Nov 21, 2024  
2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Electrical Engineering Major, BS in Electrical Engineering


Students in the senior year may choose from a wide spectrum of courses covering all aspects of electrical and computer engineering. Students must meet the design, depth, and breadth requirements of the department in their selection of these courses. The design requirement is met through a major engineering design experience in ECE 402 *, Senior Design, and through the design process being integrated into specified courses throughout the program. Students are encouraged to discuss an appropriate senior program with their advisors.

uTrack Requirements

Universal Tracking (uTrack) is an academic monitoring system designed to help students stay on track for timely graduation. In order to remain on track, students must complete the minimum requirements for each tracking semester, known as milestones. Milestones include successful completion of specified courses and/or attainment of a minimum GPA. uTrack requirements only affect full-time, degree-seeking students who first entered Fall 2013 or later. uTrack does not apply to transfer students who entered prior to Fall 2015.

Progression Policies and Requirements

The department requires at least a C in every computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, and mathematics course used for the undergraduate degrees.

Progression of departmental undergraduate students to the upper-division programs of the department is competitive and is based on the space available in the department. Factors considered in the decision include overall grade point average, grades earned in courses required in the lower-division curricula of the department and Tickle College of Engineering, and seriousness of purpose and interest in departmental programs as exemplified by regular and orderly progress through the prescribed curriculum without abuse of withdrawal and course repeat privileges.

Students who take ECE 202  will be evaluated during the semester they are registered for it. Transfer students for whom ECE 202  transfer credit is given may take 9 semester hours in departmental courses before progression evaluation. All students, whether or not they transfer in, who are not accepted into the upper-division program of the department will be put in either a temporary probationary status or a non-progressed status and will not be permitted to register for any upper-division courses within the department.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering


Term 1 Hours Milestone Notes
1COSC 102   4 MATH 130  or MATH 131  or higher or one Arts and Humanities*, Cultures and Civilizations*, or Social Sciences* Elective
EF 151 * or EF 157  4  
ENGL 101 * or ENGL 118  3  
MATH 132 * or MATH 141 * or MATH 147  3-4  
Term 2
COSC 130   4 MATH 130  or MATH 131  or higher
EF 152 * or EF 158  4  
ENGL 102  3  
MATH 142 * or MATH 148  4  
Term 3
CHEM 120 * or CHEM 128  4 EF 151 * or PHYS 135 
ECE 201 , ECE 255   6  
MATH 231  or MATH 237   3  
PHYS 231  3  
Term 4
ECE 202   3 EF 152 * or PHYS 136 
ECE 313  or ECE 317   3  
MATH 241  or MATH 247   4  
MATH 251  or MATH 257   3  
PHYS 232  4  
Term 5
ECE 315 , ECE 325 , ECE 335 , ECE 395   10 CBE 201  or COSC 102  or ME 202  or MSE 201  
ECE 341  or ECE 347   3  
2Social Sciences Elective * 3  
Term 6
2Arts and Humanities Elective * 3 No milestones
ECE 316 , ECE 336 , ECE 342   9  
2Social Sciences Elective * 3  
Term 7
2Arts and Humanities Elective * 3 No milestones
2Cultures and Civilizations Elective * 3  
ECE 401   2  
3Electrical Engineering Senior Electives 9  
Term 8
2Cultures and Civilizations Elective * 3 No milestones
ECE 402  3  
3Electrical Engineering Senior Elective 3  
4Technical Electives 6  
TOTAL (minimum) 126  
1 Beginning students who have had high school computer science and/or who have had significant programming experience (e.g. summer institute study, special research projects, home laboratory) are invited to apply during the summer to the head of the department for permission to take a proficiency examination for COSC 102 - Introduction to Computer Science . If a satisfactory grade is made on the examination, credit will be allowed for COSC 102 . The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science also gives credit in COSC 102  to students who receive a score of 5 on the Computer Science Advanced Placement Examination.
2 Chosen from University General Education list .
3 Choose 12 credit hours of Electrical Engineering senior electives with advisor’s consent. Up to three COSC 5XX or ECE 5XX courses may count as upper-division electives. Acceptable electrical engineering senior electives are ECE 4xx courses that are not otherwise required.
4 Technical electives chosen from  CHEM 130 * or CHEM 138 *; COSC 140 , COSC 311 , MATH 300  or MATH 307 ; COSC 370  or COSC 377 ; ECE 351 , ECE 356  or ECE 358 EF 203 , EF 303 ; IE 405 , IE 457 ; ME 231 , ME 321 , ME 331 , ME 363 ME 367 ; MSE 201  or MSE 207 , MSE 410 , MSE 460 ; NE 342  or NE 347 ; PHYS 250 .

*  Meets University General Education Requirement .

Electrical Engineering – Honors Concentration


In addition to satisfying the requirements for the electrical engineering, computer engineering, or computer science major, candidates for the honors concentration must also complete the following requirements.

* While most students fulfill this requirement with 100- and 200-level courses, students may substitute upper level courses on approval of the Honors faculty.

Electrical Engineering Major – Five-Year BS/MS Program


The department offers a Five-Year BS-MS program for qualified students. The primary component of the program is that qualified students may take up to 9 hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Tennessee. This program is designed for students attending the University of Tennessee for their Master of Science degree because other universities may not accept these courses for graduate credit since they were used to satisfy requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree. Significant components of the program are: 

  • Students must have an overall GPA of at least 3.4 to be admitted to the program. Conditional admission may be granted after completing 64 hours of required coursework while full admission is granted after completing 96 hours of required coursework with a minimum overall GPA of 3.4.
  • Students must at least have conditional admission before taking graduate courses for both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. All courses taken for graduate credit must be approved by the departmental chair of the program. Students admitted to the program must request permission from the Graduate School to take approved courses for graduate credit.
  • Students admitted to the program must also follow the normal procedure for admission to the Graduate School. Admission of students into this program must be approved by the department and the Graduate School. Students will not be eligible for graduate assistantships until they are enrolled as graduate-level students in the Graduate School.