2025-2026 Academic Catalog
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Degree Core Requirements | ||
| ECE 1004 | Introduction to ECE Concepts (C) | 3 |
| ECE 2024 | Circuits and Devices (C) | 3 |
| ECE 2514 | Computational Engineering (C) | 3 |
| ECE 2544 | Fundamentals of Digital Systems (C) | 3 |
| ECE 2564 | Embedded Systems (C) | 3 |
| ECE 2804 | Integrated Design Project (C) | 2 |
| ECE 3514 | Data Structures & Algorithms (C-) | 3 |
| ECE 3574 | Applied Software Design (C-) | 3 |
| Subtotal | 23 | |
| Major Requirements | ||
| ECE 2214 | Physical Electronics (C) | 3 |
| ECE 2714 | Signals and Systems (C) | 3 |
| ECE 3504 | Principles of Computer Architecture (C-) | 3 |
| ECE 3544 | Digital Design I | 4 |
| Subtotal | 13 | |
| Additional Course Requirements | ||
| MATH 2114 | Introduction to Linear Algebra (C-) | 3 |
| MATH 2204 | Introduction to Multivariable Calculus | 3 |
| MATH 2534 | Introduction to Discrete Mathematics | 3 |
| or MATH 3034 | Introduction to Proofs | |
| STAT 4714 | Probability and Statistics for Electrical Engineers | 3 |
| Career Bridge Experience 1 | ||
| ENGE 3900 | Bridge Experience | 0 |
| Subtotal | 12 | |
| Elective Courses | ||
| Secondary Focus Electives | 9 | |
| Technical Electives | 9 | |
| Free Electives | 1 | |
| Subtotal | 19 | |
| Pathways to General Education | ||
| Pathways Concept 1 - Discourse | ||
| ENGL 1105 | First-Year Writing | 3 |
| ENGL 1106 | First-Year Writing | 3 |
| ECE 4805 & ECE 4806 | Senior Design Project and Senior Design Project (C-) | 6 |
| Pathways Concept 2 - Critical Thinking in the Humanities | ||
| Select six hours in Pathway 2 | 6 | |
| Pathways Concept 3 - Reasoning in the Social Sciences | ||
| Select six hours in Pathway 3 | 6 | |
| Pathways Concept 4 - Reasoning in the Natural Sciences | ||
| PHYS 2305 | Foundations of Physics | 4 |
| PHYS 2306 | Foundations of Physics | 4 |
| Pathways Concept 5 - Quantitative and Computational Thinking | ||
| MATH 1225 | Calculus of a Single Variable | 4 |
| MATH 1226 | Calculus of a Single Variable | 4 |
| MATH 2214 | Introduction to Differential Equations (C-) | 3 |
| Pathways Concept 6 - Critique and Practice in Design and the Arts | ||
| Select one 6A | 3 | |
| ENGE 1215 & ENGE 1216 | Foundations of Engineering and Foundations of Engineering (C-) | 4 |
| or ENGE 1414 | Foundations of Engineering Practice | |
| Pathways Concept 7 - Critical Analysis of Identity and Equity in the United States | ||
| Pathways 7 may be met by another core concept course. If so, these 3-credit hours become free elective credits. | 3 | |
| Subtotal | 53 | |
| Total Credits | 120 | |
Career Bridge Experiences help prepare students for post-graduation life and develop a professional identity. Internships, Co-ops, and Undergraduate Research are examples of possible Career Bridge Experiences. Students must participate in a Career Bridge Experience to complete the BSCPE degree. Because some of these experiences are not credit bearing, the ENGE 3900 course is used to track and assess student participation in Career Bridge and to record fulfillment of this degree requirement on the transcript. Students should enroll in ENGE 3900 during the semester (or one of the semesters) that they undertake the Career Bridge Experience. Enrollment in ENGE 3900 requires approval of a Career Bridge Plan. Further information about acceptable Career Bridge Experiences and the process for submitting a Career Bridge Plan are explained in ECE 1004.
