WPI's Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department, located in the historical Atwater Kent Laboratories, is a community of world-class faculty and students conducting research on diverse subjects including machine learning, cryptography and information security, signal processing, autonomous vehicles, smart health, prosthetic control, analog and digital microelectronics, and wireless information networks. We have a strong tradition of making significant contributions to science and engineering, ranging from the invention of the negative feedback amplifier to laying the foundations of the first wireless local area networks.
Through our innovative Theory and Practice curriculum, hands-on laboratories, and project-based learning, the ECE Department continuously strives to develop the next generation of engineers who will develop new technologies and seek creative solutions to society’s most pressing problems. We pride ourselves on our culture of creative scholarship; faculty, students, and staff work closely together and encourage each other through challenges both in the classroom and in life.
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Boston 25 reported on WPI researchers developing a sensor the size of a Band-Aid to measure a baby’s blood oxygen levels, a vital indication of the lungs’ effectiveness and whether the baby’s tissue is receiving adequate oxygen supply. This wearable device will be flexible and stretchable, wireless, inexpensive, and mobile - possibly allowing the child to leave the hospital and be monitored remotely.
The Register reported on Berk Sunar, professor of electrical and computer engineering and leader of the Vernam Lab, and Daniel Moghimi, a PhD candidate in the electrical and computer engineering department, leading an international team of researchers that discovered serious security vulnerabilities in computer chips made by Intel Corp. and STMicroelectronics. The flaws affect billions of laptop, server, tablet, and desktop users around the world. The proof-of-concept attack is dubbed TPM-Fail.
Professor Ted Clancy, a local prosthetics company, and an occupational therapist with limb absence have teamed up to develop wireless sensors to improve the performance of prosthetics for individuals with upper limb amputations. “This wireless sensor technology will have a major impact for individuals with limb absence and allow them to control their hand and wrist prostheses,” said Clancy, professor of electrical and computer engineering.
With self-driving cars promising to become part of our everyday lives, one MQP team took on the challenge of retrofitting a traditional vehicle to become a self-driving automobile. Under the supervision of ECE professor Alex Wyglinski, team members built a modular platform, using LIDAR, which uses lasers and sensors to measure distance, ultrasonic sensors, motors, and a high-performance computing module that can make any ground vehicle drive autonomously.
WPI gave Giselle just what she wanted - the ability to combine environmental studies with electrical engineering and a high-powered community of women in STEM.
A junior Electrical and Computer Engineering major finds new experiences in team-based projects and lasting friendships in Greek life.
