MIT EECS’ Post

Transcript

[Music] Joel: This is a super exciting time to be an�� electrical engineer. As I walk around the laboratory I hear from my colleagues�� about what they've added or new classes they're developed, it makes me wish I was�� a kid again. [Music]�� Asu: This is a very fast changing field. Anantha: Electrical engineering is playing�� an essential role in the implementation of artificial intelligence systems,�� quantum computing, 5G communications, and the internet of things. Asu: It's very excioting.�� Joel: Over about a two year process, we took in a lot of information and we�� distilled that into a set of principles and we designed to those���� principles and we designed to those principals. Asu: We wanted to pick a new name and number to�� be able to signal this revision and this transformational change. Joel: So as we're�� thinking about what to name this degree program we decided on Electrical�� Engineering with Computing it clearly communicates that this is an electrical�� engineering degree while also emphasizing the deep relationship�� between electrical engineering and computing, both that electrical engineers�� have an important role in developing computing systems, but also that�� computing is important in the practice of electrical engineering. And we decided�� that it's time for a new number: Rajeev: It was really like a blank slate�� reconstruction of what it meant to be an electrical engineer, something that we�� haven't done in decades. Joel: So the first part is the core. So we have a set of�� classes that we thought all electrical engineers should know all of these have�� hands-on laboratory activities so we get the students early, learning, playing in�� the laboratory. Rajeev: I was on the EE curriculum committee that basically rethought what�� were the foundation subjects and how did we want the students to be able to explore�� what electrical engineering means today and part of that was developing tracks�� that the students could dive a little deeper into it. They don't see how these�� classes fit together to allow them to basically have a career but the�� existence of a track basically helps them visualize that. Daniel: It puts MIT at the�� forefront of revisions that various places are considering in the electrical�� engineering curriculum. I get excited when people look at revising�� technological curricula because of that very rapid change in technology and how�� it's being used in the world and how it impacts people's lives. Anantha: I'm confident�� that our students will go on to have a tremendous impact in the field�� [Music] [Applause]