Implementation of a Computer Engineering Program: Some Fundamental Questions and a Curriculum

Eady in 1977, the first report by the Model Curriculum Subcommittee of the IEEE Computer Society was published [1]. This report, which presented in considerable detailarecommended curriculum in computer science and engineering, came at a fortunate time for a committee in the Department of Electical and Computer Engineering (E& CE) at aemson Univemity. Although the Department of E&CE had been so named since the eady 1970´s, this committee was in the process of prepaing the proposal for a computer engineerng degree to accompany the long-existing elctnical engineerng degree. This committee, along with the entire E& CE faculty, the faculty of an emerging Department of Computer Science, and the university administration, was to face, within the next two years, many problems associated with computer education. As evidence that solutions to most of the problems were found, final permission to offer the computer engineering degree, along with the computer science degree, was granted in early 1980. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the citical questions that arose during this period, and to discuss the partial answers as determined at Clemson, in the hope that such information can be helphul to otha departments and universities encountering similar situations.