Electrical and Computer Engineering

Space Systems Engineering Program

College of Engineering and Mines
Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Engineering
907-474-7137 

Department Overview

The mission of the UAF Electrical and Computer Engineering Department is to offer the highest-quality contemporary education at the undergraduate and graduate levels and to perform research appropriate to the technical needs of the state of Alaska, the nation and the world. The curriculum is designed to ensure that fundamentals and specialized skills are acquired by the student. Our programs prepare engineering graduates to enter practice and provide the theoretical background for students entering graduate studies.

Electrical and computer engineers design and develop electrical, electronic, control and computing systems for a wide range of technologies in a variety of engineering and other fields, including aerospace, automotive, biomedical, communications, electric utility, environmental, forensics, renewable energy, resource extraction, robotics, space systems, transportation and finance. An electrical engineering degree also opens the door to opportunities in business, law and medical fields, as well as for graduate work in engineering.

Graduates of our programs find rewarding employment in and outside of Alaska after graduation, with some even forming their own start-ups. Our graduates are sought after by companies, consulting firms and government agencies that require the specialized skills of electrical and computer engineers with practical training in the specific areas mentioned above and engineering in extreme environments. A few notable companies that hire our graduates include Agilent, BAE, Boeing, GCI, General Dynamics, IBM, Lockheed Martin, MathWorks, Microsoft, Power Engineers and a number of large and small electric utilities. Federal agencies and national laboratories that hire our graduates include the FAA, JPL, LANL, NASA, NIST, NREL and NSA. Some of our graduates go on to graduate programs at UAF and other well-known universities within and outside the U.S.

Undergraduate research and design project opportunities are available at UAF in the areas of embedded systems, wireless sensor networks, wireless and wired communications, unmanned aeronautical systems, space systems engineering, waves and space physics, electrical power systems and drives, renewable energy, microgrids and engineering in extreme environments. UAF’s location just 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle—as well as the only university-affiliated rocket range in the country at Poker Flat, one of six FAA centers for unmanned aeronautical systems research, and a power systems integration laboratory that fully emulates a remote microgrid—provide a world-class environment and facilities for research related to auroral activity, remote sensing, microgrids and engineering in extreme environments. These programs offer real engineering experience as well as fellowships, paid internships and scholarships.


B.S., Computer Engineering

The BSCpE program at UAF provides the solid foundation and fundamental understanding necessary to succeed in a world of rapidly changing technology. Students gain knowledge and receive practical hands-on experience in computer architecture and systems design, electronic and digital circuits, embedded systems, and wired and wireless communications systems. The program prepares engineering graduates to enter practice and provides the theoretical background for students entering graduate studies.

Computer engineering is a discipline that includes hardware and software design and provides a deep understanding of their interrelationship. It combines electrical engineering fundamentals, like microelectronics, electrical circuits and devices, digital signal processing, network design, communications systems, computer architecture, hardware design and systems analysis, with computer science concepts, including algorithms, software, graphics and artificial intelligence. Computer engineers design, analyze, produce, operate, program and maintain computer and digital systems. They apply theories and principles of science and mathematics to the design of hardware, software, networks and processes to solve technical problems. Most importantly, they understand how the hardware affects the software and vice versa.

Over the past decades, computers have evolved into complex systems that may consist of single machines or many interconnected computers linked by a data network. In one form or another, computers now control telephone and communications systems, process control and manufacturing automation systems, financial technology systems, management information systems, augmented reality systems, and biomedical devices. They are in household appliances, automobiles, transportation systems and our pockets, and they're on our wrists. To work in the constantly evolving discipline of computer systems engineering, the computer engineer must acquire competence in both digital computer hardware and the fundamentals of software engineering.

Careers in computer engineering are as wide and varied as computer systems themselves. Systems range from embedded computer systems found in consumer products or medical devices to control systems for automobiles, aircraft and trains, and to more wide-ranging applications in telecommunications, financial transactions and information systems.

