Purdue University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering


The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering is the largest academic unit at Purdue University College of Engineering. The School of ECE offers both undergraduate B.S. degree as well as M.S. and Ph.D. graduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. The school enrolls over 1,500 undergraduates and over 800 graduate students. U.S. News & World Report ranks Purdue's Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering 10th at the Undergraduate level . The Graduate programs in both Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering are ranked 12th in the nation
The online MS program in Electrical Engineering ranked #2 in the nation in 2020.

History

The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering was established in 1888 with Lois Bell, Professor of Applied Electricity, as the head. At this time the first Electrical Engineering building was located opposite of Stanley Coulter Hall on the site of the present-day Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry. Railroad tracks came alongside the building to provide a berth for the Purdue University Interurban Test Car.
In 1901, Telephone Engineering became part of ECE to accommodate the urgent need for engineers who understood how to expand telephone systems from city to city.
WBAA, Indiana’s first radio station, was started in Purdue ECE in 1922.
In 1924, a new Electrical Engineering building was constructed to celebrate Purdue’s 50th birthday. Additions to the building were added in 1932 and 1940 made possible by Thomas Duncan, a Scottish immigrant who owned the nearby, highly successful Duncan Electric Company.
Purdue ECE played an important role in the early TV technology with Professor Roscoe George's many inventions including the first all-electronic television receiver.
The Lab for Applied Industrial Control was created in 1966.
The Materials and Electrical Engineering Building was built in 1988.
In 1996, the School of Electrical Engineering is officially renamed the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Student organizations