Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Courses

Below are the courses frequently offered in Electrical Engineering. For the most up-to-date course offerings and lecturer information, visit Yale University’s Online Course Information site. Click here for the listing of courses in Engineering & Applied Science (general courses for undergraduate students in any branch of Engineering).

EENG 200a, Introduction to Electronics
Introduction to the basic principles of analog and digital electronics. Analysis, design, and synthesis of electronic circuits and systems. Topics include current and voltage laws that govern electronic circuit behavior, node and loop methods for solving circuit problems, DC and AC circuit elements, frequency response, nonlinear circuits, semiconductor devices, and small-signal amplifiers. A lab session approximately every other week. After or concurrently with MATH 115a or b or equivalent.

EENG 201b, Introduction to Computer Engineering
Introduction to the theoretical principles underlying the design and programming of simple processors that can perform algorithmic computational tasks. Topics include data representation in digital form, combinational logic design and Boolean algebra, sequential logic design and finite state machines, and basic computer architecture principles. Hands-on laboratory involving the active design, construction, and programming of a simple processor.

EENG 202a, Communications, Computation, and Control
Introduction to systems that sense, process, control, and communicate. Techniques that analyze system performance are applied to first- and second-order systems that operate on continuous-time waveforms and numerical data. Applications include robotics, digital image processing, and voice recognition systems. MATLAB programming and laboratory experiments illustrate concepts. Prerequisite: MATH 115a or b.

EENG 203b, Circuits and Systems Design
Introduction to design in a laboratory setting. A wide variety of practical systems are designed and implemented to exemplify the basic principles of systems theory. Systems include audio filters and equalizers, electrical and electromechanical feedback systems, radio transmitters and receivers, and circuits for sampling and reconstructing music. Prerequisites: EENG 200a and 202a.

EENG 235a and 236b, Special Projects
Faculty-supervised individual or small-group projects with emphasis on laboratory experience, engineering design, or tutorial study. Students are expected to consult the director of undergraduate studies and appropriate faculty members about ideas and suggestions for suitable topics during the term preceding enrollment. These courses may be taken at any time during the student’s career. Enrollment requires permission of both the instructor and the director of undergraduate studies, and submission to the latter of a one- to two-page prospectus signed by the instructor. The prospectus is due in the departmental office one day prior to the date that the student’s course schedule is due. Additional sections offered in Beijing, China. See under Peking University–Yale University Joint Undergraduate Program.

EENG 310b, Signals and Systems
Concepts for the analysis of continuous and discrete-time signals including time series. Techniques for modeling continuous and discrete-time linear dynamical systems including linear recursions, difference equations, and shift sequences. Topics include continuous and discrete Fourier analysis, Laplace and Z transforms, convolution, sampling, data smoothing, and filtering. Prerequisite: MATH 115a or b. Recommended preparation: EENG 202a.

EENG 320a, Introduction to Semiconductor Devices
An introduction to the physics of semiconductors and semiconductor devices. Topics include crystal structure; energy bands in solids; charge carriers with their statistics and dynamics; junctions, p-n diodes, and LEDs; bipolar and field-effect transistors; and device fabrication. Additional lab one afternoon per week. Prepares for EENG 325b and 401b. Prerequisites: PHYS 180a and 181b or permission of instructor. Recommended preparation: EENG 200a.

EENG 325b, Electronic Circuits
Models for active devices; single-ended and differential amplifiers; current sources and active loads; operational amplifiers; feedback; design of analog circuits for particular functions and specifications, in actual applications wherever possible, using design-oriented methods. Includes a team-oriented design project for real-world applications, such as a high-power stereo amplifier design. Electronics Workbench is used as a tool in computeraided design. Additional lab one afternoon per week. Prerequisite: EENG 200a.

EENG 348a, Digital Systems
Development of engineering skills through the design and analysis of digital logic components and circuits. Introduction to gate-level circuit design, beginning with single gates and building up to complex systems. Hands-on experience with circuit design using computeraided design tools and microcontroller programming. Recommended preparation: EENG 201b.

EENG 352b/BENG 352b, Biomedical Engineering II
For description see under Biomedical Engineering.

EENG 397b/ENAS 397b, Mathematical Methods in Engineering
Exploration of several areas of mathematics useful in engineering. Topics are drawn from complex analysis and differential equations: complex variables, Fourier series, Fourier transforms, Laplace transforms, Z transforms, boundary value problems, and linear partial differential equations. Application to physical problems. Prerequisites: MATH 222a or b, and ENAS 194a or b or MATH 246a or b, or equivalents.

EENG 401b^G/APHY 321b^G, Semiconductor Silicon Devices and Technology
Introduction to integrated circuit technology, theory of semiconductor devices, and principles of device design and fabrication. Laboratory involves the fabrication and analysis of semiconductor devices, including Ohmic contacts, Schottky diodes, p-n junctions, solar cells, MOS capacitors, MOSFETs, and integrated circuits. Prerequisite: EENG 320a or equivalent or permission of instructor.