Within a few years of graduation, graduates of the UAF B.S. in Computer Engineering program will:

  1. work on multidisciplinary teams, contributing hardware and software solutions for collaborative projects. They will leverage their expertise and abilities in a productive, ethical, and professional man
  2. build a rewarding career by innovating, creating and disseminating new knowledge, engaging in lifelong learning, pursuing graduate studies in Computer Engineering or related disciplines, actively participating in professional organizations, and/or assuming leadership roles

These objectives serve the department, college, and university missions by ensuring that all graduates of the BSCpE program have received a high-quality, contemporary education that prepares them for rewarding careers in computer engineering.

The Computer Engineering Program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. See https://www.uaf.edu/cem/about/accreditation.php.

Candidates for the B.S. degree are also required to take the State of Alaska Fundamentals of Engineering Examination in their general field, which is the first step toward professional engineering licensure.

For more information about the computer engineering program's mission, goals and educational objectives, visit the College of Engineering and Mines accreditation website.

Minimum Requirements for Computer Engineering Bachelor's Degree: 127 credits

Learn more about the bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, including an overview of the program, career opportunities and more.

B.S., Electrical Engineering

The BSEE program at UAF provides the solid foundation and fundamental understanding necessary to succeed in a world of rapidly changing technology, while also providing the flexibility to explore specialization areas of electrical and computer engineering. Students gain knowledge and receive practical hands-on experience in wireless and wired telecommunications, electromagnetics, electric power generation, transmission and distribution, electric machines and drives, control systems and embedded systems. Elective courses in these areas allow a student to specialize in their degree program. The program prepares engineering graduates to enter practice and provides the theoretical background for students entering graduate studies.

Graduates of our program find rewarding employment in and outside of Alaska after graduation, with some even forming their own start-ups. Our graduates are sought after by companies, consulting firms, and government agencies that require the specialized skills of electrical and computer engineers with practical training in the specific areas mentioned above and engineering in extreme environments.  A few notable companies that hire our graduates include Agilent, BAE, Boeing, GCI, General Dynamics, IBM, Lockheed Martin, MathWorks, Microsoft, Power Engineers, and a number of large and small electric utilities. Federal agencies and national laboratories that hire our graduates include the FAA, JPL, LANL, NASA, NIST, NSA, and NREL. Some of our graduates go on to graduate programs at UAF and other well-known universities within and outside the US.

Within a few years of graduation, graduates of the UAF B.S. in Electrical Engineering program are expected to:

  1. Function independently and in diverse multidisciplinary teams as technically proficient, productive, and ethically responsible members of their profession.
  2. Apply their fundamental understanding, acquire and apply new knowledge and skills, and allocate resources to solve real-world problems, including engineering for extreme environments.
  3. Effectively communicate with technical and non-technical audiences, including employers, colleagues, clients, professional organizations, and the public.

These objectives serve the department, college, and university missions by ensuring that all graduates of the BSEE program have received a high-quality, contemporary education that prepares them for rewarding careers in electrical engineering.

The Electrical Engineering Program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.

Candidates for the B.S. degree are also required to take the State of Alaska Fundamentals of Engineering Examination in their general field, which is the first step toward professional engineering licensure.

For more information about the computer engineering program's mission, goals and educational objectives, visit the College of Engineering and Mines accreditation website.

Minimum Requirements for Electrical Engineering Bachelor's Degree: 125 credits

Learn more about the bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, including an overview of the program, career opportunities and more.

M.S., Electrical Engineering

The M.S. degree includes three options: a written thesis and oral defense for students interested in research and development; a project; or a coursework-only option. UAF offers an engineering Ph.D. program for students with an approved curriculum. Capable students with undergraduate degrees in physics, mathematics or related sciences, as well as in various branches of engineering, may also be admitted for graduate study. A student with an adequate background can usually complete M.S. requirements within two years and a Ph.D. in another three years.

Graduate degree programs in electrical and computer engineering are closely connected with faculty research activities. The main areas of research include communications, radar, lidar and sonar remote sensing, instrumentation and microwave circuit design, electric power and energy systems, digital and computer engineering, nanotechnology, controls and robotics. Current research topics include high-latitude satellite communications, rocket telemetry, radio wave propagation, ultra-wide-band wireless communications, electromagnetic and acoustic wave propagation, remote biomedical and environmental instrumentation, microwave design, digital signal processing, digital and physical electronics, computer applications, remote microgrids, alternative energy and energy storage, energy distribution management and optimization, power electronics, power system stability and quality improvement, energy storage, computer-controlled systems, control theory, robotics and automation.

