Points of Excellence
Lab intensive undergraduate curriculum
Undergraduate laboratory experiences give students the chance to practice skills they learn in classes on real devices, and to see first hand the physics that they describe mathematically in classes. From freshmen to seniors, our students participate in labs from their first year until their last.
The very first major class taken by electrical and computer engineers, CPEG 202, allows students to experiment with simple computer circuits and make simple digital gadgets. Throughout the following years, the students learn to use oscilloscopes, experiment with antennas, program microprocessors, and design digital filters. In the senior year, the students participate in a capstone design project, in which they design an entire device from start to finish. Students build integrated circuits, simple robotic devices, and even components of microchips. Because of our lab courses, upon graduation our students not only understand the technical world, they have the skills and experience to change it!
The $15 million Nanofabrication Facility is a 6,500 square feet multi-user environment with
4,500 square feet of ultra clean fabrication space and the remainder dedicated for support logistics.
The facility is used to fabricate silicon and compound semi-conductor structures, films, circuits and devices on the nanometer scale. In particular, devices related to NEMS, MEMS, electronics, and photonics are routinely made.
