Message from the Chairman
Welcome to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at Vanderbilt University. There is no better time than now to start your career as a computer scientist, computer engineer, or electrical engineer! The job market is great; our graduates have received many strong offers from prominent companies like National Instruments, Google, Microsoft, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Schlumberger, and many other exciting and innovative technology, finance, and consulting businesses in the Nashville area, around the US, and overseas. Yes, that is correct – international businesses are hiring US graduates for high paying, high tech jobs! This is one positive aspect of globalization that many pundits fail to appreciate. Many other graduating seniors have been accepted to top graduate programs in computer science, electrical engineering, law, mathematics, and medicine.
But we are not satisfied with the status quo; the Department strives for continuous improvement, and we continue to update the Department’s undergraduate and graduate curricula to better meet the needs of today’s students and tomorrow’s practicing engineers, as well as for students who want a strong technical background as preparation for a career in business, law, medicine, finance, or a variety of other professions for which EE, CmpE, or CS provides a firm foundation. New initiatives in 2007-2008 include a pre-med option in CS and a combined BS in CS/MS in Finance (in cooperation with the Owen Graduate School of Management). Please check these out!
EECS is the largest department in the School of Engineering, as measured by the number of faculty and amount of externally sponsored research awards. At the graduate level, we offer Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and in Computer Science. In 2007, our graduate programs in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering were again ranked in the Top 50 nationally by US News and World Report, reflecting the strength of Department research and education programs in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. EE and CS together comprise the largest graduate program at Vanderbilt, and EECS faculty won the highest amount of research awards of any Department at Vanderbilt over the last year. These are the same faculty who teach our undergraduate and graduate classes; the shared passion for research and education is a hallmark of the Vanderbilt environment.
EECS offers accredited Bachelor of Engineering degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. In addition, we have a very popular double major in Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. This program is ideal for students with advanced placement credit, a strong interest in biology, and interests in electronics, anything about computers, or robotics. Our curriculum reflects the breadth of our exciting and timely research programs, and provides our graduates with an excellent preparation for a wide variety of careers. Our minor in Engineering Management is also quite popular with students looking to broaden their understanding of business and technology. Each year, many undergraduates perform cutting-edge research in collaboration with the Department faculty.
Our department is a dynamic and growing community of scholars active in most of the
principal areas of our field. Our faculty members are diverse and participate in many interdisciplinary
initiatives. The two largest research areas within the Department are the
Institute for Software Integrated Systems and the
Institute for Space and Defense Electronics.
These Institutes include about one-third of the Department faculty, as well as a large number of
professional staff who are engaged in leading-edge research of significant importance to critical
commercial and government systems. Other significant research programs include
diamond and
carbon-based nanotechnology,
robotics and
human-computer interactions,
medical image processing,
artificial intelligence,
computer graphics and animation,
software engineering,
computer networking and network security, and
materials science.
As you navigate through these pages, you will see why I am excited about the future of
our department.
If you are a prospective undergraduate or graduate student in EE, CompE, or CS,
please come visit us at Vanderbilt – we always have time to welcome new and talented
students to our programs!