A number of on- and off-campus research facilities are available to students. Satellite, rocket and ground-based communication studies are carried out on campus and at Poker Flat Research Range, the only university-operated rocket range in the world. The Space Systems Engineering Laboratory provides students with hands-on experience in all aspects of space system engineering through a design/build/launch paradigm applied to balloon and rocket payloads as well as small satellites. The Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration affords opportunities to work with drones and other UAVs. Department research laboratories include microwave, wireless communications, ultra-wide-band technology, waves, power electronics/robotics, instrumentation and digital laboratories. Research opportunities in electric power and energy systems and power electronics also exist in collaboration with the Alaska Center for Energy and Power.

Alaska’s environment and remote location provide unique opportunities for research, such as the use of acoustic, light and radio wave techniques for measuring fish in Alaska rivers to the geophysical properties of the aurora borealis. Remote sensing for biomedical (animal tracking) and environmental (groundwater and air monitoring) applications is an important research area for Alaska. Electric power systems research includes issues related to isolated rural Alaska communities, analysis of larger interconnected generation, transmission and distribution systems serving major Alaska population centers and the use of alternative energy and energy storage systems.

Graduate students in electrical and computer engineering at UAF receive the highest quality contemporary education available at the graduate level and perform research appropriate to the technical needs of Alaska, the nation and the world.

Minimum Requirements for Electrical Engineering Master's Degree: 32 credits

Ph.D., Engineering 

Engineers use knowledge of the mathematical and natural sciences to develop economical uses of materials and forces of nature for human benefit. The professional practice of engineering requires sophisticated skills, the use of judgment and the exercise of discretion. The basic education necessary for the professional practice of engineering is provided by the engineering bachelor's and master’s degrees. Doctoral-level education requires independent research that generates fundamental advances in technology and discovers new knowledge for the benefit of society. Engineering Ph.D. degrees provide leadership in scientific research, academia and industrial research and development. The Ph.D. degree in engineering draws on the combined strength of the College of Engineering and Mines and offers opportunities for engineers at other UA campuses to participate.

Minimum Requirements for Engineering Doctorate Degree: 36 credits

Graduate Certificate, Systems Engineering/Program Management

This program provides graduate students the opportunity to focus a portion of their studies on the discipline of systems engineering/program management (SE/PM) and to highlight this specialization on their academic transcripts.

Minimum Requirements for Systems Engineering/Program Management Graduate Certificate: 12 credits

Courses

Electrical Engineering (EE)

EE F102      Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Basic modern devices, concepts, technical skills and instruments of electrical engineering.

Prerequisites: ES/MATH F186 (may be taken concurrently) or MATH F251X (may be taken concurrently).

Lecture + Lab + Other: 2 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F203      Electric Circuits
4 Credits

Offered Fall

Introduces DC and AC circuit analysis techniques including transient analysis, steady state analysis, three phase circuits and ideal amplifiers.

Prerequisites: EE F102; (ES/MATH F186 or MATH F251X).

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F243      Digital Systems Design
4 Credits

Offered Fall

Fundamentals and practices of digital design. Analysis, design and implementation of combinational and sequential logic. CMOS implementation fundamentals. Basic building components of microprocessor architecture – FSM, ALU, registers, memories, counters, control. Design using schematic capture and hardware description language techniques; practical implementation using FPGA devices and discrete components.

Prerequisites: EE F102; ES F201 or CS F201 (either may be taken concurrently).

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F253      Circuit Theory
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Transfer functions, passive and active filters, Laplace transforms and applications, introduction to Fourier series and transforms and two port networks.

Prerequisites: EE F203; ES F201 or CS F201; MATH F252X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F301      Analytical Methods for Electrical and Computer Engineers
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Discipline-specific analytical methods used in the electrical and computer engineering core subjects. Topics include matrix algebra, eigenanalysis, vector spaces, complex analysis, discrete structures and probability and statistics with examples from the electrical and computer engineering fields.

