ECE Product Spotlight

New Ultra-Portable DNA800 Series Vector Network Analyzers from RIGOL

RIGOL introduces DNA800 Series entry-level, vector network analyzers featuring two-ports and frequencies from 5 kHz to 14 GHz. DNA800 is a compact, ultra-portable VNA delivering comprehensive S-parameter and impedance measurements. With a typical 125 dB dynamic range, 1 Hz to 3 MHz IF bandwidth & 0.005 dB rms trace noise, it is ideal for testing passive

components, filters & matching networks.

DNA800 Series Features:

• 5 kHz to 14 GHz Frequency Range
• High Dynamic Range 125 dB typ.
• 1 Hz to 3 MHz IF bandwidth
• 7-inch Multi-Touch Display
• 2 Ports

Offer: Save 10% with RIGOL Education Discount

Artificial intelligence is changing how students learn and how engineers work. Employers are thinking differently about the skills they need. Departments are reconsidering curricula, hands-on experiences, industry connections, and how students are prepared to navigate a profession that will continue to change throughout their careers.

For ECE leaders, responding to those changes requires more than looking within our own departments. It also means connecting with educators and organizations that are experimenting with different approaches to engineering education.

That is one reason ECEDHA is beginning a new partnership with the Engineering Unleashed to expand engagement across the ECE academic community.

Engineering Unleashed is a community of engineering educators focused on incorporating an entrepreneurial mindset into engineering education. At its core is an idea that feels particularly relevant to the challenges departments are navigating today: engineering education should prepare students not only with strong technical capabilities, but also to recognize opportunities, understand needs, create value, and adapt as technology changes.

The Next Technology Challenge is a People Challenge

By Elizabeth Hibbler

"As the leaders of our departments, we're responsible for the decisions that affect faculty, staff, and our students. The more we know, the better decisions we can make. Being a member of ECEDHA and participating in its programs helps me be the best department chair I can be. "

Enrollment Is Shifting. How Can ECE Departments Respond? By: Elizabeth Hibbler

Enrollment trends across electrical and computer engineering are shifting, but not always in the same direction. At ECEDHA’s August 19 Community Summit, Enrollment, Retention, and Student Success Strategies, department leaders shared what they are seeing on their own campuses. Some reported significant growth. Others are seeing relatively flat enrollment or declines in particular programs. Several noted differences between electrical engineering and computer engineering enrollment, even within the same department.

The discussion highlighted an important question for ECE leaders. As student interests and enrollment patterns change, how can departments respond in ways that not only attract students, but help them see a future in ECE? Featured speaker Reza Abdolvand, Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Central Florida, shared how UCF is approaching that challenge through intentional student pathways, undergraduate research, and industry connections.

UCF itself offers an interesting case study in growth. The ECE department is approaching 2,300 undergraduate students, with much of its recent growth coming from electrical engineering. At the same time, the department has grown from approximately 35 faculty members when Abdolvand became chair to nearly 60.

Growth brings opportunity, but it also creates new challenges. More students require more faculty, additional course sections, laboratory capacity, and strategies for maintaining educational quality. UCF, for example, caps many ECE courses at 75 students and offers multiple sections in parallel.



But one of the most interesting lessons from UCF was not simply how the department is managing more students. It was how the department is thinking about what happens next for those students.

Renowned Vanderbilt Institute for Software Integrated Systems Renamed 'ICONS'

By: MyVU News

After nearly three decades of research in complex software-enabled systems, Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems is entering its next chapter with a new name: the Institute for Convergent Software Integrated Systems, or ICONS.

Founded in 1998, the institute has remained focused on understanding, engineering and operating complex systems that are safe, secure and resilient. What has changed is the nature of the systems themselves.

“Our mission has remained remarkably consistent, even as the technologies, systems and challenges around us have evolved,” said Sandeep Neema, director of ICONS and a professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering. “The addition of ‘Convergent’ reflects how we work today—bringing together disciplines, perspectives and technologies that have historically stood apart to address increasingly complex problems in national security and society. ICONS builds on the strong foundation of our past while more clearly expressing our vision for the future.”

ECE Faculty Create Two New Introductory Engineering Classes
The Classes Focus on Next Generation Computing Hardware and Computational Machine Learning

By: Catharine June

One of the first courses taken by all students entering the College of Engineering is a section of Engineering (ENGR) 100. ENGR 100 courses are designed to introduce students to what it’s like to be a practicing engineer. ECE faculty have recently developed two new courses to add to the selection. They are focused on next generation computing hardware and computational machine learning, areas that increasingly depend on one another to drive innovation.

Faculty throughout the College design these project-based courses to be general enough to provide material relevant to students of any major, while also focusing on the expertise of the individual teaching the course. 



“It’s like a first year version of a major design experience course,” said Prof. P.C. Ku, who designed the course on next generation computing hardware. “It has hands-on experiences, and there is an open-ended systems design component to the class.” [read more about ECE’s pedagogical focus on open-ended systems design.]

