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2025-2026 Undergraduate Catalog
Electrical Engineering (B.S.E.E.)
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 Return to: Program Descriptions
Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science Building 327 ~ 260-481-6362
URL: http://www.pfw.edu/ece, email: ece@pfw.edu
Electrical Engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the study and application of electrical, electronics, and electromagnetism. Purdue University Fort Wayne offers a four-year electrical engineering undergraduate program leading to a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree.
Electrical engineers design, develop, and operate systems that generate and use electrical signals and power. The scope of electrical engineering has expanded tremendously in recent years. It is now the largest branch in engineering, with most graduates employed by manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment, aircraft, business machines, and professional and scientific equipment.
Our students, while drawn from diverse backgrounds, are all extremely able and committed to learning. Purdue Fort Wayne delivers an exceptional education experience to engineering students, encouraging collaboration and teamwork throughout the curriculum.
Student Learning Outcomes:
As a framework for the continuous improvement policy, the Electrical Engineering program has adopted a set of program educational objectives that describe the anticipated accomplishments of our graduates within a few years after graduation.
The Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) program educational objectives are to produce graduates who:
1. Advance professionally to roles of greater engineering responsibilities and/or by transitioning into leadership positions in business, government, and/or education
2. Participate in life-long learning through the successful completion of advanced degree(s) professional development, and/or engineering certification(s)/licensure
3. Demonstrate commitment to community by applying technical skills and knowledge to support various service activities
4. Demonstrate commitment to the moral imperatives and professional responsibilities expected from practicing professionals.
The graduates from the Electrical Engineering program will demonstrate that they have:
- The ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
- The ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
- The ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
- The ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgment, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
- The ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
- The ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgement to draw conclusions.
- The ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
Accreditation:
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The Electrical Engineering (B.S.) program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the General Criteria and the Program Criteria for Electrical, Computer, Communications, Telecommunication(s) and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.
Program Delivery:
- The BSEE program is delivered primarily through on-campus courses; however, some of the required General Education courses are available as hybrid and/or on-line courses, and those can be used to satisfy the program requirements.
Declaring this Major:
Students interested in declaring Electrical Engineering as their major may do so in one of two ways:
- On their application when they first apply to Purdue Fort Wayne
- After meeting with an ECE faculty advisor, who will determine that the student has the required math and chemistry background to begin our program
General Requirements:
Students in the Electrical Engineering program and Computer Engineering program take many common courses and are encouraged to explore the possibility of dual majors in BSEE and BSCmpE. Please contact your advisor for further information.
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College Scorecard
The U.S. Department of Education has created a scorecard for each university and its programs. The scorecard shows data for the university such as graduation rate, average annual cost, and median earnings. Then, when certain minimum standards have been met, data are available for a specific program. That data could include median earnings, median total debt, and number of graduates. The link below will help you learn more: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?151102-Purdue-University-Fort-Wayne&fos_code=1410&fos_credential=3 Program Requirements:
Electrical Engineering 4-Yr. Plan: In order to start in the Electrical Engineering program, a student must meet the following criteria: - Math Placement at or above MA 15400
General Education: Credits 30
Effective Fall 2025, the General Education program at PFW requires 30 credits to be completed, such that students pass each course listed below with a grade of C- or better: - Category A. Foundational Intellectual Skills (Foundational Intellectual Skills Course Lists)
- One course in A1. Written Communication Cr. 3.
- One course in A2. Speaking and Listening Cr. 3.
- One course in A3. Quantitative Reasoning Cr. 3.
- Category B. Ways of Knowing (Ways of Knowing Course Lists)
- One course in B4. Scientific Ways of Knowing Cr. 3.
- One course in B5. Social and Behavioral Ways of Knowing Cr. 3.
- One course in B6. Humanistic Ways of Knowing Cr. 3.
- One course in B7. Artistic Ways or Knowing Cr. 3.
- One course in B8. Interdisciplinary Ways of Knowing Cr. 3.
- Six additional credits from any Foundational Skills (A1-A3) or Ways of Knowing (B4-B8) categories
- At least one Ways of Knowing course that is designated as having a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or global awareness
Some programs recommend courses and/or require a specific course as part of the major that may also be used to fulfill General Education requirements. Please see below or your Academic Advisor for courses that fulfill both purposes. You can familiarize yourself with other program regulations at General Education Requirements . Major and Supporting Courses Required for the BSEE
Core and Concentration Courses Required for the BSEE
Technical Elective Requirements
Following are the lists of approved Technical Electives for the Electrical Engineering program. The BSEE requires 15 hours of Technical Electives. All Electrical Engineering Technical Electives have design content. Among 15 credit hours of technical electives, six credit hours must come from group 1 and six credit hours must come from group 2. Three credit hours can come from either group 1 or group 2. Group I Technical Electives
All Electrical Engineering students must take two (2) courses from the Group I list: Group II Technical Electives
All Electrical Engineering students must take two (2) courses from the Group II list: - ECE 29101 - Internship Experience Cr. 0-3.