EENG 402La^G/MENG 402La^G, Nano and Microsystem Technology
Cross-disciplinary laboratory experiments covering microfabrication, silicon micromachining, MEMS device fabrication and characterization, scanned probe microscopy, electron microscopy, microfluidics, and lab-on-a-chip systems. Students fabricate MEMS, bio-MEMS, and microfluidic devices in a cleanroom environment. Prerequisite: EENG 320a or equivalent.

EENG 408a^G, Electronic Materials: Fundamentals and Applications
Survey and review of fundamental issues associated with modern microelectronic and optoelectronic materials. Topics include band theory, electronic transport, surface kinetics, diffusion, materials defects, elasticity in thin films, epitaxy, and Si integrated circuits. Prerequisite: EENG 320a or permission of instructor.

EENG 410a^G, Physics and Devices of Optical Communication
A survey of the enabling components and devices that constitute modern optical communications systems. Focus on the physics and principles of each functional unit, its current technological status, important design issues relevant to the overall performance, and future directions. Prerequisites: EENG 320a and APHY 322b, or permission of instructor.

EENG 425a^G, Introduction to VLSI System Design
Chip design; integrated devices, circuits, and digital subsystems needed for design and implementation of silicon logic chips. CMOS fabrication overview, complementary logic circuits, design methodology, computer-aided design techniques, timing, and area estimation. Exploration of recent and future chip technologies. A course project is the design, through layout, of a digital CMOS subsystem chip; selected projects are fabricated for students. Prerequisite: familiarity with computer programming and with circuits at the level of introductory physics.

EENG 428b^G/ENAS 428b^G, Sensors and Biosensors
Analysis of the design of integrated sensors, using modern fabrication technologies and recent circuit topologies. Creation of a framework for sensor design that attains performance as close as possible to the fundamental limits of transduction and processing. Particular attention to mapping algorithms and topologies into circuits that can match the physical level of the quantities to be sensed. Students develop sensory systems for biomedical application and for sensor networks.

EENG 436b, Systems and Control
Design of feedback control systems with applications to engineering, biological, and economic systems. Topics include state-space representation, stability, controllability, and observability of discrete-time systems; system identification; optimal control of systems with multiple outputs. Prerequisites: ENAS 194a or b, MATH 222a or b or 225a or b, and EENG 310b or permission of instructor.

EENG 437a/AMTH 437a, Optimization Techniques
For description see under Applied Mathematics in Yale College Programs of Study.

EENG 442a^G/AMTH 342a, Linear Systems
Introduction to finite-dimensional, continuous, and discrete-time linear dynamical systems. Exploration of the basic properties and mathematical structure of the linear systems used for modeling dynamical processes in robotics, signal and image processing, economics, statistics, environmental and biomedical engineering, and control theory. Prerequisite: MATH 222a or b or permission of instructor.

EENG 444a^G, Digital Communication Systems
Introduction to the fundamental theory underlying modern digital communication. Quantitative measures of information and data compression: the Huffman and Lempel-Ziv algorithms, scalar and vector quantization. Representations of signal waveforms: sampling, orthonormal expansions, waveforms as vectors in signal space. Transmission of signals through noisy channels; pulse amplitude and quadrature amplitude modulation, orthogonal signaling, signal design, noise processes, optimal detection, and error probability analysis. Applications to practical systems such as CD players, telephone modems, and wireless networks. Prerequisites: knowledge of signals and systems at the level of EENG 310b; knowledge of basic probability at the level of STAT 241a (may be taken concurrently).

EENG 445a^G/BENG 445a^G, Biomedical Image Processing and Analysis
For description see under Biomedical Engineering.

EENG 454b^G/AMTH 364b^G/STAT 364b^G, Information Theory
For description see under Statistics in Yale College Programs of Study.

EENG 460a^G/CPSC 436a^G, Networked Embedded Systems and Sensor Networks
Introduction to the fundamental concepts of networked embedded systems and wireless sensor networks, presenting a cross-disciplinary approach to the design and implementation of smart wireless embedded systems. Topics include embedded systems programming concepts, low-power and power-aware design, radio technologies, communication protocols for ubiquitous computing systems, and mathematical foundations of sensor behavior. Laboratory work includes programming assignments on low-power wireless devices. Open to seniors in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science only. Prerequisite: CPSC 223b or equivalent programming experience in a high-level language.

EENG 471a and 472b, Advanced Special Projects
Faculty-supervised individual or small-group projects with emphasis on research (laboratory or theory), engineering design, or tutorial study. Students are expected to consult the director of undergraduate studies and appropriate faculty members about ideas and suggestions for suitable topics during the term preceding enrollment. These courses may
be taken at any appropriate time during the student’s career and may be taken more than once. Enrollment requires permission of both the instructor and the director of undergraduate studies, and submission to the latter of a one- to two-page prospectus signed by the instructor. The prospectus is due in the departmental office one day prior to the date that the student’s course schedule is due.

EENG 481a, Advanced ABET Projects
Study of the process of designing an electrical device that meets performance specifications, including project initiation and management, part specification, teamwork, design evolution according to real-world constraints, testing, ethics, and communication skills. Design project consists of electronic sensor, computer hardware, and signal analysis components developed by multidisciplinary teams. Prerequisites: EENG 310b, 320a, 325b, and 348a.