Embedded Systems Engineering Technology
Mission
The mission of the Embedded Systems Engineering Technology (ESET) bachelor's degree program within the Computer Systems Engineering Technology (CSET) Department at Oregon Institute of Technology is to prepare our students for productive careers in industry and government by providing an excellent education incorporating industry-relevant, applied laboratory-based instruction in both the theory and application of embedded systems engineering. Our focus is educating students to meet the growing workforce demand in Oregon and elsewhere for graduates prepared in both hardware and software aspects of embedded systems. Major components of the ESET program's mission in the CSET Department are:
- To educate a new generation of ESET students to meet current and future industrial challenges and emerging embedded systems engineering trends.
- To promote a sense of scholarship, leadership, and professional service among our graduates.
- To enable our students to create, develop, apply, and disseminate knowledge within the embedded systems development environment.
- To expose our students to cross-disciplinary educational programs.
- To provide government and high tech industry employers with graduates in embedded systems engineering and related professions.
Educational Objectives
- Graduates of the ESET program are expected to understand the societal impact of embedded systems and technological solutions.
- Graduates of the ESET program are expected to do hardware/software co-design for embedded systems. Graduates will continue to develop skills in analysis, approach, optimization, and implementation of embedded systems.
- Graduates of the ESET program are expected to obtain the knowledge, skills and capabilities necessary for immediate employment in embedded systems. Embedded systems is a profession increasingly driven by advances in technology; therefore graduates are expected to obtain the necessary life-long learning skills to enable them to be able to adapt to a changing environment.
- Graduates of the ESET program are expected to develop a broad base of skills. These skills will prepare them for professional practice: 1) as embedded engineers, 2) as participants in embedded development teams, and 3) as effective communicators within a multidisciplinary team.
- Graduates of the ESET program are expected to acquire knowledge of management and marketing of embedded projects and products and to prepare for series production.
Expected Student Learning Outcomes
Embedded Systems Engineering Technology baccalaureate graduates will have demonstrated:
The ability to apply mathematics including differential and integral calculus, probability, and discrete mathematics to hardware and software problems (Objectives C, D, E).
- An ability to apply project management techniques to embedded systems projects (Objectives C and D).
- Knowledge of embedded systems engineering technology, along with some specialization in at least one area of computer systems engineering technology. (Objective D)
- A broad education and knowledge of contemporary issues necessary to reason about the impact of embedded system based solutions to situations arising in society. (Objective A)
- The ability to identify and synthesize solutions for embedded system problems. (Objective B, C)
- The ability to design, conduct and evaluate the results of experiments on embedded platforms. (Objective C, D)
- The ability to analyze, design and test systems that include both hardware and software. (Objective B, D)
- The ability to document experimental processes and to write satisfactory technical reports/papers. (Objective D, E)
- The ability to make technical oral presentations and interact with an audience. (Objective D, E)
- The recognition for and the motivation to further develop their knowledge and skills as embedded engineering advances occur in industry. (Objective C)
- The ability to work effectively, independently, and in multi-person teams. (Objective D)
- An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility. (Objective A, D)
Curriculum Map
The ESET program curriculum map can be found on the program's web page on the OIT web site.
Summary of ESET Assessment Activities
The ESET program courses do not become specific to the degree offering until Fall of the Junior Year. The catalog advertised the first entry into the ESET program starting Fall 2006. The first year of the Software Engineering Technology, Computer Hardware Engineering Technology, and the Embedded Systems Engineering Technology programs are common. The second year of the Dual Degree course mapping and the ESET program are also common. The Junior Project course is the first area of the curriculum where the ESET students are officially separated from the other two programs, giving an ideal time to perform assessment of student skills for students entering the courses specific to the ESET program. This course is CST 371 - Embedded Systems Development I. The first set of students will be in this course Fall of 2008. Planning is currently underway for the 2008-2009 year in the ESET program related to the assessment of learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, and 8, as discussed in the attached assessment report.