outcomes
Student Outcomes are those abilities that a graduate of the Computer Engineering program will have attained so that he/she can meet the educational objectives established for the program.
At the time of graduation, students in the Computer Engineering program will have:
- an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
- an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
- an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
- an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
- an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
- an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
- an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
Professional Admission Requirements
Pre-professionally admitted College of Engineering students majoring in computer engineering will be granted profession admission into the computer engineering program if the students have:
- maintained a cumulative GPA of at least 2.4 and is in good standing in the College of Engineering, and
- received at least a C in ECEN 215, ECEN 230 and CSCI 3320
A transfer student will be admitted if he/she has:
- completed courses equivalent to ECEN 215, ECEN 230 and CSCI 3320 at other institutions with acceptable transfer grades of C or better, and
- earned a GPA of 2.4 or better during their first 12 credit hours in computer engineering course work at UNL/UNO.
Transfer students will be able to appeal to the College's Academic Appeals Committee for admission for an additional semester if they fail to meet the GPA requirement.
See the College of Engineering section of the catalog for details on admission to the college.
Requirements
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| First Semester | Credits | |
| MATH 1950 | CALCULUS I | 5 |
| ECEN 155E | COMPUTER SCIENCE I | 3 |
| ECEN 164 | INTRODUCATION TO COMPUTER ENGINEERING | 2 |
| ENGR 100 | INTERPERSONAL SKILLS FOR ENGINEERING LEADERS 1 | 3 |
| ENGR 10 | FRESHMAN ENGINEERING SEMINAR | 0 |
| Credits | 13 | |
| Second Semester | ||
| MATH 1960 | CALCULUS II | 4 |
| PHYS 2110 | GENERAL PHYSICS I - CALCULUS LEVEL | 4 |
| PHYS 1154 | GENERAL PHYSICS LABORATORY I | 1 |
| ECEN 156 | COMPUTER SCIENCE II | 4 |
| ENGL 1160 | ENGLISH COMPOSITION II | 3 |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Second Year | ||
| First Semester | ||
| MATH 2050 | APPLIED LINEAR ALGEBRA | 3 |
| MATH 2350 | DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS | 3 |
| PHYS 2120 | GENERAL PHYSICS-CALCULUS LEVEL | 4 |
| ECEN 215 | ELECTRONICS AND CIRCUITS I 2 | 3 |
| ECEN 235 | INTRODUCTORY ELECTRICAL LABORATORY I 3 | 1 |
| CSCI 2030 | MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE | 3 |
| ENGR 20 | SOPHOMORE ENGINEERING SEMINAR | 0 |
| Credits | 17 | |
| Second Semester | ||
| CSCI 3320 | DATA STRUCTURES | 3 |
| ECEN 230 | COMPUTER DESIGN | 4 |
| ECEN 222 | ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS I | 4 |
| ECEN 251 | UNIX PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENT | 1 |
| ECEN 313 | SWITCHING CIRCUITS THEORY | 4 |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Third Year | ||
| First Semester | ||
| ECEN 305 | PROBABILITY THEORY AND STATISTICS FOR ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERS | 3 |
| ECEN 220 | INTRODUCTION TO EMBEDDED SYSTEMS | 4 |
| ECEN 304 | SIGNALS AND SYSTEMS I | 3 |
| ECEN 478 | PRACTICAL MACHINE LEARNING | 3 |
| ACE ELECTIVE 4 | 3 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Second Semester | ||
| ECEN 325 | COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS | 4 |
| CSCI 4830 | INTRODUCTION SOFTWARE ENGINEERING | 3 |
| ECEN 487 | DATA AND NETWORK SECURITY 5 | 3 |
| ENGINNERING ELECTIVE 6 | 3 | |
| ACE ELECTIVE 4 | 3 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| First Semester | ||
| ECEN 351 | SYSTEM RESOURCE MANAGEMENT | 3 |
| ECEN 496 | COMPUTER ENGINEERING CAPSTONE I | 3 |
| ENGINEERING ELECTIVES 6 | 9 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Second Semester | ||
| ECEN 499 | COMPUTER ENGINEERING CAPSTONE II | 3 |
| ENGINEERING ELECTIVES 6 | 6 | |
| ACE ELECTIVES 4 | 6 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Total Credits | 124 | |
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
ACE electives: Choose one course from not yet satisfied ACE outcomes 5,6,7 or 9
- 5
ECEN 484 may be substituted for ECEN 487
- 6
Engineering Electives
The Computer Engineering program requires 18 hours of Engineering electives. Of these 18 credit hours, at least 12 credit hours must be taken in one of the Computer Engineering (ECEN) emphasis areas. Below is a list of courses in each emphasis area.
