Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is at the crossroads of hardware and software – the integration of these tools to create better, faster, safer technologies for things like cars, aircraft, computers, smartphones, or surgical robots. We create, innovate, and design technologies in computing, communications, electronics, and automation.
Why Study ECE At Rice University?
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University provides high-quality undergraduate and graduate education. We emphasize fundamental principles that respond to and create technological change. Our programs are designed to challenge the exceptional ability of Rice students, ensuring that our graduates are prepared for leadership roles. Our research efforts involve students from all levels and concentrate on developing our fundamental understanding of scientific, mathematical, and engineering principles. We turn results into algorithms, analysis techniques, and prototypes that extend technology's frontier.
Building on more than forty years of research successes and discoveries, a major goal of our research efforts is to prove, encourage, and support new and far-reaching initiatives that look decades into the future.
Driven by a core group of internationally recognized faculty, extensively and uniquely experienced in research and education, our culture fosters close collaboration, which is the major force that maximizes technology impact and direction.
Our Research
Through various funding programs, Rice has demonstrated leadership in focused research initiatives: Computer Engineering, Data Science, Neuroengineering, Photonics, Electronics and Nano-devices (PEN), Digital Signal Processing, Systems and Wireless, Health (These will link to research pages)
With our broad range of research, we are making a deep impact in communities throughout the world. Rice is known worldwide for developing new cancer therapies, devising incredible next-generation tools to rapidly identify proteins and viruses, and designing the architecture for wireless networks and embedded systems architectures. As we continue to build on decades of groundbreaking work in DSP algorithms, wireless communications, networking, and image processing, we are ahead of the curve in emerging areas such as biomedicine, neural engineering, and nanotechnology.
Our Faculty
Our faculty is dedicated to giving our students the best engineering education possible. Rice has gained a national reputation for its academic programs and research activities, and we offer a wealth of opportunities for our faculty and students to contribute to a broad spectrum of research.
Our Students & Alumni
Rice electrical and computer engineers are a diverse, smart, creative group of problem-solvers who innovate, create, and design technology that improves the world.
Our engineers are at the heart of the intersection of innovation and technology. We make cool technologies to change the world. Graduates go on to work in almost every industry imaginable, including health care, oil & gas, the space industry, gaming, renewable energy, national security, etc. In addition, the starting salary for ECE majors is one of the highest there is – around $70,000. And the median lifetime earnings for CE’s or EE’s hovers right around $2,000,000.