Updated 11-23-05

Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Program at the University of Kentucky

The undergraduate electrical engineering degree program at the University of Kentucky seeks to:

Produce graduates who are trained in the theory and practice of electrical and computer engineering and are well prepared to handle the
professional and leadership challenges of their careers.

The following objectives relate to expectations for program graduates while in the early stages of their careers. These objectives are regularly assessed through surveys of employers
and alumni. The EE program objectives are:

Maintain a curriculum focused on developing relevant engineering skills, knowledge, and experience with current technologies.

This guides our decisions in changing courses and curriculum. It implies regular reviews of current trends in industry and adjusting our courses to prepare our students to launch successful careers and make contributions to the profession.

Provide opportunities for students to develop leadership, communication, and teamwork skills.

This guides our student advising and extracurricular offerings so that students can develop experience to prepare them for professional work. The less-structured environments allow students to demonstrate initiative and engineering skills that will be of interest to recruiters/future employers, while providing the student with opportunities to discover their own strengths in team situations and develop important skills.

Provide an environment that encourages independent learning, problem identification, and problem solving.

This focuses on courses and extracurricular activities that involve technical activity such as projects, independent study, employment, internships, design contests, and clubs related to technology usage and development. These experiences provide opportunities for students to discover and develop their independent problem solving skills in an engineering context.

Raise awareness of the engineers' professional and ethical responsibilities to society.

This stresses the importance of connecting engineering solutions to the society in which the students will practice their engineering skills. This guides emphasis within the curriculum and in extracurricular activities to challenge students to think about the larger impact of technical solutions and helps ensure the relevance of the profession in meeting societies needs.

The curriculum for the EE program is listed below. The syllabi for the EE courses can be found at:http://www.engr.uky.edu/~donohue/abet/abetsylb.html General course descriptions for all courses can be found in the UK Bulletin and at: http://www.uky.edu/Registrar/bulletinCurrent/eng.pdf

Engineering Standing Admission (see the University Bulletin)

The ECE degree program is divided into pre-engineering and engineering. Pre-engineering is broadly defined as the first two years of a program, while engineering is broadly defined as the last two years of the program. Every student must be admitted to engineering standing in a specific program prior to graduation.

Admission to engineering standing in a degree program is necessary in order to be granted a baccalaureate degree in engineering or computer science. Students must complete at least 30 of the last 36 hours of their programs in residence at the University. Specific departmental requirements for admission to engineering standing are as follows. The same criteria are applied to transfer students with the equivalence of courses determined by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. A student must apply to the specific department (ECE) for admission to engineering standing. Note: The cumulative grade-point average includes all college-level work taken at the University of Kentucky or elsewhere. The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department's engineering standing requirement is:

The repeat option may be exercised only the second time a student takes a course for a letter grade, not a subsequent time.

A student must be enrolled at UK at the time he/she files the repeat option. Thus, a student who has transferred to another institution would not qualify since he/she is not enrolled at UK .

Pass-Fail Option (see the University Bulletin). Undergraduate students above the freshman level and not on academic probation may select a maximum of four elective courses, with certain restrictions, to be taken on a Pass-Fail basis. Students in the Honors Program above the freshman level may, with advance written approval of the Director of the Honors Program, select additional elective courses to be taken on such a Pass-Fail basis. Credit hours successfully completed under this option will count toward graduation but will not be used in calculating grade-point standing. Courses taken on a Pass-Fail basis are limited to those considered as elective in the student's program and such other courses or types of courses as might be specifically approved by the Senate Council for a college or department. Prerequisites for such courses may be ignored at the student's own hazard. The student is expected to participate fully in the course and take all examinations as though enrolled on a regular basis. Students may change their grading option (pass-fail to letter grade or letter grade to pass-fail; credit to audit or audit to credit within three (3) weeks from the beginning of classes in the fall or spring semester (or a proportionate amount of time in the summer term or other courses of less than a full semester's duration). After such time, a student may not change his or her grading option without the written approval of the student's academic dean or the dean's designee. The waiver and the rationale for the waiver must be documented in the student's record maintained by the college. Courses offered only on a Pass-Fail basis shall not be included in the maximum number of elective courses which a student may take under these provisions.