Hopkins Researchers Help Policymakers Assess Data Centers and Energy Planning

Two resources state leaders can use to develop evidence-based policies to manage data centers, infrastructure needs, and energy affordability.

By: Johns Hopkins University

As electricity usage associated with data centers, advanced manufacturing, and society-wide decarbonization is projected to increase significantly over the next five years, leaders from across the political spectrum are exploring the policy levers that can help protect ratepayers from increases.

“The nation as a whole is projected to run out of electricity in the very near future,” said Abe Silverman, assistant research scholar with the Johns Hopkins Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute (ROSEI). “In the regional grid that we sit in called the PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest electricity market, they’re predicting that they’re going to run out of supplies in June of 2027.”

There’s often tension between this stark projection and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence. But Silverman said energy security and AI development don’t need to be at odds with each other.

“AI dominance and national security and U.S. energy dominance is entirely consistent with the strategy of making sure that the data centers are funding the new infrastructure that they require,” he said.



To help policymakers better navigate these decisions, he and other Hopkins experts have developed research-driven policy tools and strategies that leaders can deploy to balance energy affordability and reliability with infrastructure growth and tech innovation.

At 90, UCLA's Judea Pearl Is

Still Asking the Big Questions

From transforming artificial intelligence to pursuing dialogue across divides, the UCLA pioneer has spent a lifetime turning uncertainty into understanding By: UCLA Newsroom

Judea Pearl has spent most of his life thinking about some of the hardest questions there are.

How can machines reason when they don’t have all the information? How can scientists distinguish correlation from cause and effect? 

How can people divided by religion, culture and politics better understand each other? And, after the murder of his son Daniel, how does a parent make sense of the senseless?

On Sunday, Sept. 6, more than 50 colleagues, former students, friends and admirers gathered at UCLA, Pearl’s academic home for the past 56 years, to celebrate the pioneering computer scientist as he turned 90 and to consider some of the questions that have animated his extraordinary career.

The daylong Pearl@90: Honoring Judea Pearl celebration at UCLA’s Covel Grand Horizon Ballroom — organized by several of his academic protégés — covered broad terrain, much like Pearl’s own interests and influence, with personal tributes and discussions exploring artificial intelligence and causal reasoning, Jewish identity, dialogue and coexistence, and peace.

UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk, in his remarks at the event, lauded Pearl’s enduring willingness to wrestle with some of the most challenging issues of his time.



“Judea has spent a lifetime in conversation with life’s most difficult questions,” Frenk said. “And in doing so, he has been a living testament to what higher learning makes possible.”

Exclusive Marconi Society Webinar: From Theory to Reality - The Next Era of Quantum Error Correction

Wednesday, September 23, 10:00 am CT

This exclusive, 60-minute session brings together some of the most influential minds in quantum information science. This rare assembly brings together the foundational experts of quantum error correction (QEC) and the leading architects of today's cutting-edge fault-tolerant architectures

• Robert Calderbank
• David DiVincenzo
• Earl Campbell
• Nicholas Delfosse

Conference Home | Hotel & Travel | Sponsorship Opportunities

Upcoming ECEDHA AI Summit

Integrating AI into ECE Teaching and Learning

Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 1:00 - 2:00 pm CT

How can faculty use AI to strengthen teaching and improve the student learning experience? This session focuses on the practical integration of AI into ECE instruction, from developing course materials and assignments to providing feedback, supporting different learning needs, and creating more engaging classroom and lab experiences. Discussion will focus on how faculty are experimenting with AI in their teaching, what is working, and where challenges remain, including perspectives on emerging tools and capabilities that could further support faculty and enhance engineering education.

ECEDHA is pleased to provide a platform for members to post job announcements

Featured Job Posting

Virginia Commonwealth University (posted 9/21/26)

• Department Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of Manitoba (posted 9/21/26)

• Assistant Professor, Computer Engineering
• Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering

Liberty University (posted 9/3/26)

• Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of Wisconsin, Platteville (posted 8/13/26)

• Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of Pittsburgh (posted 7/23/26)

• Professor, Department Chair

To post a job announcement, please contact information@ecedha.org

ECEDHA Community Summit

Enrollment, Retention, and Student Success Strategies

Departments are navigating shifting enrollment trends and evolving student needs. This session shares data-informed approaches to recruitment, retention, and supporting student success.

ECE AI Summit

Future of ECE Fundamentals

As AI reshapes engineering education and industry practice, ECE programs and companies alike are evaluating the balance between foundational technical knowledge and emerging AI-driven skill sets. This session brings together academic and industry leaders to discuss how core ECE competencies are evolving, what skills employers are seeking, and how universities and companies can work together to prepare students for the future workforce while maintaining academic rigor and strong engineering fundamentals.

ECEDHA Community Summit

Master's Pathways and Retaining

Top Talent in ECE

In this session, we will explore Master’s pathways and other innovative models designed to retain top talent in ECE and accelerate degree completion. We will examine how institutions are aligning undergraduate and graduate curricula, strengthening advising and mentorship, and creating streamlined pathways that encourage students to continue into advanced study and leadership opportunities in the field.