College of Engineering: Computer Engineering

The Electrical & Computer Engineering department at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa was formed in 1959 with a baccalaureate degree program. The first graduating class received a B.S. degree in 1961. Our M.S. degree program was started in 1961, and our doctoral (Ph.D.) degree program was initiated in 1966. The first Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering was granted by the University in 1969. The famous wireless communication protocol, ALOHA, was invented by our faculty in the 1970s.

The Department of Information and Computer Sciences and the Department of Electrical Engineering offer a joint Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering (BS CE).  The BSCE degree program provides you with the opportunity to learn about computer hardware and software, computer organization and architecture, computer security, software engineering, computer networks and Internet technology, embedded systems, computer-aided design, multi-core and parallel computing, wireless networks, and other topics.

As an electrical or computer engineer, you will work at the heart of the most rapidly developing technology humankind has ever seen. Electrical engineers design and build electronic devices, process data and signals, sense things, control things, power things, and connect things and people, and lots more! Electrical engineering is one of the broadest of all engineering degrees, allowing students to move into virtually any area. Computer engineering is a discipline that combines electrical engineering with computer science, training students to have good understanding in both hardware and software. Electrical and computer engineering are among the top requested majors by potential employers.

The Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering offers

For more information, please visit their site.

Prerequisites

Core courses cover the fundamentals of electrical and computer engineering, while upper level technical elective courses allow students to pursue their specific technical interests. The program emphasizes hands-on education with state-of-the-art equipment and software tools. There are three required project courses, one each at the sophomore (EE 296), junior (EE 396), and senior (EE 496) levels.

In the Electrical Engineering program, the electives are divided into two major areas or Tracks:

  • Electrophysics Track
    • antennas, circuit/device designs, electromagnetic, electronics, fabrication, microwave engineering, optics, solid-state devices, and sensors.
  • Systems & Data Science Track
    • control, data science, convolutional neural networks, machine learning, optimization, pattern recognition, signal/image processing, and telecommunications.

Electrical Engineering program students may also opt to take a select set of courses to receive a concentration in

  • Biomedical Concentration
  • Energy Concentration
The Computer Engineering program develops the following backgrounds: algorithms, computer architecture, computer network, embedded systems, and software engineering.

Core Requirements


Each of the curricula offered by the College of Engineering provides a fundamental science-oriented university education with coverage of communications, the humanities, and social sciences, as well as the basic physical sciences of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. The curricula also encompass engineering sciences common to all engineering disciplines and project courses that introduce the engineering method of design.

Course work in each curriculum consists of a set of required courses common to all engineering majors and additional courses to satisfy departmental requirements.  The college participates actively in UH Mānoa Honors Program.  The courses required of all engineering students, which also satisfies the General Education Core Requirements of UH Mānoa, consist of the following credits:

Written Communication

  • ENG 100 Composition I (3) (FW) or approved FW course

Arts, Humanities and Literature

  • COMG 251 Principles of Effective Public Speaking (3) (DA)
  • One elective (3) (DH or DL)

Social Sciences

  • ECON 120 Introduction to Economics (3), ECON 130 Principles of Microeconomics (3), or ECON 131 Principles of Macroeconomics (3) (DS)
  • One elective (3) (DS)

Global and Multicultural Perspectives

  • Two approved FG electives (6)

Symbolic

    • MATH 241 Calculus I (4) (FS)
    • MATH 242 Calculus II (4)
    • MATH 243 Calculus III (3)
    • MATH 244 Calculus IV (3)

or

  • MATH 251A Accelerated Calculus I (4)
  • MATH 252A Accelerated Calculus II (4)
  • MATH 253A Accelerated Calculus III (4)

Natural Sciences

    • CHEM 161/161L, and 162 General Chemistry/Lab (3/1/3) (DP/DY)
        • or

        • CHEM 171/171L Principles of Chemistry (4/1) (DP/DY)

      or

      • CHEM 181/181L Principles of Chemistry (4/1) (DP/DY)

and

  • PHYS 170/170L General Physics I/Lab (4/1) (DP/DY)
  • PHYS 272/272L General Physics II/Lab (3/1) (DP/DY)

Additionally, a student must complete the Focus Graduation Requirements: one H,  one E, one O, and five W courses. The Hawaiian or Second Language is not required for the engineering degree.

Electives

There is a requirement of a minimum of 6 credit hours of technical electives.  They may be all from the following list of EE and ICS courses.  Alternatively, they may be composed of 3 credit hours from the list and 3 credit hours of an EE course that is at the 300 level or higher.

  • EE 344 Network I (or ICS 451)
  • EE 406 Introduction to Computer and Network Security
  • EE 449 Computer Communication Networks (or ICS 451)
  • EE 461 Computer Architecture (or ICS 431)
  • EE 467 Object Oriented Software Engineering
  • EE 468 Introduction to Operating Systems (or ICS 412)
  • EE 469 Wireless Data Networks
  • EE 491 Special Topics in Electrical Engineering (E, F, G)
  • ICS 311 Algorithms
  • ICS 313 Programming Language Theory
  • ICS 321 Data Storage & Retrieval
  • ICS 413 Software Engineering I
  • ICS 414 Software Engineering II
  • ICS 415 Introduction to Programming for the Web
  • ICS 421 Database Systems
  • ICS 424 Application Frameworks
  • ICS 425 Computer Security and Ethics
  • ICS 426 Computer System Security
  • ICS 432 Concurrent and High-Performance Programming
  • ICS 441 Theory of Computation
  • ICS 442 Analytical Models and Methods
  • ICS 461 Artificial Intelligence I
  • ICS 464 Human Computer Interaction I
  • ICS 465 Introduction to Hypermedia
  • ICS 466 Design for Mobile Devices
  • ICS 469 Introduction to Cognitive Science
  • ICS 481 Introduction to Computer Graphics

Note that ICS courses from the list may have prerequisite courses that are not part of the computer engineering curriculum.  These courses used as technical electives will lead to more credit hours to complete the program.

Program Overview

The Electrical & Computer Engineering department at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa was formed in 1959 with a baccalaureate degree program. The first graduating class received a B.S. degree in 1961. Our M.S. degree program was started in 1961, and our doctoral (Ph.D.) degree program was initiated in 1966. The first Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering was granted by the University in 1969. The famous wireless communication protocol, ALOHA, was invented by our faculty in the 1970s.

The Department of Information and Computer Sciences and the Department of Electrical Engineering offer a joint Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering (BS CE).  The BSCE degree program provides you with the opportunity to learn about computer hardware and software, computer organization and architecture, computer security, software engineering, computer networks and Internet technology, embedded systems, computer-aided design, multi-core and parallel computing, wireless networks, and other topics.

As an electrical or computer engineer, you will work at the heart of the most rapidly developing technology humankind has ever seen. Electrical engineers design and build electronic devices, process data and signals, sense things, control things, power things, and connect things and people, and lots more! Electrical engineering is one of the broadest of all engineering degrees, allowing students to move into virtually any area. Computer engineering is a discipline that combines electrical engineering with computer science, training students to have good understanding in both hardware and software. Electrical and computer engineering are among the top requested majors by potential employers.

The Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering offers

For more information, please visit their site.

Electrical & Computer Engineering
2540 Dole Street, Holmes Hall 483
Honolulu, HI 96822 USA

(808) 956-7586

Contact an Admission Specialist