Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Computer engineers design essential hardware, software, systems, and networks that enable the electronics you use every day to work and play. Computer engineers work in almost every industry—from cellular phone and banking to avionics and manufacturing.

Computer engineers invent new technologies and make current devices faster, smaller, cheaper, smarter, and safer. They also help:

• Improve Internet security to protect information
• Design faster processors to make HDTV and gaming video graphics possible
• Develop biomedical systems to monitor patients and enhance people’s lives
• Implement sensor networks to make robots smarter and more human-like
• Create the smart power grid to manage energy distribution
  

Average Starting Salary: $60,000

Famous Iowa State Computer Engineers:

• John Vincent Atanasoff: Although he was a physics professor, Atanasoff could truly be called Iowa State's first computer engineer. He and his grad student Cilfford Berry developed the first electronic digital computer.
• Bob 0. Evans: This alumnus received the National Medal of Technology. He conceived the first compatible family of commercial computers at IBM in the 1960s.

Areas of Study:

• Computer networking and systems
• Secure and reliable computing
• Software systems
• VLSI design