Badri Roysam, University of Houston

Dear ECEDHA Members, Industry Partners, and Colleagues,

The connections between Biomedical Engineering and ECE departments run deep.  Indeed, many Biomed departments around the world grew out of ECE departments, and biomedical problems continue to drive a major fraction of research in ECE departments. The sheer complexity and variability of biomedical signals and systems present tough challenges for ECE faculty. The fact that solutions to these problems directly enhance human well-being makes them compelling. Solving these problems requires cross-disciplinary collaborations with biologists and physicians, making them utterly fascinating. Finally, it is increasingly clear that biomedical problems are influencing student enrollment patterns. In this issue of the Source, Professor Alan Sahakian explores this topic from the standpoint of student enrollment trends.

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Alan Sahakian, Northwestern University

Incorporating Biomedical Engineering Topics into ECE Education

ECE has contributed in many ways to the successes of other now-popular engineering disciplines.  We might view Computer Science as having some of its strongest roots in ECE.  Mechatronics and robotics, which are now associated primarily with Mechanical Engineering, can also trace their origins to ECE. Biomedical Engineering is now very broad, but certainly many key subtopics were born within ECE.

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Reigniting the Passion for Analog Electronics

By Tom Lee Ph.D., Chief Education Officer, Quanser

Vinyl records seem to be back. Film cameras appeal to a growing group of photo hobbyists. And contrary to popular belief, print books are still going strong. But on campus, many ECE programs report ongoing challenges in making the venerable analog electronics course more modern and appealing to a generation whose worldview is exclusively digital.

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