Electrical Engineering

What is Electrical Engineering?

Electrical engineers find exciting and challenging careers in a wide range of technologies — from designing nanometerscale computer circuits up through megawatt-scale wind turbines. From monitoring low frequency sound and seismic waves up to microwave and optical communications signals. From the ocean depths, with remotely controlled undersea vehicles, to mountaintop weather monitoring systems, to communications and control systems operating in the upper atmosphere and outer space.

Electrical engineers work on all aspects of electrical and computer system planning, design, development and application. They use math, science and business training to complement their engineering expertise. They design, build and apply innovative engineering systems, using their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, for the improvement of the modern world.

What careers are possible?
Here are some examples:

  • Circuit designer — play a key role in creating all kinds of products that depend on circuits: cars, audio systems, computers, televisions, the space station, and controls for an artificial heart.
  • Communications engineer — develop the next generation cell phone or design a radar-based ship tracking system.
  • Power engineer — design modern, highefficiency power plants, control and operate the deregulated power system, develop alternative energy sources, or design specialized motor drives for applications such as transportation, computer hard drives, or medical systems.
  • Systems engineer — utilize a diverse set of components in a complex system. Use a battery, a couple of motors, several computers, and some infrared or ultrasound sensors to build a mobile robot that works in a hazardous environment.
  • Signal processing engineer — design products for consumers or applications like space communication or medical imaging by using adaptive signal processing, speech processing, video encoding, DVD and computer vision technology.
  • Computer design engineer — design the microelectronic circuits-on-a-chip that are at the heart of the modern computer systems of your personal computers as well as the specialized computers that control automobiles, refrigerators, etc.


Why Clarkson for engineering?

U.S. News & World Report ranks Clarkson in its 2006 Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs at schools whose highest degree is a Ph.D. The placement rate for our electrical engineers is one of the nation's highest. Our graduates are sought both for their strong technical skills and their versatility. A Clarkson engineering education builds your abilities in teamwork, management, communication and creative problem solving. Our graduates are accepted in the best advanced degree programs in the country, including our own. Among these are Duke, Georgia Tech, Michigan, MIT, and Stanford.

Teaching emphasized in a research environment Clarkson combines two distinctive strengths that benefit students: personalized teaching and high-powered research.

With a 16:1 faculty-to-student ratio, our professors get to know students as individuals. On the other hand, these faculty members are also inspired explorers on the very frontiers of knowledge. They conduct world-class research in areas of vital importance — and involve undergraduates as well as graduate students in the process!

Project-based learning
Clarkson takes a project-based approach to learning. Because you focus on the creative application of knowledge and skills to solve practical, real-world problems, you gain:

  • A strong, hands-on foundation in the basics
  • Teamwork and leadership skills
  • Practice in creative problem solving
  • Techniques in research and analysis
  • Skills in applying what you know

And at all levels, you enjoy the individualized attention that only an undergraduate-centered school can provide.


Breadth and depth for specialization

Every EE student builds a firm, broad knowledge of analog and digital circuits, computing, signals and systems, microelectronic devices, and energy conversion. Building on this foundation, students choose areas to pursue in more depth, such as signal processing, robotics and control, power systems, microelectronics, VLSI, computer systems, or communications.

Team design competitions

Clarkson students sharpen their skills in creative problem solving, collaboration, communication and leadership through 14 team competitions. These are organized through an umbrella program called SPEED — Student Projects for Engineering Experience and Design.

Clarkson's Solar Knights placed first in the Tour de Sol's Electrical Vehicle with Advanced- Battery Prototype Division in 2003. In March 2005, the FIRST Robotics Team was a finalist in the Finger Lakes Regional, and received the Motorola Quality Award.

Clarkson electrical engineering research areas Professors work closely with industry and government on research that is exciting and critical in advancing the state of the art.


Current topics include:

  • Robotics and control systems
  • Motion control
  • Instrumentation
  • Biomedical signal processing
  • Machines and drives
  • Microelectronics and quantum computing
  • High-volt testing and dielectrics
  • Power quality
  • Image/video processing
  • Pattern recognition
  • Rehabilitation engineering
  • Biometrics
  • Computer networking

Undergraduate research

Electrical engineering majors participate in a wide range of research projects funded by government and corporate sources. Several of our faculty have undergraduate students working in their labs over the summer and during the academic year.

Recent student projects include:

  • Autonomous mobile robots
  • Computer networks
  • Manufacturing engineering
  • Improved hearing assessment instruments
  • Wind energy
  • Object-oriented design of circuits
  • Thermal modeling of silicon-on-insulator circuits
  • Power system modeling
  • Shipboard electric propulsion

Co-ops and internships

Through Clarkson's Career Center, choose from a broad range of summer or semester- long opportunities to gain experience while you earn a professional's salary.

Specialized facilities undergraduates can use

The Coulter School of Engineering has over 70 labs with state-of-the-art equipment, and students often find themselves in these research labs. In EE lab facilities dedicated to undergraduate instruction, each bench is fully equipped with modern instrumentation and a range of digital data acquisition and analysis tools. You can do experiments, validate your designs, and build your apparatus right in the lab, with access to:

  • Automated data acquisition and control
  • A lab environment integrating MATLAB and PSpice with bench instrumentation using tools such as Labview
  • Modern digital design tools, including VHDL design and simulation environments that let you use programmable logic devices and FPGA's
  • High-volt testing apparatus
  • A high-quality engineering computer and design laboratory that fosters group activity and team-based learning
  • Modern engineering workstations and design environments that use both Unix and the Windows operating systems

Who hires Clarkson electrical engineers?

For many years, Clarkson electrical engineers have been eagerly sought by such large firms as IBM, GE, Lockheed Martin, and Bechtel. As the Internet and modern technology change the marketplace, more and more opportunities are available in small high tech firms such as Black River Systems, Sensis Corp. and Syracuse Research.