Program Information

Electrical engineering involves manipulating electricity and light for the design, development and construction of exciting new products and services. It is a discipline that is pushing the boundaries of the Information Age, and has expanded to include many diverse applications such as microelectronics, digital communications, wireless systems, signal processing, computer technology, microprocessors, control, power, optoelectronics and device fabrication. Humanity's growing reliance on electrical and electronic devices, along with the rapid rate at which new advancements are made in this field, creates an exciting future for electrical engineers.

Computer Engineering

There is a global infrastructure in place that allows instant access to information anywhere in the world. An essential component of this new infrastructure is the computer. Computer engineers respond to industry's demand for professionals who are knowledgeable in both hardware and software components - traditionally the domains of electrical engineers and computer scientists. Their integrated expertise allows for the efficient design of both computers as well as systems that include computers. They design communication networks that serve as the backbone for the Internet, the World Wide Web, emerging digital television and multimedia networks and global telephone networks. They also design the software which allows computer-based systems to deliver increasingly sophisticated services and applications.

What you'll learn

Ours is the first ECE program in Canada to allow a new kind of flexibility:  in the first two years you'll take a specific set of fundamental courses in engineering design and communication, mathematics, digital systems, electronics, communication systems, computer architecture and software.  This inludes a novel introductory seminar course, ECE 101, in which different professors give a description of the many ECE sub-disciplines.  The new flexibility arrives in the third and fourth years -- you will choose from a broad array of courses in six general areas:  photonics & semiconductor physics; electromagnetism & energy systems; analog & digital electronics; control, communications & signal processing; computer hardware & networks; and software.

Our ECE department is unique in its ability to provide courses from such a wide array of sub-disciplines of ECE -- we are the only university with the critical mass of teachers and researchers who are world-leading experts in all of these fields.  The program's new flexibility also permits you to take a minor from U of T's Arts & Science calendar, in addition to several new engineering minors including bioengineering and a business-oriented minor. 

After you graduate

An education in an ECE program is a springboard from which you can launch an engineering career, become an entrepreneur, a doctor or a lawyer.  It gives you training in critical thinking and just getting things done.

Electrical and computer engineers work in robotic design, aerospace engineering, software design and development, biomedical engineering, communication systems design, computer systems design and renewable energy systems -- among many other areas.  Many ECE graduates can be found in the banking and finance sectors as well as business management, where their knowledge of technology and their problem-solving, time-management, communication and team-building skills are highly valued.  Electrical and computer engineers create special effects for the movie industry, design computer games, as well as build database software for large companies.  They are heavily involved in robotics and other control systems used in industry and by government agencies like NASA.  Many ECE graduates pursue graduate studies to obtain advanced degrees in these same areas.  They can be found at schools like MIT and other prestigious universities and institutes.  An ECE degree from U of T is respected internationally and can open many doors.