The normal period of residency at WPI is 16 terms. In addition to WPI requirements applicable to all students, students wishing to receive the major designated “Electrical and Computer Engineering” must satisfy certain distribution requirements. These requirements apply to 10 units of study in the areas of mathematics, basic science, and engineering science and design as follows:
To succeed in the study of electrical and computer engineering, the necessary foundation far exceeds what can be taught in a few introductory courses. In fact, if you even want to begin to understand what your ECE professors are talking about in lecture, you must begin with a firm basis in mathematics and the natural sciences. Moreover, whether applied to ECE or not, proficiency in mathematics and the sciences is a necessary quality for any educated engineer. Consequently, the ECE major requires a total of 4 units (12 courses) as the “Mathematics and Basic Science” distribution requirement.
The first part of this requirement is sufficient education in mathematics. At least 7 of the 12 required courses must be in this area, including coursework in differential calculus, integral calculus, differential equations, and probability. To see which specific courses fulfill these math requirements, please consult the mathematics course descriptions, and your academic advisor.
The other part of the requirement is coursework in the sciences. A solid understanding of physics is essential to any ECE student, being ultimately necessary for describing the behavior of electricity and magnetism as well as other physical phenomena. Knowledge of chemistry is useful as well, encompassing such topics as atomic and molecular behavior and the chemical properties of materials (such as silicon, which is quite useful in ECE). In recent years, knowledge of biology has also become important to electrical and computer engineers, particularly as biomedical-electrical technologies such as medical imaging continue to advance.
The ECE major requires at least 3 courses in the sciences, 2 of these courses must be in physics, and the remaining course may be in chemistry or biology depending on preference.
Finally, note that the total prescribed mathematics and science courses add up to 3 1/3 units (10 courses). To meet the distribution requirement, you then must take at least 2 more courses in any area of mathematics or science (that is, any other course with the prefix “MA”, “PH”, “CH”, “BB”, or “GE”).