The courses listed below are approved for CpE design technical elective credit. Students must choose 3 courses to complete the Computer Engineering Major requirements. Actual course offerings will be based on sufficient resources, including faculty availability and student demand. Refer to the University's on-line timetable of classes for specific course availability information. Note: All ECE courses require a C- or better in prerequisite courses. Courses used toward the 9c technical elective requirement cannot be used as part of the secondary focus.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ECE 3564 | Introduction to Computer Networking | 3 |
| ECE 4414/CS 4224 | Linux Kernel Programming | 3 |
| ECE 4424/CS 4824 | Machine Learning * | 3 |
| or ECE 5424 | Advanced Machine Learning | |
| ECE/CS 4504 | Computer Organization | 3 |
| ECE 4524 | Artificial Intelligence and Engineering Applications | 4 |
| ECE 4525 | Video Game Design and Engineering | 3 |
| ECE 4540 | VLSI Circuit Design | 3 |
| ECE 4550 | Real-Time Systems | 3 |
| ECE 4554 | Introduction to Computer Vision * | 3 |
| or ECE 5554 | Computer Vision | |
| ECE 4560 | Computer and Network Security Fundamentals | 3 |
| ECE 4564 | Network Application Design | 3 |
| ECE 4574 | Large-Scale Software Development for Engineering Systems | 3 |
| ECE 4580 | Digital Image Processing | 3 |
| ECE 4704 | Principles of Robotics Systems | 3 |
| ECE 4974 | Independent Study ** | 3 |
| or ECE 4994 | Undergraduate Research | |
Students in their senior year, with a 3.0 or better GPA, may enroll in 5000-level courses satisfying undergraduate degree requirements within their department with the permission of the course instructor and the Department Head. Should the student become a graduate student, these courses may not be used on the Plan of Study for a graduate degree.
Requires departmental approval. No more than 3 hours total of either ECE 4974 Independent Study or ECE 4994 Undergraduate Research can be counted toward the Computer Engineering Major
The Computer Engineering Major requires 9 credits from a single focus area. All 9 credits must be from one ECE focus area from the attached list. At least 3 credits must be at the 4xxx level.
The ECE secondary focus requirement consists of 3 ECE courses (9 credits) at the 3xxx level, 4xxx level, or 5xxx level where at least one course (3 credits) is at the 4xxx or 5xxx level. None of the 3 courses can duplicate a course from the student’s major. All courses used for secondary focus must be taken on an A-F basis. For purposes of satisfying the secondary focus requirements, the sum of the number of hours taken from ECE 4974 Independent Study and ECE 4994 Undergraduate Research cannot exceed 6 credits. Students in their senior year, with a 3.0 or better GPA, may enroll in 5000-level courses satisfying undergraduate degree requirements within their department with the permission of the course instructor and the Department Head. Should the student become a graduate student, these courses may not be used on the Plan of Study for a graduate degree.
The following courses are also included in the secondary focus:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AOE 4654 | Space Weather: The Solar Wind and Magnetosphere | 3 |
| AOE 4674 | Upper Atmosphere/Ionosphere Space Weather | 3 |
| CS 3214 | Computer Systems | 3 |
| CS 4224 | Linux Kernel Programming | 3 |
| CS 4264 | Principles of Computer Security | 3 |
| CS 4504 | Computer Organization | 3 |
| CS 4824 | Machine Learning | 3 |
The following courses cannot be used toward secondary focus:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ECE 3054 | Electrical Theory | 3 |
| ECE 3074 | AC Circuit Analysis Laboratory | 1 |
| ECE 3254 | Industrial Electronics | 3 |
| ECE 3274 | Electronic Circuits Laboratory II | 1 |
| ECE 3354 | Electric Power Engineering Laboratory | 1 |
| ECE 3524 | Introduction to Unix for ECE | 2 |
| ECE 4944 | Cybersecurity Seminar | 1 |
(Must be preapproved by ECE Department)
Electrical and computer engineering has applications across a wide variety of fields, such as medicine, human-computer interaction, finance, and entertainment. People with ECE degrees can be entrepreneurs, patent lawyers, policy makers, and business executives. The individualized secondary focus helps students pursue these interests. This option can be used in place of a pre-defined, in-department secondary focus.
