Minor in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Open to all undergraduates except Electrical and Computer Engineering majors.

Students must earn a grade of C- or better for every course in the minor and a GPA ≥2.3 for all courses in the minor.

At least six courses (minimum of 18 credits), chosen as follows:

• Category 1: Choose any two
• Category 2: Choose any two
• Category 3:
  • One other technical ECE lecture course at the 4000 level or above (3-credit minimum)
  • One other technical ECE lecture course at the 3000 level or above (3-credit minimum)

Nine (9) credits minimum, among which at least three (3) credits must come from lecture course work at 3000-level or above. Courses must be taken for a letter grade unless offered S/U-only.

Courses allowed in this category must be technical courses whose technical scope lies outside the course offerings of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Almost any non-Electrical and Computer Engineering math, science or engineering course at the 2000-level or above will do. A student may count a 1000-level course as an Outside-Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Elective only if the course lists an explicit university-level prerequisite that the student has completed successfully either at Cornell or through Advanced Placement or transfer credit. For example, none of the ENGRIs are acceptable since none of them have any prerequisites. Non-technical courses such as ENGRC and pure business courses are also not acceptable. Electrical and Computer Engineering majors may, however, count ECE 5830 – Introduction to Technical Management – as an Outside-Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Elective.

For an engineering course in a non-Electrical and Computer Engineering major to pass muster as an Outside-Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Elective, the major offering the course must allow its own students to use the course to fulfill a technical course requirement. For example, CEE 3230 and ORIE 3150 are acceptable because they include engineering applications of the business topics they cover, and the offering majors consider them technical courses for their students. When in doubt about the suitability of any course, a student should obtain evidence that students in the major offering the course can use the course in question as a “technical course” and submit associated documentation to 223 Phillips Hall.

Students may count in the Outside-Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Electives category up to three (3) credits of work that results from either (but not both)

• Work on a student project team. For comprehensive information about student project teams, see Student Project Teams.
• Enrollment for a letter grade in an independent-study course at the 3000- level or above (e.g. ECE 4999).

One additional option exists for Electrical and Computer Engineering students. A student may, with advisor approval, count one advanced Electrical and Computer Engineering course as an Outside-Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Elective provided that the course’s subject matter lies outside the student’s major disciplinary area as determined by the focus of the student’s upper-level Electrical and Computer Engineering course work.

Unlike some engineering majors, Electrical and Computer Engineering approves these courses centrally rather than calling on individual advisors to approve them. Essentially any legitimate credit-bearing activity, with rare exceptions such as PE classes and AEW classes, works toward this 6-credit requirement for Electrical and Computer Engineering majors. Courses (technical or not), student project teams, independent study, research – all are fine.

Advanced Programming

The courses an Electrical and Computer Engineering major takes to satisfy Electrical and Computer Engineering major requirements, the ENGRD requirement, or the Advisor-approved Elective requirement must include at least three credits of computer programming at a level above that of CS 1110/1112/1114/1115 and CS 1130/1132/1133/1142, or an advanced computer engineering course at a level above Electrical and Computer Engineering 3140. Courses that meet this requirement include: ECE 2400, CS 2110, ENGRD 3200, AEP 4380, ECE 4740, ECE 4750, or ECE 4760. Other courses may be allowed by an Electrical and Computer Engineering petition.

Engineering Communications

An Electrical and Computer Engineering major can fulfill the Engineering Communications Requirement in a variety of ways. In many cases, a course the student counts toward some graduation requirement like Liberal Studies or Advisor-approved Elective or Outside-Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Elective will simultaneously take care of the Engineering Communications requirement. One alternative popular among Electrical and Computer Engineering majors: a student who has taken ECE 4760 may subsequently take the 1-credit follow-on ECE 4920, during which the student writes up their ECE 4760 project; an Electrical and Computer Engineering major completing this sequence will fulfill the ECR. For further details along with a full list of Engineering Communications Requirement options, visit the Engineering Communications page and the Cornell University Registrar: Courses of Study page.