Elective Descriptions

USP Elective (5 courses):

The University Studies Program electives (designated as USP) are described in the UK bulletin. Since the required EE curriculum automatically satisfies many of the USP requirements, the only remaining USP categories to be satisfied by students in the EE program are:

• VII. Social Science (2 courses)
• VIII. Humanities (2 courses)
• IX. Cross-Cultural (1 course)

A total of 5 courses must be taken to satisfy USP requirement. The order in which these are taken is not critical; however, they should be selected in consultation with an academic advisor. A listing of these electives can be found in the UK bulletin and on the Web at: http://www.uky.edu/Registrar/bulletinCurrent/usp.pdf

Oral Communications Elective (1 Course):

The any one of the following courses satisfies the oral communications elective:

• COM 181 Basic Public Speaking
• COM 252 Introduction to Interpersonal Communication
• COM 281 Communication in Small Groups
• COM 287 Persuasive Speaking
  

Writing Elective (1 Course):

In addition to the required ENG104 course in the freshman year, a writing intensive course must be taken once the student achieve sophomore status. Any of the following courses qualify as writing intensive and also satisfy a USP elective (most efficient choice in minimizing total credit hours):

• ENG 230 Introduction to Literature (USP Humanities)
• ENG 231 Literature and Genre (USP Humanities)
• ENG 232 Literature and Place (USP Humanities)
• ENG 233 Literature and Identities (USP Humanities)
• ENG 234 Introduction to Women's Literature (USP Humanities)
• ENG 261 Survey of Western Literature I (USP Humanities)
• ENG 262 Survey of Western Literature II (USP Humanities)
• ENG 264 Major Black Writers (USP Cross-Cultural)
• ENG 270 The Old Testament as Literature (USP Humanities)
• ENG 271 The New Testament as Literature (USP Humanities)

*Note that one course satisfies the USP Cross-Cultural requirement, the rest satisfy one of the required Humanities courses.

Any engineering, physics, computer science, or math course at the 200-level or higher, other than an Electrical Engineering course and excluding more elementary versions of
required courses, such as PHY 211. To be selected in consultation with academic advisor (9 credit hour minimum). Recommended courses are:

• ME 220 Engineering Thermodynamics I
• EM 221 Statics
• ME 330 Fluid Mechanics
• EM 313 Dynamics
• CE 521 Engineering Economy
• PHY 361 Principles of Modern Physics
• STA 281 Probability and Statistics Using Interactive Computer Techniques
• STA 291 Statistical Method
• STA 321 Basic Statistical Theory I
• STA 381 Introduction to Engineering Statistics
• STA 524 Probability
• STA 525 Introductory Statistical Inference
• CS 215 Introduction to Program Design, Abstraction, and Problem Solving
• CS 216 Introduction to Software Engineering
• CS 315 Algorithm Design and Analysis
• PHY 361 Principles of Modern Physics
• MA 321 Introduction to Numerical Methods
• MA 322 Matrix Algebra and Its Applicatins
• MA 340 Discrete Structures in Computer Science
• MA 416G Principles of Operations Research I
• MA 432G Methods of Applied Mathematics I
• MA 433G Introduction to Complex Variable

Math Statistics Elective (1 Course):

An upper-division (300-level or higher) math or statistics course that is not more basic than a required course in the curriculum (3 credit hour minimum). Recommended courses are:

• MA 321 Introduction to Numerical Methods
• MA 322 Matrix Algebra and Its Applications
• MA 340 Discrete Structures in Computer Science
• MA 416G Principles of Operations Research I
• MA 432G Methods of Applied Mathematics I
• MA 433G Introduction to Complex Variables
• STA 321 Basic Statistical Theory I
• STA 381 Introduction to E ngineering Statistics
• STA 524 Probability
• STA 525 Introductory Statistical Inference

Technical Elective (2 Courses):

An upper division engineering, mathematics, statistics, computer science, physics, or other technically-related fieldsexcluding more elementary versions of required courses. To be selected in consultation with academic adviser (6 credit hours minimum).

Supportive Elective (1 Course):

A university course, excluding more elementary versions of required courses, such as precalculus mathematics or PHY 211.

EE Technical Electives (4 Courses):

Senior-level courses that focus on application areas within electrical engineering. Recommended electrical engineering technical electives are listed below (12 credit hour minimum).

