The major strengths of the E&EE program lie in its faculty, the basic philosophy on which the curriculum is built, and the outstanding laboratory facilities in the engineering building. We have dedicated faculty who have chosen teaching over industrial positions. Most of the full-time faculty hold doctorate degrees in appropriate fields. Almost half of the full-time faculty in the E&EE program are registered Professional Engineers. Almost all the full-time faculty had several years of industrial experience prior to joining our faculty.

Presently, the Department has 17 tenured/tenure track faculty, two full-time lecturers, and several part-time faculty members. Of the tenured faculty, Prof. Simes teaches half time as a participant in the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP) and will be retiring at the end of the spring 2003 semester. Faculty members who have retired since the previous ABET visit include Profs. Bhagwandas Lathi (Communications) in 2001, Charles Nelson (Microwaves, RF and Communications) in 2002 upon completion of 5 years of service in the FERP program, and Karl Stoffers (Digital Electronics) in 2000. The Department hired three tenure track faculty members since the last ABET visit: Prof. Matthews (Analog Electronics) in spring 1999, Prof. Kumar (Digital Signal Processing and Communications) in fall 1999, and Prof. Milica Markovic (Mixed SignalDesign and RF Integrated Circuit Design) in spring 2003. A faculty search is under way to fill two positions effective with the fall 2003 semester in the areas of Digital Design, Computer Architecture or Mixed Signal Design. We expect that the new hires will be on board by the time of the ABET accreditation visit.

With four power engineers on the staff, our Department is one of the largest sources of electrical power engineers on the West Coast. The Electric Power Education Institute (EPEI) - an organization within the Department that is composed of the power faculty members and leaders from the public utility companies and electrical construction industry throughout California - serves as an advisory board to the power specialty. This group regularly reviews our power offerings and makes suggestion that will aid the graduates.

In addition, the Department has a four member Industry Liaison Council (EEE ILC) that includes one representative from the Power Engineering area. The ILC is an active advisory group that meets regularly with the Department faculty and helps the Department at several levels including long range strategic planning and program objectives assessment, curriculum development, outcomes assessment, faculty and student internships, and equipment and laboratory support.