Prerequisites: MATH F252X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F303      Electric Power Systems and Machines
4 Credits

Offered Fall

Introduction to electromechanical energy conversion principles, phasors and complex power, characteristics and applications of power transformers, network equations, synchronous machines, induction machines, DC machines, symmetrical components and sequence networks.

Prerequisites: EE F203 or ES F307.

Cross-listed with ERE F303.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F311      Engineering Electromagnetics I
3 Credits

Offered Fall

Electromagnetic theory and applications. Static electric fields in free space and material media; steady current systems and associated magnetic effects. Includes electrostatics, magnetostatics, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic wave propagation, and transmission lines. Application of the wave equations to engineering systems.

Prerequisites: EE F253; MATH F302 (may be taken concurrently); MATH F253X; PHYS F212X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F331      High-frequency Lab
1 Credit

Offered Fall

Laboratory experiments in transmission lines, impedances, bridges, scattering parameters, hybrids and waveguides.

Prerequisite: EE F311.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 0 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F333      Electronic Devices
4 Credits

Offered Fall

An introduction to the properties of semiconductors and the analysis of electronics and electrical devices including diodes, field effect transistors (FETs), bipolar junction transistors (BJTs). Large signal and small signal analysis techniques, and common electrical circuit topologies.

Prerequisites: EE F253; WRTG F111X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F334      Electronic Circuit Design
4 Credits

Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years

Application of semiconductor devices in circuit design in computation, automatic control and communication.

Prerequisites: EE F333.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F354      Engineering Signal Analysis
3 Credits

Offered Fall

Analog signals and Fourier transformations. Discrete time signals and DFT. Linear and time-invariant systems. Probability theory and random variables. Random signals and noise.

Prerequisites: EE F253; MATH F302.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F404      Electric Power Systems Analysis
4 Credits

Offered Spring

Introduction to electric power systems; phasors; complex power; network equations; power transformers; transmission line parameters; transmission lines steady-state operation; power flow with computer-aided analysis; power distribution and smart grids.

Prerequisites: EE F303.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F406      Electric Power Protection and Control Systems
4 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Deregulation, economic operation of power systems, symmetrical and unsymmetrical faults, power system protection, dynamic power system stability, system controls, and computer-aided fault and transient stability analysis.

Prerequisites: EE F303, EE F404.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F408      Power Electronics Design
4 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Analysis and design of power electronic conversion, control, and drive systems. Topics will include the theory and application of rectifiers, DC-DC converters, inverters, switching power supplies and variable-frequency drives. Laboratory exercises include simulation using PSpice and construction, measurement, and analysis of prototype power electronic circuits.

Prerequisites: EE F303; EE F333; EE F354.

Stacked with EE F608.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F409      Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Study of renewable energy systems focusing on grid integration of wind turbine generators, solar photovoltaics, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric, hydrokinetics, and energy storage. Design and analysis for efficient, sustainable, reliable, and resilient grid operation with distributed renewable energy sources considering cogeneration, controls optimization, economic dispatch, emissions, interruptible loads, and waste-heat recovery.

Prerequisites: EE F303 or ERE F303.

Cross-listed with ERE F409.

Stacked with EE F609.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F412      Engineering Electromagnetics II
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Use of Maxwell's equations in analysis of plane wave propagation, wave reflection, radiation and antennas, waveguides, cavity resonators, transmission lines and radio propagation.

Prerequisites: EE F311; EE F331; MATH F302.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F432      Electromagnetics Laboratory
1 Credit

Offered As Demand Warrants

Laboratory experiments with microwave sources, propagating electromagnetic waves, waveguides and antennas. Design, construction and testing of antenna systems.

Corequisites: EE F412.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 0 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F443      Computer Engineering Analysis and Design
4 Credits

Offered Spring

Advanced digital design, and principles and practices of computer engineering. Analysis and design of computer architecture and organization. Digital signal processing techniques and hardware. Microprocessor operation, control and interfacing. Design with traditional and hardware description language techniques. Implementation with both medium and large scale integrated chips and programmable logic devices.

Prerequisites: EE F243.

