Information and Departmental Plan of Study
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (link is external)offers an academic program of study spanning a wide range of disciplines, connecting the broad fields of information, data, communication, and computing systems to circuits, energy, and the physical world. To prepare students for a future beyond Princeton, the three main themes of the program are (i) a broad foundation, (ii) depth and expertise in a concentration, and (iii) independent work and design.
All students begin with a unifying foundation, after which areas of specialization range from information and data sciences, computing systems, privacy and security, and communication technology, to robotics and autonomous cyberphysical systems, to semiconductor electronic and optoelectronic devices, materials and nanotechnology, photonics and optics, and quantum computing, to circuits with energy and biomedical applications. Students may select one of a set of suggested concentrations, or tailor their own in consultation with their faculty adviser to suit special interests. The ECE program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET(link is external).
Students enter the department with a variety of career objectives in mind. Some intend to enter industry directly upon graduation or to continue their studies in graduate school. Others wish to use the electrical and computer engineering program as background for careers in other fields ranging from business to law to medicine. Flexibility in the undergraduate program allows a wide variety of objectives to be achieved and to allow a student to see a wide cross-section of electrical and computer engineering before deciding on an area of concentration. Similarly, students may also formally combine electrical and computer engineering with studies in a wide range of disciplines outside of ECE, from other engineering and science fields to broader topics connecting to society in many ways. (See Interdisciplinary Programs below.)