In 2003, Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering received National Science Foundation funding to develop a new integrated electrical and computer engineering curriculum that focuses on the most important emerging applications in electrical and computer engineering today.The new curriculum integrates four key fields of electrical and computer engineering -- circuits and devices, signals and systems, electromagnetics, and computer engineering -- around an integrated sensing and information-processing theme.
The heart of the curriculum revision is an introductory ECE course designed to give students hands-on learning opportunities, and provide a foundation for understanding electrical and computer engineering. Four core upper-level courses expand on the key ECE fields, and enable juniors and seniors to knowledgeably choose the specialized courses that further their interests and career goals. In all courses, theoretical concepts discussed in classrooms are coupled to laboratory practice.
The overarching goal of the new curriculum is to expose students to the full breadth of electrical and computer engineering in their first year, and then build on the integrated sensing and information-processing orientation in successive courses. The new courses provide ample opportunity to design, build a prototype, test it until it breaks and then redesign to fix the problems -- a crucial skill for engineers.
Students work with multiple sensors and circuits, learn to cope with data transmission issues, sensor data analysis and networking. Upper-level, more specialized courses emphasize team efforts, and senior projects focus on design of integrated sensing and information-processing systems.
Leading the project is Leslie Collins, ECE chair, in collaboration with Gary Ybarra, associate professor of the practice, and Lisa Huettel, director of undergraduate laboratories at ECE. The plan for the new curriculum was developed with the input of the entire ECE faculty.
The cornerstone of the department’s curriculum redesign is an Integrated Sensing and Information Processing theme-based introductory course called Fundamentals of ECE. To introduce students to the major areas of ECE in their first year of study, this course is organized around three concepts: 1) how to interface with the physical world; 2) how to transmit energy and information; and 3) how to extract, interpret, and analyze information. 
Microelectronic Circuit Design is a hands-on, laboratory-centered, curiosity-driven course designed to fuel students’ interest in devices, sensors, and integrated circuits. A significant portion of the learning experience in the course focuses on the design of a complete electronic system. Students work on the design, assembly, characterization and testing, simulation and performance enhancement of their projects. Students taking the class in Fall ‘07 with Associate ECE Professor Martin Brooke worked on projects including a coffee clock that makes and pours you a cup of coffee at a designated time, a “party radio” designed to automatically increase or decrease its volume based on the noise level in the room and an electronic musical instrument called a Theremin. Theremins are known for producing the eerie, futuristic sounds featured in many old science fiction movies. 
In Intro to Digital Logic, students—most of them sophomores—learn what makes everyday machines around them tick, from slot machines to traffic lights. 
ECE 54 introduces students to the fundamental concepts of signals and system analysis, using examples drawn from many areas such as circuit design and analysis, acoustics, and even economics to illustrate the diverse potential of the field. As with all of the core courses, the laboratory experience is key to the students’ learning experience, providing them with the opportunity to apply theoretical concepts to real applications. Laboratory exercises such as Real-Time Audio Effects enable students to translate equations and mathematical signal manipulations into interesting audio effects such as echos, reverberation, and flanging. Other fundamental signal processing concepts are explored in experiments such as a touch-tone phone simulator and a real-time voice scrambler and descrambler. Cross-course concept integration is also emphasized as students use standard laboratory equipment and a source (such as their iPod) to generate an AM signal for transmission which is then picked up by an AM receiver which the students design, build, and test.
In ECE 154, taught by ECE Professor John Board, students are introduced to hardware/software co- design of embedded computer systems, including structured programming techniques for high- and low-level programs. They also gain experience with hardware interfacing strategies for sensors, actuators, and displays. The course culminates in a major design project. Students recently in the course developed their own project ideas, including a credit card-controlled automatic drink dispenser that mixes drinks on demand and tracks how many you’ve had, a handheld video game controlled by the direction in which it is tilted, and a computer-controlled engine for a race car built by student members of Duke Motorsports. 