Special Notes: The syllabus contains a more detailed description for the students.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F444      Embedded Systems Design
4 Credits

Offered Spring

Issues surrounding design and implementation of microcontroller-based embedded systems. Topics include hardware architecture and glue logic, embedded programs design, analysis, and optimization, hardware/firmware partitioning, firmware architecture and design. Includes laboratory exercises using evaluation board and a complete embedded system design project. Emphasis on robust designs, energy efficiency and proper documentation.

Prerequisites: EE F243; ES F201 or CS F201.

Recommended: EE F443.

Stacked with EE F645.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F451      Digital Signal Processing
4 Credits

Offered Fall

Time, frequency and Z-transformation domain analysis of discrete time systems and signals; discrete Fourier transformation (DFT) and FFT implementations; FIR/IIR filter design and implementation techniques; discrete time random signals and noise analysis; quantization and round off errors; and spectral analysis. Includes applications to medical, speech, electromagnetic and acoustic signal analysis.

Prerequisites: EE F354.

Stacked with EE F651.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F461      Communication Systems and Networks
4 Credits

Offered Spring

Foundational information for data communications and computer networking. Data communications, network models, analog and digital signals, transmission media, network switching, wired and wireless networks, multimedia support, and network security considerations.

Prerequisites: EE F354.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F464      Advanced Communications Systems
4 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Advanced communications systems topics: analog and digital modulation techniques, spectrum power and bandwidth utilization, system noise, multiplexing techniques, signal regeneration and recovery, data encryption and compression, signal processing, antennas and communications systems components. Special emphasis on emergent digital communications systems in space and aerospace applications.

Prerequisites: EE F354 (may be taken concurrently).

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F471      Automatic Control
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Linear system representation by transfer functions, signal flow graphics and state equations. Feedback, time and frequency response of linear systems. Stability analysis by Routh-Hurwitz criterion and frequency domain methods. Specifications of higher order linear systems. System design and compensation.

Prerequisites: EE F253; MATH F302.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F481      Electrical and Computer Engineering Design I
1 Credit

Offered Fall

Team-oriented design project with emphasis on practical electrical and computer engineering systems and components, which integrates engineering knowledge and skills that students have acquired. Design process principles, including project management, economics and ethics will be introduced in lecture. Each design team will generate and present a proposal for their design. Special Note: This is the first course in a new two-semester senior capstone design course sequence. The second course is EE F482. This course also meets the upper division effective communication requirement.

Prerequisites: COM F121X, COM F131X or COM F141X; EE F354; EE F444; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X; senior standing.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 1 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F482      Electrical and Computer Engineering Design II
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Design teams will continue work towards completing their proposed design from the first semester using engineering design process techniques. Each design team will follow a design schedule to complete a simulation and/or prototype, including weekly meetings and progress reports, ending with a final design report and public presentation. The first course is EE F481. This course also meets the upper-division effective communication requirement.

Prerequisites: EE F481.

Special Notes: This is the second course in a new two-semester senior capstone design course sequence.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F488      Undergraduate Research
1-3 Credits

Offered Fall, Spring and Summer

Advanced research topics from outside the usual undergraduate requirements.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

Recommended: A substantial level of technical/scientific background.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 0 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 3 times for up to 3 credits

EE F607      Electric Motor Drives
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Drive elements and characteristics; four quadrants operation; transportation drive; fully controlled rectifier drives; dc-dc converters-controlled dc motors; three-phase induction motors control; voltage-source and current-source inverter drives; frequency-controlled induction motor drives; vector control of induction motor drives; field oriented control; sensor-less operation, permanent magnet and switched reluctance motor drives.

Prerequisites: EE F303.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F608      Power Electronics Design
4 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Analysis and design of power electronic conversion, control, and drive systems. Topics will include the theory and application of rectifiers, DC-DC converters, inverters, switching power supplies and variable-frequency drives. Laboratory exercises include simulation using PSpice and construction, measurement, and analysis of prototype power electronic circuits.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Stacked with EE F408.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F609      Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Study of renewable energy systems focusing on grid integration of wind turbine generators, solar photovoltaics, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric, hydrokinetics, and energy storage. Design and analysis for efficient, sustainable, reliable, and resilient grid operation with distributed renewable energy sources considering cogeneration, controls optimization, economic dispatch, emissions, interruptible loads, and waste-heat recovery.

