Computer Engineering Technology Program: A Curriculum Innovation Initiative

The proposed Computer Engineering Technology progra m is designed to meet industry’s overwhelming need for employees with an in-depth knowle dge of both hardware and software. There is a shortage of individuals who could implement ha rdware-software integration in design and development. The proposed degree curriculum plan wi ll bridge the gap between these two disciplines, and will provide the students a solid foundation in each. The proposed curriculum will integrate the knowledge in the areas of electr onics, computer and software with intensive classroom and laboratory experiences. From a software perspective, the proposed curriculu m would draw its resources and would include most of the existing courses from the Compu ter Science curriculum within the department of Mathematics, Computer Science, & Sta tistics . Students will gain proficiency in software design and development using programming l a uages currently used in industry. The proposed curriculum would allow the students to dra w courses from the areas like Algorithms, Image Processing, Distributed Systems, Automata and Computability, Database systems, Computer Graphics, Artificial Intelligence and Nume rical Analysis. Students learn industry standard approaches to application software develop ment as well as state-of-the-art problem solving techniques. The hardware focus of the proposed curriculum would draw its resources from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology curriculum. The cur ri lum provides a fresh look at Electrical Engineering Technology curriculum from t he perspective of System Design. It examines the subject areas that prepares the studen t to pursue the discipline of System Design from at least four different perspectives; via: 1) PLD/FPGA centric system design, 2) Microcontroller based Embedded System Design, 3) PC based Network-oriented Distributed System Design and 4) DSP based Real-time Processing based System Design . The hardware focus is in the areas of PLD design, Analog Electr onics Embedded System design, Electronic fabrication, Biomedical Electronics, Computer Netwo rking, Distributed Systems and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) . This proposed plan emphasizes on both disciplines ( Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology and Computer Science), along with a soli d math, science and general education background, to enable industry ready students to ta ckle the challenges of the future. The proposed integrated curriculum would empower the st udents to embark upon the path of a Life Long Learning. Introduction (from the Job Market’s perspective) The following extract from US Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook illustrates and endorses the validity of this proposal from an unbiased third party . P ge 22363.2 “Computer software engineers are projected to be on e of the fastest-growing occupations from 2004 to 2014. Rapid employment growth in the comput er systems design and related services industry, which employs the greatest number of comp uter software engineers, should result in very good opportunities for those college graduates with at least a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering or computer science and practical exper ience working with computers. Employers will continue to seek computer professionals with s trong programming, systems analysis, interpersonal, and business skills. Employment of computer software engineers is expect ed to increase much faster than the average for all occupations, as businesses and othe r rganizations adopt and integrate new technologies and seek to maximize the efficiency of their computer systems. Competition among businesses will continue to create an incentive for increasingly sophisticated technological innovations, and organizations will need more compu ter software engineers to implement these changes. In addition to jobs created through employ ment growth, many job openings will result annually from the need to replace workers who move into managerial positions, transfer to other occupations, or leave the labor force. Demand for computer software engineers will increas e s computer networking continues to grow. For example, the expanding integration of Int er et technologies and the explosive growth in electronic commerce—doing business on the Intern e —have resulted in rising demand for computer software engineers who can develop Interne t, intranet, and World Wide Web applications. Likewise, expanding electronic data-p rocessing systems in business, telecommunications, government, and other settings continue to become more sophisticated and complex. Growing numbers of systems software engine ers will be needed to implement, safeguard, and update systems and resolve problems. Con ulting opportunities for computer software engineers also should continue to grow as businesses seek help to manage, upgrade, and customize their increasingly complicated computer s ystems. New growth areas will continue to arise from rapidl y evolving technologies. The increasing uses of the Internet, the proliferation of Web sites, an d mobile technology such as the wireless Internet have created a demand for a wide variety o f new products. As individuals and businesses rely more on hand-held computers and wireless netwo rks, it will be necessary to integrate current computer systems with this new, more mobile technol ogy. Also, information security concerns have given rise to new software needs. Concerns ove r “cyber security” should result in businesses and government continuing to invest heav ily in software that protects their networks and vital electronic infrastructure from attack. Th e expansion of this technology in the next 10 years will lead to an increased need for computer e ngin ers to design and develop the software and systems to run these new applications and integ rate them into older systems.” Program’s Goals The program’s goals is a 5 years ( 2 + 2 + 1) 3-deg rees plan that would offer students Associate, Bachelor and Master degree. The plan of study incl udes courses in the areas of Electronics, Hardware, Software, Firmware, Networking, Algorithm s Design, Image Processing, Distributed Systems, Automat and Computability, Database system s, Computer Graphics, Artificial Intelligence, Numerical Analysis and DSP. This inte grated unified approach provides a road map P ge 22363.3 in the form of curriculum that utilizes the same to ols which industry is employing. This approach to curriculum bridges the gap that exists between t h classroom practices and industrial practices. This unified approach would deliver students with c areer-bound knowledge essential for the industry. Time line for a student in the Program Curriculum: • 2 years in the program Associate of Science degree. • 4 years in the program Bachelor degree with a Minor in Computer Science . • 5 years in the program Masters in Technology by selecting courses from both Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology prog ram and Computer Science. Another projected goal is to offer courses on line in a Virtual Class room setting thereby taping into the student market that does not have access t o traditional University. Currently a number of ECET designated courses are being offered in Distan ce Learning Format. This proposal has got Global scope and could be marketed to International students. Proposed methodology and plan of work 1. Methodology The following citation illustrates the popularly accepted Methodology tha t would be used as the guideline in defining the Electrical Engineering Technology Program with minor in Computer Science. “Software engineering is the application of a syst ematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of soft ware. The term software engineering was popularized during the 1968 NATO Software Engineeri ng Conference (held in Garmisch, Germany) by its chairman F.L. Bauer, and has been i n widespread use since. The discipline of software engineering encompasses knowledge, tools, and methods for defining software requirements, and performing software design, softw are construction, software testing, and software maintenance tasks. [2] Software engineering also draws on knowledge from fields such as computer engineering, computer science, manageme nt, athematics, project management, quality management, software ergonomics, and system s engineering. [2] As of 2004, the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics co unts 760,840 software engineers holding jobs in the U.S.; for comparison, in the U.S. there are some 1.4 million practitioners employed in all other engineering disciplines combined. [3] The term software engineer is used very liberally in the corporate world. Very few of the practicing sof tware engineers actually hold engineering degrees from accredited universities. There are est imated to be about 1.5 million practitioners in the E.U., Asia, and elsewhere. SE pioneers include Barry Boehm, Fred Brooks, C. A. R. Hoare, and David Parnas.” Page 22363.4 2. Program’s Administration The administration of the Program is based upon the following criteria. 1) The program meets ABET accreditation. 2) Identifying the program’s strengths which has simil arities with our respective departments. 3) Conduct market surveys with Employers to keep the c urrency of the curriculum.. 4) Curriculum design for the program is through input from faculty of both the programs. 5) The currency of the program is maintain by two coor dinators one from each department. Proposal’s Pedagogy The underpinning pedagogy of the proposal is derive d n having a curriculum that provides the perspective of System Design based upon the followi ng four design methodologies via: 1) PLD/FPGA centric system design, 2) Microcontroller based Embedded System Design, 3) PC based Network-oriented Distributed System Design an d 4) DSP based Real-time Processing based System Design . The curriculum provides a totally fresh look at Electrical Engineering Technolo