• EE 511 Introduction to Communication Systems
• EE 512 Digital Communication Systems
• EE 517 Advanced Electromechanics
• EE 518 Electric Drives
• EE 522 Antenna Design
• EE 523 Microwave Circuit Design
• EE 524 Solid State Physics
• EE 525 Numerical Methods and Electromagnetics
• EE 527 Electromagnetic Compatibility
• EE 537 Electric Power Systems I
• EE 538 Electric Power Systems II
• EE 560 Semiconductor Device Design
• EE 561 Electric and Magnetic Properties of Materials
• EE 562 Analog Electronic Circuits
• EE 564 Digital Electronic Circuits
• EE 565 Circuit Design With Analog Integrated Circuits
• EE 567 Introduction to Laser and Masers
• EE 568 Fiber Optics
• EE 569 Electronic Packaging Systems and Manufacturing Processes
• EE 571 Feedback Control Design
• EE 572 Digital Control of Dynamic Systems
• EE 581 Advanced Logical Design
• EE 582 Hardware Description Languages and Programmable Logic
• EE 583 Microprocessors
• EE 584 Introduction of VLSI Design and Testing
• EE 585 Fault Tolerant Computing
• EE 586 Communication and Switching Networks
• EE 587 Microcomputer Systems Design
• EE 599 Topics in Electrical Engineering (subtitle required)
• Description of Certificate Program
• Certificate programs are available to all undergraduate ECE students. By fulfilling the requirements of a certificate program the student receives a certificate
• at graduation that certifies the student has taken a prescribed set of courses that emphasize a specific area of electrical engineering.

Nano-scale Engineering Certificate Program

• Outline (see NECP   for more information)

A novel "Nano-Scale Engineering Certificate Program" (NECP) has been established at the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Engineering for the undergraduate engineering students.

Note: Must choose either NE-3LB (ECE 599) or NE-3LA/NE-7LA

(MSE 585/MSE 599) pair

Note:  These technical electives are recommended: not required.  Additional recommended courses will be listed in the future.  In addition,

any of the above courses will also satisfy the supportive elective.

Physics Certificate Program

A certificate in engineering physics can be obtained for BS E E students who in addition to their required course work also take the following sequence of courses as part of their
Engineering Science, Supportive, and/or Technical Electives:

PHY 361 PRINCIPLES OF MODERN PHYSICS.   (3)
An introduction to the foundations of quantum mechanics and selected topics in atomic, nuclear, particle, solid sate, and statistical physics. Prereq: MA 213; PHY 232 or, with consent
of instructor, PHY 213.

PHY 520 INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM MECHANICS.   (3)
A lecture and problem course providing an introduction to the concepts and formalism of quantum mechanics. Primary emphasis is on the Schrodinger equation and its applications including the simple harmonic oscillator, the square well, the hydrogen atom, orbital and spin angular momenta, matrix representation of two level systems. Prereq: PHY 361, MA 214; recommended: MA 322.

And any TWO of the following courses:

PHY 524 SOLID STATE PHYSICS.   (3)

Introductory solid state physics with emphasis on the properties of electrons in crystals; crystal structure, crystal diffraction, reciprocal lattice, lattice vibrations and phonons, free electron theory,
energy bands in solids, semiconductors. Prereq: PHY 520, or consent of instructor. E ngineering standing required for E E 524. (Same as E E 524.)

PHY 554 FUNDAMENTALS OF ATOMIC PHYSICS.   (3)

A continuation of introductory quantum mechanics with application to atomic systems. Topics include angular momentum, perturbation theory, variational principles, interaction of radiation with

matter, atomic spectra and the Zeeman and Stark effects. Prereq: PHY 520.

PHY 522 THERMODYNAMICS AND STATISTICAL PHYSICS. (3)

Temperature, heat, and entropy, and the Laws of Thermodynamics, as applied to simple systems. Introduction to statistical mechanics and the description of thermodynamic quantities in terms of ensemble averages. Prereq: PHY 361 and MA 214.

Notes:

Our current curriculum requires 3 Engineering Science electives, 2 Technical Electives, and 1 supportive Elective (6 total elective courses). All the courses above would satisfy these electives. Therefore, by just using 4 of these (only 3 if they take PHY/ EE 524 as their EE technical Elective), the students could earn a certificate in engineering/physics. The main advantages of this certificate program are:

- giving guidance to elective selections for students wanting an emphasis in physics and EE .
• - allowing students to clearly state the emphasis on physics in their resumes.