New & Popular Undergraduate Courses 2015–2016

One of the most popular EE classes – this is a hands-on class where you learn to make stuff. Through the process of building, Professor Mark Horowitz will introduce the basic areas of EE. Students build a 'useless box' and learn about circuits, feedback, and programming hardware. A light display for your desk or bicycle will teach you about coding, transforms, and LEDs. A solar charger and an EKG machine introduce basic concepts about power, noise, and circuit safety. Best of all, you get to keep the toys you build. Link to ENGR40M in Explore Courses. –Autumn; Spring

Going beyond classical physics to introduce concepts from quantum mechanics and statistical physics – EE65 takes your interest and love of physics to the next level. In imaginative and insightful ways, Professor David Miller will explain how these abstract fields help understand a wide array of devices, applications and even everyday events. For instance, we cannot fully comprehend the color and brightness of the sun, much less the workings of a solar cell, without this knowledge. The class will show how these ideas enable engineers to understand and improve transistors, lasers, photo-detectors, memory devices and other electronic devices. Link to EE65 in Explore Courses. –Spring

Linear Algebra and Dynamic Systems has never been so interesting or powerful. In EE103 we don't just talk about it, we do it. This course will enable students with a wide variety of educational backgrounds to understand the basic concepts and exciting applications of linear algebra. Led by Professor Stephen Boyd, one of the preeminent thinkers in this field, EE103 will empower students to develop and build their own systems using simple open source software tools that we are developing. We will not just talk about linear algebra. We will do it. Link to EE103 in Explore Courses. —Autumn

This class is a hands-on introduction to how networks of different scales are designed, from datacenters to embedded low power networks. Networks form interconnects that stitch together our digital and physical lives. They underpin cloud computing, our mobile connectivity, as well as the means to connect the large number of sensors that will pervade our physical surroundings. Professor Sachin Katti will teach these concepts through a project that involves building a wireless network from the ground up using software radios. Students will also learn how to use these networks to build embedded applications (e.g. wireless controlled network of drones, localization systems using WiFi). The goal is to introduce students to larger concepts in electrical engineering and computer systems: the role of abstraction and layering, building reliable systems out of unreliable components and dynamic sharing of scarce resources. Link to EE107 in Explore Courses. — Autumn

Thinking about the energy and environmental challenges of the future? Understand the behavior of diodes, transistors, capacitors, and inductors in application. Taught by Professor Juan Rivas-Davila, this course focuses on the circuits used to efficiently convert AC power to DC power, step DC power from one voltage level to another, and convert DC power to AC power. The components used in these circuits (e.g., diodes, transistors, capacitors, inductors) are also covered in detail to highlight their behavior in a practical implementation. A lab held with the class will give students hands-on experience with power electronic circuits. The class also has a final project that requires a math design, simulation, implementation and experimental verification.   Link to EE153 in Explore Courses. —Winter