News

Each year, the UT Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) hosts a series of Senior Design Projects, which the undergraduate student teams present at the end of each semester during the Senior Design Open House. The day-long Open House event provides a unique opportunity for students to showcase and demonstrate their work. While WNCG consists mostly of graduate students, a select few undergraduates also engage in research projects and startups with WNCG faculty and students.

Just like Edison turned on the light bulb, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Wireless Networking and Communications Group (WNCG) at UT Austin are switching kids on to the field of engineering. Part of a STEM program geared towards middle school and high school students, the Edison Lecture Series celebrates fun over fundamentals and enables kids to have fun with science.

Currently, local utilities in the U.S. generate 12 percent more energy than they anticipate needing. Otherwise, if they experience a brownout or blackout, utility companies face heavy penalties from the government. “Most of that extra energy is going to waste,” WNCG Prof. Brian Evans states. “If utility companies had access to better information, they could predict user demand and how it evolves over the day. They could reduce energy waste by around four-to-six percent.”

Construction began in Fall 2013 on the new Engineering Education and Research Center (EERC) scheduled for completion by the start of the Fall 2017 semester. At 430,000 square feet, the new building will house interdisciplinary research labs, teaching labs and offices, Student Affairs, the Richard W. McKinney Engineering Library and the Cockrell School’s largest department, Electrical and Computer Engineering.