Olin College | Campus

Electrical and Computer Engineering is a degree program designed to meet ABET Program Criteria in electrical and computer engineering. Olin's ECE degree focuses on the devices and structure of computing and communications systems, with an emphasis on hardware design.

Many courses in the general degree requirement support the ECE degree program. These courses are described in the course catalog . Three foundation general degree requirement courses provide particular disciplinary content in ECE. These are:

The Course Requirements of the ECE program beyond the General Course Requirements are listed below:

An introduction to the solution techniques of differential equations. Topics include mathematical modeling, solution techniques to linear and nonlinear first-order differential equations, characteristic solutions to linear constant coefficient second-order differential equations, solutions to homogeneous (unforced) and inhomogeneous (forced) second-order linear systems. Applications include modeling of physical systems.

Instructor(s): G. Pratt, Storey
Credits: 3 ENGR
Hours: 3-3-3
Co-requisites: MTH 1110 and SCI 1110
Usually Offered: Fall
Most Recent Web Site: http://icb.olin.edu/fall_05/ecs

A hands-on class in the modeling and control of compartment systems, including first and second order thermal, mechanical, and electrical systems, the nature of effort and flow (across and through state variables) as universal concepts, power and energy, impedance, damping, passivity, qualitative feedback stability, and hysteretic, P, PI, and PID control. Students will also learn to use MATLAB, Simulink, and to write basic real-time control and simulation software.

ENGR 1120
ICB 2 Engineering: Modeling and Control of Spatially Distributed Systems

Instructor(s): G. Pratt, Storey
Credits: 3 ENGR
Hours: 3-3-3
Co-requisites: MTH 1120 and SCI 1120
Usually Offered: Spring
Most Recent Web Site: http://icb.olin.edu/spring_05/eds

A hands-on class in the modeling and control of spatially distributed systems, including thermal diffusion in 1D and 2D, the heat equation, the wave equation, characteristic impedance and wave velocity, simple (Cartesian grid) finite difference analysis, acoustic transmission lines, electrical transmission lines, termination and wave reflection.

Instructor(s): Minch, Stolk
Credits: 4 ENGR
Hours: 4-4-4
Prerequisites: ICB2
Usually Offered: Fall + Spring
Most Recent Web Site: http://ece.olin.edu/poe

Through a significant project experience, students will learn to integrate analysis, qualitative design, quantitative optimization, experiments, and simulations to improve their ability to engineer real systems. Two course sections will be offered, each one focusing on a particular type of engineering system. Section 01 will focus on electrical systems and components. Section 02 will focus on mechanical systems and material properties. Students need not enroll in a section corresponding to their intended major.

Signals (functions of one or more independent variables) and Systems (devices that perform operations on signals) presents fundamental concepts that arise in a variety of fields. The ideas and techniques associated with these concepts inform such diverse disciplines as biomedical engineering, acoustics, communications, aeronautics and astronautics, circuit design, and the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Topics include transforms (Z, LaPlace, Fourier), frequency analysis, convolution, FIR and IIR systems, stability, generalized functions, modulation (AM and FM), sampling, and digital filtering.

Instructor(s): Minch
Credits: 4 ENGR
Hours: 4-4-4
Prerequisites: ENGR 1120
Usually Offered: Spring

This course will cover the design of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) electronic circuits in the context of modern integrated-circuit technology. The course will include an introduction to the fabrication and operation of metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors and to the design and operation of the basic building blocks of both analog and digital integrated circuits. Analog circuit topics will include single-transistor amplifier stages, current mirrors, cascodes, differential pairs, and single-stage operational amplifiers. Digital circuit topics will include the design of complementary CMOS logic gates and latches. Throughout the course, an emphasis will be placed on design-oriented circuit analysis techniques and developing circuit reasoning skill.

Instructor(s): Downey, Stein
Credits: 4 ENGR
Hours: 5-0-7 (Fall); 6-0-6 (Spring)
Usually Offered: Fall + Spring
Most Recent Web Site: http://ece.olin.edu/sd

This course is an introduction to software design. This course focuses on a model of computation as a set of simultaneous ongoing entities embedded in and interacting with a dynamic environment, for example: computation as it occurs in spreadsheets, video games, web applications, and robots. A major component of the class is a weekly three hour in-class laboratory. Much of this laboratory is spent in collaborative work on program development, with an emphasis on student-student interaction and student-student teaching, facilitated and enriched by the course staff. In addition, design and implementation work is supplemented with observational laboratory assignments, inviting students to consider not only how to build a program, but how to anticipate its behavior and how to modify that behavior. Both students with no prior background and students with background comparable to the CS AP should both find this course interesting and worthwhile.

