Computer Engineering Fields of Study

Computer engineers develop both the hardware electronics and the software of today's computers, which are at the hear of the information age. Computers are used in a myriad of ways from controlling manufacturing systems to automobile ignition systems, to robot navigation, to controlling home TV and stereos. Computer engineers have accepted the challenge of determining how to make this invaluable tool enhance our lives.

Fault Tolerance Designing and building computer microchips so that if chip components become damaged the entire chip can still function.

Hardware Structures Designing networked computer systems and their hardware and software interfaces.

Image Processing Using computers to interpret and/or represent visual information. Image processing has applications in such areas as visual inspection of manufactured products, recognizing fingerprints, and interpreting images of the Earth obtained by satellites.

Information Systems Designing networked computer systems and their hardware and software interfaces.

Microprocessors and Real-Time Systems Designing the hardware and software for the small computers "embedded" in larger systems. Such computers might be used in automobiles, clocks, VCRs, and robots.

Neural Networks Designing and improving a new computer architecture that works like the neurons of the human brain. Neural networks can be applied to such areas as systems control and image processing.

Software Engineering Designing, testing, evaluating, and maintaining large software systems.