Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Why Join ISU

The Iowa State University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECpE) strives to provide an outstanding educational environment that enables our graduates to become leaders in their profession and our faculty to become worldwide leaders in technology research.

Iowa State is the place for groundbreaking research.

By joining the faculty at Iowa State University's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, you'll get to collaborate with internationally recognized, award-winning researchers. With research expenditures of more than $9 million annually, the department focuses on research in nine core areas, as well as five overarching strategic areas. The department is associated with several locally and nationally sponsored research centers and institutes. Learn more about the department's research activities.

Iowa State is a place with a tradition of excellence.

ECpE faculty and graduate students have a long-standing tradition of success in cutting-edge research. For example:

  • In 1939, Iowa State professor and alumnus John Atanasoff and ECpE graduate student Clifford Berry built the first electronic digital computer.
  • In 1971, ECpE graduate student David Nicholas invented the encoding process used in fax machines and helped make the machine a staple in office equipment.
  • In 2007, ECpE professor Srinivas Aluru was named a Computerworld Laureate and Finalist for the 21st Century Achievement Award, due to his interdisciplinary research efforts in sequencing the maize genome.    

Learn more about the department's history.

Iowa State is the place for bright, innovative faculty.

Our department recognizes the achievements of our faculty, which include:

Learn more about our recent award winners.

Iowa State is a place with state-of-the-art facilities.

With our new $16.5 million addition to our home in Coover Hall now complete, our facilities are truly state-of-the-art. Additional renovations to our space will be completed soon, to round out the building's $38.8 million in renovations and additions. Learn more about  the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building Project.

Iowa State is a place with big city amenities.

Iowa State is located in Ames, Iowa, a small metropolitan city with big city amenities and cultural activities. Ames offers something for everyone—big time concerts and music theater events, Big 12 conference college sporting events, miles of parks and biking paths, dozens of restaurants and bars, movie theaters, and a shopping mall. Plus, nearby Des Moines—a metropolitan area with about 500,000 people—offers additional entertainment opportunities. Other major Midwest cities such as Omaha, Minneapolis, and Kansas City are within a 3-hour drive, and Chicago is within a 6-hour drive.

Why live in Ames? Learn more.

Iowa State is the place for you!

To apply for a faculty position in Iowa State University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, go to www.iastatejobs.com.