Electrical and Computer Engineering. — Research and enrollments in the department grew sharply after World War II. Curriculum changes and the new Systems Engineering-Electrical and Electrical Science master's degree programs had three bases: (1) the application of the computer in all phases of education and research, (2) the advent of systems engineering, and (3) the expansion of the field of electrical science to include physical electronics, materials, electromagnetic field theory, and physical processes.
The department's research is conducted in eight research laboratories, most of which are on North Campus. The Power Systems Laboratory research is in the generation, transmission, and utilization of electric power. The Bioelectrical Sciences Laboratory research is in electrophysiology and neurophysiology. The Cooley Electronics Laboratory research is in acoustics-optics, communications, information processes, instrumentation, and solid-state circuits. The Electron Physics Laboratory research is with (1) solid-state materials and devices for the generation, amplification, detection, and control of electromagnetic energy from microwave through optical frequencies and (2) basic phenomena in gases and solids. The Radar and Optics Laboratory research is with radar systems, coherent optics, holography, optical data processing, and general electronic systems and analysis. The Radiation Laboratory research is in the radiation propagation and scattering of electromagnetic energy. The Space Physics Research Laboratory research is in experimental and theoretical studies of space environment. The Systems Engineering Laboratory research is in computers, control systems, and information systems.
Almost all graduate study is conducted in seminar sessions directly related to faculty research activities — in programs such as Optics, Solid-State Materials and Devices, and Bioelectric Sciences. The undergraduate programs were affected by the introduction into the curriculum of the digital computer and intermediate-level mathematics courses in systems and vector fields. The undergraduate Machinery Power option was dropped in 1958, when courses in network synthesis, computers, instrumentation, and semiconductor electronics began to enter the curriculum. In 1968 three undergraduate program options were formed to emphasize the wider scope of electrical engineering: Electronics and Design; Electrical Science; and Computer, Information, and Control.
The University of Michigan, an Encyclopedic Survey Supplement, Page 132.