The individualized secondary focus typically is pursued via an already defined university-approved program such as a degree, major, minor, or certificate that the student has declared. Students are encouraged to select courses from these programs, subject to the guidelines below.
University Policy 91 outlines university-wide minimum criteria to determine if students are making satisfactory progress towards the completion of their degrees. The ECE Department fully supports this policy. Specific expectations for satisfactory progress for BSCPE and BSEE majors are as follows:
Each student must complete at least 120 semester credit hours with a minimum overall GPA of 2.00 and a minimum in-major GPA of 2.00. In determining the Electrical Engineering in-major GPA, all ECE courses plus ENGE 4735 and ENGE 4736, including repeats, are used.
Students must earn a C or higher in the following ECE courses: ECE 1004 Introduction to ECE Concepts, ECE 2024 Circuits and Devices, ECE 2214 Physical Electronics, ECE 2514 Computational Engineering, ECE 2544 Fundamentals of Digital Systems, ECE 2564 Embedded Systems, ECE 2714 Signals and Systems, ECE 2804 Integrated Design Project.
In general, all ECE courses require a C- or better in prerequisite courses. Students must earn a C or higher in the ECE courses listed above.
Students must have had 2 years of a foreign language in high school or one year at the college level (6 credit hours) of the same language. College-level credits used to meet this requirement do not count towards the degree.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall Semester | Credits | |
| ECE 1004 | Introduction to ECE Concepts (C) | 3 |
| ENGE 1215 | Foundations of Engineering | 2 |
| ENGL 1105 | First-Year Writing | 3 |
| MATH 1225 | Calculus of a Single Variable (C-) | 4 |
| Pathway 2 or 3 or 6a | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| ENGE 1216 | Foundations of Engineering | 2 |
| ENGL 1106 | First-Year Writing | 3 |
| MATH 1226 | Calculus of a Single Variable | 4 |
| MATH 2114 | Introduction to Linear Algebra (C-) | 3 |
| PHYS 2305 | Foundations of Physics | 4 |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| ECE 2024 | Circuits and Devices (C) | 3 |
| ECE 2514 | Computational Engineering (C) | 3 |
| ECE 2544 | Fundamentals of Digital Systems (C) | 3 |
| MATH 2214 | Introduction to Differential Equations (C-) | 3 |
| PHYS 2306 | Foundations of Physics | 4 |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| ECE 2214 | Physical Electronics (C) | 3 |
| ECE 2564 | Embedded Systems (C) | 3 |
| ECE 2804 | Integrated Design Project (C) | 2 |
| MATH 2204 | Introduction to Multivariable Calculus | 3 |
| Pathways 2 or 3 or 6a | 3 | |
| Credits | 14 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| ECE 2714 | Signals and Systems | 3 |
| ECE 3504 | Principles of Computer Architecture (C-) | 3 |
| ECE 3514 | Data Structures & Algorithms (C-) | 3 |
| ECE 3544 | Digital Design I | 4 |
| STAT 4714 | Probability and Statistics for Electrical Engineers | 3 |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| ECE 3574 | Applied Software Design | 3 |
| Secondary Focus Elective | 3 | |
| Technical Elective | 3 | |
| Pathways 2 or 3 or 6a | 3 | |
| Free Elective | 1 | |
| Credits | 13 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| ECE 4805 | Senior Design Project (C-) | 3 |
| MATH 2534 | Introduction to Discrete Mathematics | 3 |
| Technical Elective | 3 | |
| Secondary Focus Elective | 3 | |
| Pathways 2 or 3 or 6a | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| ECE 4806 | Senior Design Project | 3 |
| Secondary Focus Elective | 3 | |
| Technical Elective | 3 | |
| Pathways Concept 2, 3, or 6a | 3 | |
| Pathways 7 or Free Elective (if Pathways 7 double counted) | 3 | |
| ENGE 3900 | Bridge Experience | 0 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Total Credits | 120 | |
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