Work in Progress: Enhance Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Education with CPS/IoT Infusion

Abstract

Electrical engineers serve a vital function in our modern world. Currently, undergraduate electrical engineering (EE) students are in high demands to be hired with the highest median annual earnings. However, minorities continue to be underrepresented in science and engineering fields as reported by the National Science Board, Science & Engineering Indicators. This work-in-progress project presents our attempts to tackle the challenges and improve undergraduate training in EE program. Considering that the next generation electrical engineers should be exposed to the latest technology and have significant technical and scientific capabilities, deep interdisciplinary understandings, and soft skills such as self-learning abilities and communication competence, Cyber-physical systems (CPS)/Internet of Things (IoT), the feasible and effective platforms to present the undergraduate EE students with various sub-disciplines of EE, are infused throughout our four-year curriculum with a series of project-based and problem-oriented learning modules. The pedagogy of vertical integration is implemented to cut across artificial course boundaries. The feedback from the initial implementation is very positive and encouraging. The students enjoy what they learned and have more confidence and motivation to pursue advanced studies and careers in CPS/IoT area.