Spotlight: Electrical Engineering

School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Computer science is associated with the development and analysis of computer software, computer algorithms, and computing technologies. Most “information age” technologies â€“ e-mail, Web browsing, e-commerce, computer games, computer graphics and animation â€“ are the end result of years of work by computer scientists and engineers. Computer science encompasses computer graphics, computer networking, software engineering, databases, operating systems, artificial intelligence, computer security, compilers, and many other areas. Computer science students at Ohio University study these topics and more.

Computer science at Ohio University is housed in the Russ College’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). A vibrant department with more than 30 faculty and two world-class research centers, EECS offers an ABET-accredited B.S. in computer science.

First-year students in computer science usually take a three-course sequence covering an introduction to software design and development in C++, a course on computer ethics, and the calculus sequence. As sophomores, students take courses on discrete mathematics, program languages, and data structures. As juniors and seniors, students take courses on the design and analysis of algorithms, computation theory, operating systems, and software design and development. As seniors, students explore their interests by taking four technical electives, such as artificial intelligence, database systems, data communications, Internet engineering, formal languages, advanced operating systems, or interactive computer graphics.

Career Opportunities

Open to all engineering majors, the Russ College’s Cooperative Education program integrates coursework with paid, career-related work experience. Students alternate full-time employment with full-time study, with most students working a total of three to four quarters. Companies may assist students with living arrangements or stipends during their co-ops, and many often extend job offers upon graduation. Students have worked at companies and organizations such as DuPont, General Electric, Kokosing Construction Co., the Ohio Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Forest Service. For more information, visit www.ohio.edu/engineering/coop/.

Special Features

Computer science students have numerous opportunities to study from cutting-edge researchers in such areas as computer networking, real-time systems, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, robotics, and avionics. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science affiliated research units include the Avionics Engineering Center (www.ohio.edu/avionics/) and the Center for Intelligent, Distributed, and Dependable Systems (www.ohio.edu/cidds/). Faculty and students are actively involved in sponsored research with industry and government agencies via these units as well as others.

EECS maintains four computing laboratories with more than 80 state-of-the-art workstations, and an internet teaching laboratory where students have direct access to core internet technologies â€“ routers, switches, nameservers, and gateways. In addition, the School maintains various electrical engineering and electronic laboratories where students have direct access to core computing technologies â€“ microprocessors, memory, and microcontrollers.

In addition, EECS offers three student organization chapters that provide opportunities for guest lectures, competitions, and interaction with industry professionals:

1. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the worldâ€™s first professional society dedicated to educational and scientific computing.

2. Upsilon Pi Epsilon, the international honor society for computing and information disciplines.

3. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest professional society dedicated to electrical engineering and electronics.