Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department History

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering celebrated its 100th year in 2008-09. Visit our ECpE Centennial Web site for more historical information.

1891

Iowa State College establishes the Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering, offering both courses in electrical engineering and physical science.

1909

The Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering splits into two departments. The  Department of Electrical Engineering is created.

1914

Paul Spencer Clapp, who earned his electrical engineering degree at Iowa State in 1913, is an engineer on the first transcontinental telephone line. Following World War I, he leads efforts to re-establish telephone and telegraph communications in all of central and southeastern Europe and is knighted by the Romanian government for his work.

1922

VEISHEA, the nation’s first and largest student-run festival, is started by combining the festivals celebrated by each division. Electrical Engineering Professor Frank Paine submits the winning name for the new celebration. The letters stand for the first letters of the divisions: V—Veterinary Medicine, E—Engineering, IS—Industrial Science, HE—Home Economics, A—Agriculture.

First electronic digital computer

1939

The world's first electronic digital computer is built by Iowa State physics professor and alumnus John Atanasoff and electrical engineering graduate student Clifford Berry. Atanasoff Hall is named in honor of Atanasoff. Learn more about the computer and John Vincent Atanasoff (1903-1995) at www.scl.ameslab.gov/Projects/ABC.

1950

The Electrical Engineering Building opens on campus. In 1969, it was renamed in honor of Mervin Sylvester Coover, who served as associate dean of the division of engineering from 1935 to 1954, and acting dean from 1957 to 1959.

1971

David Nicholas, electrical engineering graduate student, invents an encoding process that helps make FAX machines a staple in office equipment.

1975

Robert 0. Evans, who earned an electrical engineering degree from Iowa State in 1949, receives the National Medal of Technology. He conceived the first compatible family of commercial computers at IBM in the 1960s.

1984

The Department of Electrical Engineering changes its name to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

1985

The Center for Nondestructive Evaluation is formed as a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center.

Durham Center

1989

The Charles W. Durham and Marge Henningson Durham Center for Computation and Communication opens. The Durhams are 1939 graduates of Iowa State whose $3 million contribution to expand computer facilities at Iowa State led to the construction of the center. It houses the Computation Center and the Telecommunications Office.

1997

The working replica of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer is unveiled in Washington, D.C.

2006

Researchers bring CyBlue, an IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer to Iowa State. The computer ranked among the world's 100 most powerful computers at the time it was acquired.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering breaks ground on its multi-million dollar project to renovate and expand its current facilities. See live updates on the project's progress on our webcam.

2007

The undergraduate software engineering degree program is launched and is administered jointly with the Department of Computer Science.

University Tradition and History


Learn more about...

Iowa State traditions: www.isualum.org/en/traditions
Iowa State history: www.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/exhibits/150/cyclonefacts.html