1. Signal, Image, and Video Processing
ECEN 415 core Digital Image Processing
ECEN 463 core Digital Signal Processing
ECEN 465 Intro Data Compression
ECEN 444 Linear Control Systems
ECEN 498 Special Topics: Real Time DSP Application
ECEN 498 Special Topics: Introduction to Computer Visio2.
2. Cyber Security
ECEN 498 core Special Topics: Cyber Security
ECEN 488 core Wireless Security
ECEN 462 Communication Systems
3. Communications and Networking
ECEN 462 core Communication Systems
ECEN 471 core Computer Communication Networks
ECEN 465 Intro Data Compression
ECEN 475 Satellite Communications
ECEN 476 Wireless Communications
ECEN 479 Optical Fiber Communications
ECEN 488 Wireless Security
4. IoT and Cyber Physical Systems
ECEN 433 core Microprocessor System Design
ECEN 435 core Embedded Microcontroller Design
ECEN 438 Integrated Systems Programming
ECEN 462 Communication Systems
ECEN 469 Analog Integrated Circuits
ECEN 474 Digital Systems
ECEN 476 Wireless Communications
ECEN 477 Digital Systems Organization and Design
ECEN 498 Special Topics: Real Time DSP Application
5. Autonomous Systems & Robotics
ECEN 433 core Microprocessor System Design
ECEN 345 core Mobile Robotics I
ECEN 444 Linear Control Systems
6. Machine Intelligence
ECEN 410 core Multivariate Random Processes
ECEN 437 core Parallel and Distributed Processing
ECEN 448 Decision Analysis
ECEN 498 Special Topics: Computational Modeling and Simulation
7. High Performance Computing
ECEN 437 core Parallel and Distributed Processing
ECEN 451 core Intro VLSI System Design
ECEN 452 Intro Computer-Aided Digital Design
8. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
ECEN 450 core Bioinformatics
ECEN 453 core Computational and Systems Biology
ECEN 460 Labview Programming
ECEN 498 Special Topics: Bioengineering Image and Signal Processing
Three to six credit hours must include the required core courses depending on each emphasis area. Of the remaining six to nine credit hours, three must be in a different emphasis area, and the remaining three to six credit hours must be in the same emphasis area.
The remaining 6 credit hours of technical electives may be taken from any 300- or 400-level course offering (with the exception of those listed below) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering or in any other engineering department within the College of Engineering at UNL, or in the UNO Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, or Physics or in the UNL Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Computer Science and Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or Physics and Astronomy.
Not Allowed 300- and 400-Level Technical Electives
ENGR 469 Technology, Science and Civilization
BIOL 3500 Biological Principles of Aging
CSCI 3710 Introduction to Digital Design and Computer Organization
STAT 3000 Statistical Methods I
UNL BIOS 310 School of Biological Sciences Seminar
UNL IMSE 305 Introduction to Engineering Management
MATH 4980 Seminar or UNL MATH 495 Seminar
UNL MATH 496 Seminar in Mathematics
or any other seminar-type courses.
Allowed 100 and 200 Level Technical Electives
UNL AGEN 225 Engineering Properties of Biological Materials (BSEN 225)
PHYS 4350 Astrophysics or ASTR 204 Introduction to Astronomy & Astrophysics
UNL ASTR 224 Astronomy & Astrophysics Lab
BIOL 2140 Genetics or UNL BIOS 206 General Genetics
BIOL 2740 Human Physiology and Anatomy I or UNL BIOS 213 Human Physiology
CHEM 1190 General Chemistry II and CHEM 1194 General Chemistry II Laboratory or UNL CHEM 110 General Chemistry II
CHEM 1190 General Chemistry II or UNL CHEM 114 Fundamental Chemistry II
Any 2000 level chemistry course or UNL CHEM 2xx
UNL MATL 260 Elements of Materials Science
UNL MATL 262 Materials Lab I
MECH 223 Engineering Statics
MECH 200 Engineering Thermodynamics