Ohio State ECE At-a-Glance

Students | Degrees | Graduation | Rankings | Academics | Research and Labs | Study Abroad | Diversity | Department Contacts

Overview

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The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering offers degrees beginning at the undergraduate level Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering to graduate programs, which include both master’s degrees and PhDs. Our programs are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

Our classes are taught by internationally renowned experts in their fields, whether in radar and sensing or robotics and communications. This special link, from student to expert, differs from other universities where student teaching assistants frequently instruct courses, making our graduates highly sought after commodities within the engineering industry.

Our undergraduate and master’s degrees prepare electrical engineering students to apply electrical, electronic and magnetic theory to solve problems related to the development, design and operation of electrical hardware and software, control systems, electrical machines and communication systems. Computer engineering students design, develop and implement new and changing hardware and software technology from the ground up, making computers faster, smaller, more effective and less expensive.

A student may take one of two approaches to earn a master’s degree. In the “traditional” path, students choose to work on an industry or academic research project in a program that ends with a thesis and final exam. In the “industry” path, students collaborate with industry partners in concentrations of interest from the industry standpoint, perform an academic research project or take part in an internship.

Every PhD student works closely with a dedicated faculty advisor on a challenging research problem, which results in a dissertation. The university expects the majority of a doctorate candidate’s time in the program to be devoted to solving that research problem. Approximately 90 percent of the ECE doctoral students receive fellowships or graduate assistantships, and are provided a stipend and tuition coverage.

Our graduates are recruited by major companies, including IBM, Texas Instruments, Microsoft, AT&T, Intel, Hewlett Packard, Ford, and GM. Some of our best students continue their studies in the PhD program at Ohio State as well as America’s other top graduate programs. Many of our PhD graduates hold faculty positions at other universities in the United States and overseas.

Students

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Enrollment and Admission (Autumn 2018)

ECE Total students: 1,312

ECE Undergraduate enrollment: 877

  • ECE majors: 578
  • Pre-ECE majors: 299

ECE Graduate students: 435

  • Master’s program: 193
  • Doctorate program: 242

Credentials

  • Average GRE (quantitative) for Autumn 2018
  • Master’s applicants: 164 (89 percentile)
  • Doctorate applicants: 165 (88 percentile)

Degrees Offered

  • Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Combined BS/MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Graduation (Summer 2015 through Spring 2016)

  • Bachelor’s degrees: 205
  • Master’s degrees: 151
  • Doctorate degrees: 42

Academics

Faculty and students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering focus on studies in a variety of specialized areas, including:

  • Analog and RF electronic circuits
  • Communication/signal processing
  • Computer and digital systems
  • Computer vision/image processing
  • Control systems
  • Electromagnetics
  • Remote sensing
  • Microwaves
  • Optics/photonics
  • Nanotechnology/electronic materials
  • Robotics/intelligent transportation
  • Networking
  • Sustainable energy and power systems

Research and Labs

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Research is a critical and integral part of the educational experience within Ohio State’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. For 2015, the department received more than $20.1 million in funding for diverse research on projected linked to international corporations, government, health care and the military.

The research opportunities for ECE students at all levels are unique and challenging. Under the direction of faculty members, students often work directly with faculty on research problems that may involve laboratory work, computer programming, data analysis, and literature searching. Research projects prepare students for future graduate studies and/or the corporate world in ways regular curriculum alone cannot achieve.

ECE’s facilities include state-of-the-art classrooms and dozens of laboratories in three buildings (Dreese, Caldwell and the Electroscience Lab, one of the top academic labs in the U.S. for research in electromagnetics and related sciences.) Our additional 32 labs include the Information Processing System Laboratory, the Control Research Laboratory, the Solid State Electronics and Photonics Laboratory, the High Voltage Laboratory and the High Performance Computing and Networking Laboratory.

Other laboratories include:

  • Analog VLSI Lab
  • Center for High Performance Power Electronics
  • Circuit Laboratory for Advanced Sensors and Systems (CLASS)
  • Computational Biology and Cognitive Science Lab (CBCSL)
  • Control and Intelligent Transportation Research Lab
  • Control Systems Implementation Lab                      
  • Distributed Dynamical Systems Lab
  • Electronic Materials and Devices Lab (EMDL)
  • Electronic Materials and Nanostructures Lab (EMNLAB)
  • Power Management Research Lab (PMRL)
  • High Performance Computing and Biomedical Informatics Lab (HPC-BMI Lab)
  • Information Electronics Research Group
  • Institute for Materials Research (IMR)
  • Integrated Optics Lab
  • Mechatronics-Green Energy Systems Laboratory
  • Microelectronics Lab, a shared-user microfabrication cleanroom
  • Microwave Remote Sensing Lab
  • Mixed Signal Electronics Systems Lab (MISES)                      
  • Nanoelectronics and Optoelectronics Lab (NOEL) and Polymer Device Lab (PDL)
  • Non-Linear RF/Microwave Lab
  • Ohio Nanoscale Patterning Center
  • Power-Aware Computer Systems (PACS) Laboratory
  • Photonics Research Lab
  • Robotics Lab                        
  • Semiconductor Epitaxy and Analysis Lab (SEAL)                  
  • Smart Energy Laboratory
  • Software Radar Lab
  • Traffic Monitoring Laboratory

Study Abroad

In addition to hundreds of options for study abroad offered by the university, the ECE department has two unique exchange program arrangements with outstanding sister universities in China. Students can study at the School of Electronic, Information and Electrical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) or at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UETSC).

Department History

1884: First electrical engineering class taught at Ohio State

1888: Electrical Engineering program launched

1891: First undergraduate degrees awarded

1900: Master’s degree program authorized

1928: First doctorate degree awarded

1940: First electron microscope in U.S. built at Ohio State

2004: Department of Electrical Engineering renamed Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Diversity

  • Students enrolled in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering represent 32 different countries from around the world, including China (40.2%), the United States (26.0%) and India (10.1%).
  • Ohio State ECE has the highest percentage of female electrical and computer engineering faculty in the country.
  • 14.3 percent of ECE students in 2016 were female, compared to 7.4 percent in 2007.
  • The number of underrepresented minorities (African American, Hispanic and Native American) in our student body increased to 8.1 percent in 2012
  • There are currently more than 11,000 Ohio State ECE alumni worldwide.

Faculty

  • ECE currently boasts 58 tenure-track faculty, 13 research-track faculty and five clinical-track faculty members.
  • One is a member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • 19 are Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellows

Department contacts

Department Chair

Professor Hesham M. El Gamal, elgamal.2@osu.edu

Graduate Program

• Graduate Studies Chair:

     Professor Prof. Andrea Serrani, serrani.1@osu.edu

• Graduate Program Advisors:

     Patricia K. Toothman, toothman.8@osu.edu

     Beth Bucher, bucher.9@osu.edu

Undergraduate Program

• Academic Program Administrator:

     Alissa Kasmer, kasmer.4@osu.edu

Academic Advisors: 

Niki Jaburek, jaburek.2@osu.edu

Alex Thomas, thomas.2994@osu.edu

 

• Undergraduate Honors and Research Advisor:

     Professor Bradley Clymer, clymer.1@osu.edu

Program Coordinator

Carol Duhigg, duhigg.2@osu.edu

ECE/IMR Communications Specialist

Ryan Horns, horns.1@osu.edu

Director of Development

Kathleen Coen, coen.40@osu.edu