Meeting The Abet Computer Competency Requirement In The Department Of Electrical And Computer Engineering At Tennessee State University

Abstract NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Session 3232 Meeting the ABET Computer Competency Requirement in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tennessee State University M. Bodruzzaman, S. S. Devgan, and S. Zein-Sabatto Tennessee State University Introduction In the Information Age, access to timely information in appropriate form is power. Engineers of tomorrow must be proficient in developing computer tools and applications to facilitate access to information anywhere any time. ABET criteria for computer use and computer facilities in engineering curriculum and specifically Electrical, Electronic(s), Computer and similarly named engineering programs provides the minimum requirements [1]. The Engineering Criteria 2000 lists similar requirements in the form of desired competencies for an engineering graduate [2]. Recent ABET visit and our desire to review, evaluate and plan for development of computer facilities within the College of Engineering and Technology and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in specific, provided us an opportunity to access our current level of computer use and computer facilities. This evaluation is listed in tabular form. This also provided us an opportunity to develop guidelines for meeting ABET computer use and facilities requirements and plan for future developments in our program to meet Engineering Criteria 2000 requirements. The Electrical Engineering curriculum, and its concentration in Computers, requires at least two student written computer projects for all o its major courses. Word- processed technical reports and oral presentation have now became a norm in our program. At least two laboratories are equipped with latest model computers with major higher level programming language compilers, and application software such as Matlab, LabVIEW, LabWindow and other simulation and modeling software. Students have access to Internet via Netscape browser for information retrieval and use of resources that are available elsewhere. Computer-based data acquisition experience is acquired in the Control Systems, Circuits, and Electrical Systems Design Laboratories. Additionally many students work with faculty on various federal and industry funded research projects and use computers for real-time data acquisition, signal/image processing, energy related research, predictive maintenance, intelligent controls and robotics areas. This paper examines the computer competency skills acquired by our students towards meeting ABET criteria and presents a model plan for evaluating such competencies. The Required Level of Competency After reviewing the ABET Criteria for accrediting programs in Engineering in general and Electrical, Electronic(s), Computer and similarly named engineering programs in specific, we identified that the following topics be considered in evaluating the desired competencies that an electrical and/or computer engineering graduate should have acquired as part of the undergraduate curriculum requirements. These are listed under ABET criteria IV.C.3.g and IV.C.6.c. • Experience with advanced features of at least one major operating system: This requirement could be satisfied if the student had experience with Windows 95, Windows NT