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Requirements for the B.S. Degree

The Computer Engineering degree may be completed in four full-time years of study if the student is capable of taking Mathematics 111 (first quarter calculus) in the autumn quarter and Physics 221 (engineering physics with calculus) in the winter quarter of the freshman year. Only strong training in high school will allow a student to begin at this level.

If a student must instead take preparatory classes as a freshman, more than the normal four years may be required for earning a degree. In any event, it is important to take the required pre-major classes early to allow advancement to full major status as soon as possible.

NOTE: Students who graduate no later than 1998 may complete the program in accordance with previously announced requirements. Students who graduate in 1999 or later must complete the program as outlined below.

  1. Overall University Requirements: Students must complete a minimum of 183 quarter hours of course work. At least 60 of the 183 hours must be upper division classes (numbered 300 or above). At least 45 of the total credit hours and 30 of the last 45 hours must be taken at the University. At least one class must be taken at the University during the school year of graduation.
  2. Liberal Education and Writing: The Liberal Education requirements are described in the University of Utah General Catalog and in the Liberal Education Bulletin. The requirements for Computer Science majors are more specific. Students must take two core courses (one each from any two of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Science) and six distribution/core courses (two in each of three areas other than Science). These eight liberal education courses must comprise at least 28 credit hours, must include two upper-division courses numbered 300 or above, must satisfy the University diversity requirement, and must include one class in ethics or human values. A list of courses that satisfy the ethics requirement may be obtained from the Academic Counselor.

    In addition, the Liberal Education classes must include at least two groups with at least two courses in each group that form a concentration approved by the student's home department. The second course in each concentration must further develop ideas or issues introduced in the first course. A list of sample concentrations and the Liberal Education Program form can be obtained from the Academic Counselor. Students must complete this form and receive approval for their programs.

    Graduates must also satisfy the American Institutions requirement by taking Economics 274, History 170, or Political Science 110.

    The University writing requirement must be fulfilled (Writing 112 or 210 for English speaking students, Writing 106 for foreign students). In addition, Technical Writing (Writing 301) must be taken prior to taking the Senior Laboratory classes.

  3. Mathematics and Science: Three quarters of calculus (Mathematics 111/112/113), ordinary differential equations (Mathematics 251), matrices and vector analysis (Mathematics 252), and probability (Mathematics 507) must be completed. Required science classes are general chemistry (Chemistry 121), physics for scientists and engineers (Physics 221/222/223), and modern physics (Physics 374).
  4. Computer Engineering Requirements: The following 21 Computer Science and/or Electrical Engineering courses must be completed:

    CS 110 Introduction to Unix EE 261 Electronic Properties of Solids
    EE 120 Introduction to Electric Circuits CS 300 Discrete Structures
    and Computer Computation Methods EE 321 Systems
    EE 133 Electronic Measurements CS 354-5-6 Software Fundamentals
    CS 201-2 Introduction to Computer Science CS/EE 361-2-3-7 Hardware Fundamentals
    EE 221-2 Electric Circuits CS 506 Operating Systems
    EE 230 Engineering Electronics CS/EE 550-1-2 Hardware Engineering Laboratory

      figure492

      figure538

    In addition, a minimum of 8 Computer Engineering electives must be completed. These must include the following:

    1. A concentration of three classes in closely related subject areas of CE. Examples are:

      CS 508-57x,EE 511 Communications (57x = Advanced Data Comm.)
      EE 547-548,CS 568 Computer Aided Design
      CS 561-562-568 Computer Architecture
      EE 322-52x-52x (x=0,1,2,3) Controls
      EE 323-511-517 Digital Signal Processing
      EE 331-532-567 Electronics
      CS/EE 542-543-544 Integrated Circuit Design
      EE 351-530-531 Optical Communications
      EE 567-568-569 Semiconductor Devices

    2. A concentration of two classes in closely related subject areas of CE. These may be a pair from one of the groups listed in item (a) above, or they may be chosen from item (c) below.
    3. Two individual classes from the following list:

      EE 322 Systems II EE 532 Engineering Electronics
      EE 323 Systems III EE 539 Fiberoptic Systems
      EE 331 Engineering Electronics CS 542 IC Design Techniques
      EE 351 Electromagnetic Fields I CS 543 Fundamentals of IC Design
      EE 352 Electromagnetic Fields II CS 544 Adv. VLSI Theory and Design
      CS 376 Scientific Computing EE 547 Asynchronous VLSI System Design
      CS 507 Compilers EE 548 Computer Aided Design of Digital Circuits
      CS 508 Data Comm. and Networks CS 561 Adv. Computer Organization
      EE 511 Communication Eng. CS 562 Intro to Parallel Computer Org.
      EE 517 Digital Signal Processing CS 568 VLSI Architectures
      EE 520 Classical Control Theory EE 567 Semicond. Physics I
      EE 521 Design of Automatic Ctrl. Systems EE 568 Semicond. Physics II
      EE 522 Digital Controls EE 569 Semiconductor Device Fabrication Lab.
      EE 523 Control of Electrical Devices CS 57x Adv. Data Comm. and Networks
      EE 530 Lasers and Their Applications CS 606 Adv. Operating Systems
      EE 531 Optoelectronic Devices and Systems

    4. An upper level class from the College of Engineering that is not included in either of the lists in items (a) and (c) above.

    The chart below gives an example four-year degree program leading to a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering. The succeeding graph summarizes the prerequisites for computer science courses.

  5. Duplication of Credit: No single course may be counted toward more than one of the requirements listed above for either major.
  6. Continuing Performance: In order to remain in good standing and to graduate, a student is required to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.3 or higher, and also to maintain a grade point average of 2.3 in Computer Engineering classes. Each course taken to satisfy the CE requirements listed above must be passed with a grade of C- or better. A student may repeat a course at the 300 level or above only one time. All CS and EE classes (other than CS 110) taken to satisfy the requirements for a Computer Engineering degree must be taken for a letter grade; they may not be taken CR/NC.

    Students whose grade point average in either of these two categories falls below 2.3 are notified that they are on probation and will be given conditions for a return to good standing. Normally, these conditions must be satisfied during the next two quarters, excluding summers. Students failing to meet their probationary conditions are dropped from department rolls. Reinstatement requires a petition to the Computer Engineering Committee. Reinstated students proceed under the latest graduation requirements.

    Students are expected to complete all requirements for their degree within four years of acceptance to full major status. Students not making satisfactory progress toward their degrees may be dropped from the program and declared inactive. The determination that a student is not making satisfactory progress is made in one of two ways. Either (1) the student has not completed a CS or EE course for a period of one year, or (2) there is no reasonable way in which the student can complete all degree requirements at the end of the required period of time.

    In order to be reinstated from inactive status, students must petition the Computer Engineering Committee. Reinstated students proceed under the latest graduation requirements.

    If personal circumstances prevent completion of all degree requirements within four years of acceptance as a full major in the department, a student may request an extension of a specific duration and submit a revised schedule of completion.

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