This course will be taught much like a graduate seminar. The current plan is to cover the all the bases:

1) Perception, Sensors, Computer Vision.
2) Navigation and Localization.
3) Actuation and Manipulation.
4) Mobility (walk, swim, roll, crawl, fly).
5) Intelligence (control, planning and mission execution).

The course will be built around the review and discussion of seminal technical papers in the robotics field, with guest lectures from the Olin Faculty and from external leaders in the robotics community.

The course will also include an individual project done in simulation to help solidify key concepts but will not include a hardware or laboratory component.

Many of you are already working in this area through SCOPE and research . This is an ideal course to take to both add depth and breadth to your SCOPE projects, and to also allow you to optimize your time by effectively co-aligning two concurrent classes (SCOPE and Robotics).

While Seniors will get preference in registration, the course is also available to all students regardless of background. The only prerequisites are passion and persistence.

Instructor(s): Chang
Credits: 4 ENGR
Hours: 4-4-4
Prerequisites: ICB2, ENGR 2420 Recommended
Usually Offered: Fall
Most Recent Web Site: http://ca.olin.edu/cawiki

This course introduces a broad range of computation structures used in computation, from logic gates to specialized (e.g. DSP, cellular automata) as well as general purpose architectures. Design techniques for quantitatively optimizing performance are also taught. Students build a computer from the ground up.

Communication
Instructor(s): Mur-Miranda
Credits: 4 ENGR
Hours: 4-4-4
Prerequisites: ENGR 2410 or permission of Instructor
Usually Offered: Fall
Most Recent Web Site: http://faculty.olin.edu/~jmurmiranda/adcf05.htm

This course teaches students design techniques for analog and digital communications, including elementary coding and information theory. Topics also include modulation schemes, data compression, error detection and correction, encryption, transmitter and receiver design, and routing protocols. Students build an operative communications link over an unreliable channel.

Instructor(s): Minch
Credits: 4 ENGR
Hours: 4-4-4
Prerequisites: ENGR 2420 or permission of Instructor
Usually Offered: Fall
Most Recent Web Site: http://ece.olin.edu/avlsi

This course will provide an overview of devices available to analog integrated circuit designers in modern complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies: resistors, capacitors, metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors, and bipolar junction transistors. It will cover the transistor-level design of linear analog integrated-circuit modules, such as operational amplifiers and operational transconductance amplifiers as well as layout techniques for analog integrated circuits. Students will work in small teams on a series of projects involving the design of analog integrated circuit modules, culminating in the design of an analog system of moderate complexity, such as a filter or a data converter.

Instructor(s): Chang
Credits: 4 ENGR
Hours: 4-4-4
Prerequisites: ICB2, ENGR 2420 Recommended
Usually Offered: Spring

An introduction to digital CMOS design. Students will learn design techniques and layout their own custom integrated circuit, which will be fabricated by MOSIS.

Instructor(s): Somerville
Credits: 4 ENGR
Hours: 4-4-4
Prerequisites: ICB2, ENGR 2410
Usually Offered: TBA

Modern topics in sensors, including sensor fabrication, physics, signal conditioning, and "smart" sensors. Students will conduct research on sensor technologies of their choosing, and implement a sensor system of their own design.

Instructor(s): TBA
Credits: 4 ENGR
Hours: 4-4-4
Prerequisites: ICB2; SCI 1410 or SCI 3110
Usually Offered: TBA
Most Recent Web Site: http://ece.olin.edu/SemiconductorDevices

Introduction to semiconductor device fabrication, operation, and design. Emphasis on diodes and transistors, with some exploration of speculative technologies. Students will conduct a project of their own choosing involving either device characterization or device simulation using modern tools.

ENGR 3499
Special Topics in Electrical and Computer Engineering: Microelectromechanical Systems

Introduction to analysis, design and fabrication of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Students will learn design and analytical tools taken from an array of diverse fields, such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and materials science. Students will also learn basic fabrication techniques and material properties used in the creation of MEMS. Examples of system applications will be selected from a wide set of fields and may include energy harvesters, inertial sensors, chemical reactors, microturbine engines, cell sorters or micromirror displays.