Prerequisites: EE F303 or ERE F303.

Stacked with EE F409; ERE F409.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F611      Waves
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Introduction to waves and wave phenomena. Includes electromagnetic, acoustic, seismic, atmospheric and water waves and their mathematical and physical treatment in terms of Hamilton's principle. Discusses propagation, attenuation, reflection, refraction, surface and laminal guiding, dispersion, energy density, power flow, and phase and group velocities. Treatment limited to plane harmonic waves in isotropic media.

Prerequisites: MATH F302 or MATH F432.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F634      Microwave Design I
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Analysis, design, fabrication and measurement of passive microwave components and circuits using microstrip construction techniques. Theoretical and computer-aided design of transmission lines, power dividers, hybrids, directional couplers and filters.

Prerequisites: EE F334; EE F412; EE F432.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 2 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F635      Microwave Design II
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Analysis and design of solid-state microwave circuits. Amplifier and oscillator circuits are designed and fabricated using microstrip construction techniques and computer-aided design tools.

Prerequisites: EE F634.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 2 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F643      Advanced Architectures for Parallel Computing
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

This course covers massively parallel computer architectures and their application for computationally intensive engineering problems. Fundamental hardware concepts and issues in designing such systems are introduced. Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA), developed by NVIDIA for the compute engines in their graphic processing units (GPUs), will be used as an example and a practical platform for student assignments. Through assignments and a project students will learn simulation, computational engineering, convolution, correlation, filtering, and similar problems of particular interest to engineering students.

Prerequisites: CS F201 or ES F201; EE F443 graduate standing.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F645      Embedded Systems Design
4 Credits

Offered Spring

Issues surrounding design and implementation of microcontroller-based embedded systems. Topics include hardware architecture and glue logic, embedded programs design, analysis, and optimization, hardware/firmware partitioning, firmware architecture and design. Includes laboratory exercises using evaluation board and a complete embedded system design project. Emphasis on robust designs, energy efficiency and proper documentation.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Stacked with EE F444.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F646      Wireless Sensor Networks
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

The course will survey the area of networked sensors, with a special focus on low-power wireless sensor networks. Topics covered will include communication standards and protocols for sensor networks, embedded operating systems, applications, collaborative processing, data fusion, and system architecture. Students will undertake a theoretical or practical research project.

Prerequisites: CS F201 or ES F201; EE F243; graduate standing.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F647      Data Compression
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Study of algorithms and techniques that reduce information storage and transmission requirements. Both lossless and lossy techniques will be studied including: Hoffman coding, arithmetic coding, image compression, and transform techniques.

Prerequisites: ES F201 or CS F201.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F648      VLSI Design
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Study of methods to integrate millions of transistors on a single chip and create optimized design. Topics include CMOS logic design, power and timing issues. VLSI architectures, and full custom layout. Students will use CAD tools to implement a VLSI design.

Prerequisite: EE F243.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F651      Digital Signal Processing
4 Credits

Offered Fall

Time, frequency and Z-transformation domain analysis of discrete time systems and signals; discrete Fourier transformation (DFT) and FFT implementations; FIR/IIR filter design and implementation techniques; discrete time random signals and noise analysis; quantization and round off errors; and spectral analysis. Includes applications to medical, speech, electromagnetic and acoustic signal analysis.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Stacked with EE F451.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F654      UAS Systems Design
3 Credits

Offered Fall Even-numbered Years

Course covers the analysis of unmanned air vehicle subsystems, including support infrastructure elements comprising an unmanned air system. Course contains mission planning considerations, including flight planning and data requirements. Focus is on remote sensing missions which may be accomplished by appropriate UAS. Students participate in a UAS design/build/fly workshop.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Cross-listed with AERO F654.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F655      Adaptive Filters
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Study to self-designing filters which recursively update depending on the statistics of the input data for optimum performance. Topics will include foundational material in probability of stochastic processes, spectral analysis, linear optimum filtering. Wiener-Hopf filters, Yule-Walker equations, forward and backward linear predictors, method of steepest descent, least squares techniques, and auto- regressive filters.

