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Computer Engineering (also called Electronic and Computer Engineering or Computer Systems Engineering) is a discipline that combines elements of both Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism....
 and Computer Science
Computer science

Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems....
. Computer engineers are electrical engineers that have additional training in the areas of software design and hardware-software integration. In turn, they focus less on power electronics and physics. Computer engineers are involved in many aspects of computing, from the design of individual microprocessor
Microprocessor

A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit . The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using Binary-coded decimal arithmetic on 4-bit Word ....
s, personal computer
Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator....
s, and supercomputer
Supercomputer

A supercomputer is a computer that is at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation. Supercomputers introduced in the 1960s were designed primarily by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation , and led the market into the 1970s until Cray left to form his own company, Cray Research....
s, to circuit design.






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Computer Engineering (also called Electronic and Computer Engineering or Computer Systems Engineering) is a discipline that combines elements of both Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism....
 and Computer Science
Computer science

Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems....
. Computer engineers are electrical engineers that have additional training in the areas of software design and hardware-software integration. In turn, they focus less on power electronics and physics. Computer engineers are involved in many aspects of computing, from the design of individual microprocessor
Microprocessor

A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit . The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using Binary-coded decimal arithmetic on 4-bit Word ....
s, personal computer
Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator....
s, and supercomputer
Supercomputer

A supercomputer is a computer that is at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation. Supercomputers introduced in the 1960s were designed primarily by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation , and led the market into the 1970s until Cray left to form his own company, Cray Research....
s, to circuit design. This engineering monitors the many subsystems in motor vehicles.

Usual tasks involving computer engineers include writing software and firmware
Firmware

Firmware is a term sometimes used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs that internally control various electronic devices. Typical examples range from end user products such as remote controls or calculators, via computer parts and devices like harddisks, keyboard s, TFT screens or memory cards, all the way to scientific instr...
 for embedded
Embedded

'Embedded' or 'embedding' may refer to:*Embedding, one instance of some mathematical object contained within another instance**Graph embedding...
 microcontroller
Microcontroller

A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit consisting of a relatively simple CPU combined with support functions such as a crystal oscillator, timers, watchdog, serial and analog I/O etc....
s, designing VLSI
Very-large-scale integration

Very-large-scale integration is the process of creating integrated circuits by combining thousands of transistor-based circuits into a single chip....
 chips, designing analog sensors, designing mixed signal circuit boards, and designing operating system
Operating system

An operating system is an interface between hardware and applications; it is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the limited resources of the computer....
s. Computer engineers are also suited for robotics
Robotics

Robotics is the science and technology of robots, and their design, manufacture, and application. Robotics has connections to electronics, mechanics, and software....
 research, which relies heavily on using digital systems to control and monitor electrical systems like motors, communications, and sensors.

Computer engineering as an academic discipline

The first accredited computer engineering degree program in the United States was established at Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, with some residence halls on the south end of campus located in Cleveland Heights, Ohio....
 in 1971; as of October 2004 there were 170 ABET
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology

ABET, Inc., formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, is a non-profit organization that serves the public by accrediting United States postsecondary degree programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology....
-accredited computer engineering programs in the US.

Due to increasing job requirements for engineers, who can design and manage all forms of computer systems used in industry, some tertiary institutions around the world offer a bachelor's degree generally called "computer engineering". Both computer engineering and electronic engineering
Electronic engineering

Electronic engineering is a discipline dealing with the behavior and effects of electrons and with electronic devices, systems, or equipment.The term now also covers a large part of electrical engineering degree courses as studied at most European universities....
 programs include analog and digital circuit design in their curricula. As with most engineering disciplines, having a sound knowledge of mathematics and sciences is necessary for computer engineers.

In many institutions, computer engineering students are allowed to choose areas of in-depth study in their junior and senior year, as the full breadth of knowledge used in the design and application of computers is well beyond the scope of an undergraduate degree. The joint IEEE
IEEE Computer Society

IEEE Computer Society is an organizational unit of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers . It was established in 1963 when the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers merged to create the IEEE....
/ACM
Association for Computing Machinery

The Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership was approximately 83,000 as of 2007....
 Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Computer Engineering defines the core knowledge areas of computer engineering as

  • Algorithms
  • Computer architecture and organization
    Computer architecture

    Computer architecture in computer engineering is the conceptual design and fundamental operational structure of a computer system. It is a blueprint and functional description of requirements and design implementations for the various parts of a computer, focusing largely on the way by which the central processing unit performs internally an...
  • Computer systems engineering
  • Circuits
    Electrical network

    An electrical network is an interconnection of electrical elements such as resistors, inductors, capacitors, transmission lines, voltage sources, current sources, and switches....
     and signals
    Signal (electrical engineering)

    In the fields of telecommunications, signal processing, and in electrical engineering more generally, a signal is any time-varying or spatial-varying quantity....
  • Database systems
    Database

    A database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system. The structure is achieved by organizing the data according to a database model....
  • Digital logic
  • Digital signal processing
    Digital signal processing

    Digital signal processing is concerned with the representation of the signal s by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals....
  • Electronics
    Electronics

    Electronics refers to the flow of charge through nonmetal electrical conductor , whereas electrical refers to the flow of charge through metal electrical conductor....
  • Embedded systems
  • Human-computer interaction
  • Interactive Systems Engineering
    Interactive Systems Engineering

    The Interactive Systems Engineering is a subset of computer engineering which targets current trends in the design and development of interactive systems which virtually includes all types of devices and systems which a human interacts with....
  • Operating system
    Operating system

    An operating system is an interface between hardware and applications; it is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the limited resources of the computer....
    s
  • Programming fundamentals
    Computer programming

    Computer programming is the process of writing, testing, debugging/troubleshooting, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in a programming language....
  • Social
    Social

    Social refers to a characteristic of living organisms . It always refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and to their collective co-existence, irrespective of whether they are aware of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary....
     and Professional
    Professional

    A professional is a person who has completed a doctoral or law program or equivalent .A professional is someone who has a professional degree - a number one on the Hollingshead scale....
     issues
  • Software engineering
    Software engineering

    Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches....
  • VLSI design and fabrication
    Integrated circuit design

    Integrated circuit design, or IC design, is a subset of electrical engineering, encompassing the particular Boolean logic and circuit design techniques required to design integrated circuits, or ICs....


The breadth of disciplines studied in computer engineering is not limited to the above subjects but can include any subject found in engineering.

See also

  • Association for Computing Machinery
    Association for Computing Machinery

    The Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership was approximately 83,000 as of 2007....
  • Electrical engineering
    Electrical engineering

    Electrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism....
  • List of electrical engineers
    List of electrical engineers

    This is a list of electrical engineers, people who made contributions to electrical engineering or computer engineering....
  • Engineer
    Engineer

    An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of engineering. Engineers are concerned with developing economical and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics and scientific knowledge while considering technical constraints....
  • Information technology
    Information technology

    Information technology , as defined by the Information Technology Association of America , is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to data conv...
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
    Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

    The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE is an international non-profit, professional body for the advancement of technology related to electricity....
  • Computer
    Computer

    A computer is a machine that manipulates Data according to a list of Code .The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century , although the computer concept and various machines similar to computers existed earlier....
  • Computer science
    Computer science

    Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems....
  • Computer-aided software engineering
    Computer-aided software engineering

    Computer-Aided Software Engineering , in the field of Software Engineering is the scientific application of a set of tools and methods to a software which results in high-quality, defect-free, and maintainable software products....


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