Electrical and computer engineering has a long tradition of excellence at Villanova University and it is an exciting time to be entering the electrical engineering and computer engineering fields. When you think of all the items that you use in your daily lives, cell phones, computers, GPS units, electricity, biomedical devices (such as hearing aids, MRI machines, etc.) they have all been developed by electrical and computer engineers.

As we look to the future, electrical and computer engineers are going to continue to play an important role in how we live our lives. The advent of plug-in hybrid vehicles means our cars will require battery management, more on-board computers and controls, power electronics, and electric drives - all electrical and computer engineering systems. When we look at the future of our electrical power grid, incorporating more renewable energy generation, smart appliances, customer power generation as well as consumption, and communication systems to send power data to control centers, this “smart grid” will be developed and maintained by electrical and computer engineers. The developments in biomedical devices which started with pacemakers, defibrillators, CAT scanners, PET scanners, MRI machines, and ultrasound devices, continue to grow providing more accurate imaging of cancer tumors as well as new treatments for diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. Again, these are developments that are being led by electrical and computer engineers. Finally, the area of cybersecurity – protecting our infrastructure against cyberattacks – will require the expertise of electrical and computer engineers as well as computer scientists.

Villanova’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department is supporting all of these areas both in the undergraduate and graduate curricula as well as in research programs. Our professors are committed to excellent teaching as well as advancing technologies. We work closely with our students to help them grow into outstanding technical leaders with strong ethical and moral foundations. We also provide opportunities for students to combine their technical skills with service to the underserved members of the world. Our students are working on small scale hydroelectric projects in Nicaragua and the Philippines, on solar electric systems for medical clinics in Tanzania and the Congo, and using cell phone technology to improve health care in rural Nicaragua.

Villanova University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department is an exciting place to learn, grow, and develop technical skills and leadership skills. I encourage you to explore our website to learn more about the department’s various programs and please feel free to contact me at Pritpal.singh@villanova.edu with any questions you may have.

Best regards,

Pritpal Singh, PhD
Professor and Chair