- ECE 35800 - Introduction To VHDL Cr. 3.
- ECE 36800 - Data Structures Cr. 3.
- ECE 43700 - Computer Design and Prototyping Cr. 4.
- ECE 48500 - Embedded Real-Time Operating Systems Cr. 4.
- SE 52000 - Engineering Economics Cr. 3. OR
- SE 54000 - Systems Architecture Cr. 3.
- SE 53000 - Systems Engineering Management Cr. 3. OR
- SE 55000 - Manufacturing System Design For Sustainability Cr. 3.
- CS 32100 - Introduction To Computer Graphics Cr. 3.
- CS 36000 - Software Engineering Cr. 3.
- MA 17500 - Introduction To Discrete Mathematics Cr. 3.
- PHYS 32500 - Scientific Computing Cr. 3.
- PHYS 32200 - Intermediate Optics Cr. 3.
- PHYS 34200 - Modern Physics Cr. 3.
- ECE 49600, ECE 49700, and ECE 49800 can be counted as Group II technical electives, with the maximum of 3 credit hours each, upon the approval by the EE curriculum committee.
- Students may take either SE 52000 or SE 54000, but not both, to count for this Group II Technical Elective requirement.
- Students may take either SE 53000 or SE 55000, but not both, to count for this Group II Technical Elective requirement.
- ECE 39595, ECE 49500, or other 5XX-level or above courses offered by ECE, math, or physics departments may be taken by the student as Group II technical electives with the approval of the advisor.
NOTE:
- A course cannot be counted toward both an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree, with the exception of the students enrolled in the 5-Year BS/MSE Combined Degree Program.
- For students admitted to the 5 year combined BS/MSE program, additional graduate-level courses have been approved as technical electives. A list of such courses can be located in the section of 5 Year BS/MSE Program on the ECE Department website.
- Overall major GPA should be 2.00 or higher.
- A student is only allowed to attempt ENGR 12700 three times and ENGR 12800 three times. This includes all attempts that have earned a withdrawal, letter grade, or pass/no pass. If a student fails to earn a successful grade (C- or higher or pass) after three attempts in either course, the student is removed from the mechanical, civil, electrical, and computer engineering programs at Purdue University Fort Wayne and is not eligible for re-entry.
- A student may elect the Pass/Not-Pass grading option for certain courses only. All required and technical elective courses for BSEE and BSCmpE with the title of ENGR12800, ECE 2xxxx,3xxxx,4xxxx, 5xxxx CANNOT be taken as Pass/No-pass option. A maximum of 24 credits can be elected as Pass/No-pass grading options.
- Electrical Engineering majors are encouraged to explore the requirements for a minor in Math or Physics. For more information, visit the ECE Department website.
Special Content Courses for the BSEE
In general, seminars, survey courses, project courses, special topic course, and informal laboratory courses are considered to be Special Content Courses. A complete list of these courses, as approved by the EE curriculum committee, is given below. The procedure for offering a Special Content Course is outlined below: • The proposal for offering the course in a semester must be submitted to the Chair of the EE Curriculum Committee three (3) weeks before the end of the previous semester. The course proposal is simply the course syllabus which includes the following information: - Course/Project title
- Course/Project description
- Number of credit hours
- Semester
- Design content
- Topics Covered
- Name of instructor
• If the course is to be counted toward the EE degree program (i.e., as a technical elective), the proposal must also be approved by the EE curriculum committee before the course is offered.
• The instructor is required to submit a written report to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, at the end of the semester, at the same time the course grade is submitted. The format and length of the report is at the discretion of the instructor, but at a minimum it should include the course syllabus and a summary of the results. GPA Requirement
You must have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 required for this major. Total Credits Required: 126 minimum
Student Responsibility
You are responsible for ensuring that you satisfy all graduation requirements specified for each selected program. Thus, it is essential that you develop a thorough understanding of the required courses, academic policies, and procedures governing your academic career. If you cannot complete all program requirements by your stated graduation date but fail to remove those from your plan of study, the Registrar’s Office in consultation with your academic advisor will remove unmet pursuits from your plan of study. Changing curricular records during the graduation term of application may affect state or federal financial aid awards. All requests for exceptions to specific requirements must be made in writing and may be granted only by written approval from the appropriate chair or dean. Additional Course Use:
- ECE 20700 required, ECE 29300 accepted
- ECE 22900 required, CS 22900 accepted
- ECE 40601 + ECE 40602 can replace ECE 40600.
- For students in 2+3 programs who have completed the first two years in the School of Polytech, the following transfer credits can be applied
- MA 16500, CPET 19000 & ECET 11100 –> ENGR12800 + MA 16500
- ECET 11100 + ECET 14600 + self study of State Machine –> ECE 27000
- ECET 10200 , ECET 15200 + ECET 20400 –> ECE 20700
- New technical elective courses approved and added to the curriculum in future Catalogs may also be used as technical electives.
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Return to: Program Descriptions
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