Prerequisites: EE F451.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F656      Aerospace Systems Engineering
3 Credits

Offered Fall Odd-numbered Years

A multidisciplinary team of students will perform a preliminary design study of a major aerospace system. Design considerations will include requirements for project management, aerospace vehicle design, power, attitude control, thermal control, communications, computer control and data handling.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Cross-listed with AERO F656; ME F656.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F658      Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operations
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Covers application of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to satisfy scientific research or public service missions. Students analyze mission requirements and recommend appropriate UAS vehicles, subsystems, sensors and data analysis tools to accomplish a specified mission. Students design mission profiles, conduct representative missions, produce required data products and present mission results.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Cross-listed with AERO F658; CS F658.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F660      Rocket Systems Design
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

A multidisciplinary team of students will perform the design, construction and flights of a simple rocket system. Design considerations will include requirements for project management, rocket vehicle design, performance, thrust, stability, recovery system, telemetry and payload data.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing in engineering or physics.

Cross-listed with AERO F660; CS F660; ME F660.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F662      Digital Communication Theory
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Probability in communication systems, power spectral density, baseband formatting, bandpass modulation and demodulation, link analysis, coding and channel models. Sections of this course offered in Anchorage have an additional fee.

Prerequisites: EE F461.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F663      Computational Electromagnetics
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Course covers basic computational techniques for numerical analysis of electromagnetics problems, including finite difference, finite element, and moment methods. Emphasis is placed on the formulation of physical problems into mathematical boundary-value problems, numerical discretization of continuous problems into discrete problems, and development of rudimentary computer codes for each technique.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F671      Digital Control Systems
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Study of digital control theory. Topics will include signal conversion, Z-transforms, state variable techniques, stability, time and frequency domain analysis and system design.

Prerequisites: EE F471.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus

EE F698      Non-thesis Research/Project
1-6 Credits

Lecture + Lab + Other: 0 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Pass/Fail Grades

Repeatable for Credit: May be taken unlimited times for up to 99 credits

EE F699      Thesis
1-12 Credits

Lecture + Lab + Other: 0 + 0 + 0

Grading System: Pass/Fail Grades

Repeatable for Credit: May be taken unlimited times for up to 99 credits

Faculty

Maher Al-Badri

Assistant Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Development of novel algorithms for electric machine efficiency determination, electrical machine design, renewable energy systems and power system modeling

maher.albadri@alaska.edu
907-474-6049
Duck 215
Troth Yeddha' Campus


Michael Hatfield

Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), aerospace engineering, high-power microwave transmission

mchatfield@alaska.edu
907-474-6098
JUB 136
Troth Yeddha' Campus


Dejan Raskovic

Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Embedded systems, wireless sensor networks, biomedical engineering, computer architecture

draskovic@alaska.edu
907-474-5256
Duck 225
Troth Yeddha' Campus


Amani Reddy

Assistant Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Space weather, satellite observations and physics-based simulation studies of earth’s upper atmosphere, remote sensing/radio sounding of the Earth’s magnetosphere, ground and space-based very low frequency wave injection experiments

areddy1@alaska.edu
907-474-6034
Duck 217
Troth Yeddha' Campus


Michael Roddewig

Assistant Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Development of novel optical remote sensing instrumentation, study of coherent lidar techniques, optical remote sensing of aquatic environments

mrroddewig@alaska.edu
907-474-5936
Duck 213
Troth Yeddha' Campus


Vikas Sonwalkar

Professor (Emeritus)
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Plasma, electromagnetic wave propagation

vssonwalkar@alaska.edu
907-474-7276
Duck 229
Troth Yeddha' Campus


Steve Stephens

Instructor
Electrical and Computer Engineering

swstephens@alaska.edu
907-474-5810
Duck 211
Troth Yeddha' Campus


Denise Thorsen

Professor | Department Chair & Associate Dean, Academics
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Radar instrumentation, measurements of the upper atmosphere, small satellite design

dlthorsen@alaska.edu
907-474-7052
JUB 140
Troth Yeddha' Campus


Richard Wies

Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Renewable energy and energy storage integration in remote microgrids, inverter-dominated power system stability, energy distribution management and optimization

rwwiesjr@alaska.edu
907-474-7071
Duck 219
Troth Yeddha' Campus