Computer engineers embed computers in other machines and systems, build networks to transfer data, and develop ways to make computers faster, smaller, and more capable. They are making computers more mobile, and incorporating computers into fabrics, clothes, and building materials. Computer engineers have the option of moving into hardware or software positions, or blending the two.

Industries hiring computer engineers include financial services, computer manufacturers, chemical companies, defense contractors, consulting, transportation, manufacturing, and consumer goods. Computer engineers are equally successful in large multinational firms and small startups.

Chips are ubiquitous in engineering applications, including communications, networking, automotive, industrial control, robotics, medical instrumentation, smart grid, smart home, and the Internet of Things.

Chip-scale integration harnesses the advances in integrated digital and analog electronics to add even greater functionality, improve performance, minimize power consumption, and expand applications.

Many chip-scale integration graduates become chip designers, working for small and large companies on chips that contain millions to billions of transistors and have architectures as complex as cities. Others become tool designers that automate, verify, and test the design and manufacturing of these chips. There are also many research opportunities in this fast-changing and impactful field.

Machine learning is the art of teaching computer systems how to learn on their own. Machine learning techniques are being rapidly integrated into a growing number of fields, including selfdriving cars, speech and visual recognition, effective web search, marketing, and understanding of the human genome.

Career opportunities in machine learning  include software engineers, data scientists, and machine learning or computer vision engineers.

Controls, robotics and autonomy goes above and beyond robots— it seeks new ways to interact with the world, interpret information, regulate processes, and teach systems how to make autonomous decisions.

Engineers in this field work on aerial vehicles, vehicular networks, deep learning in robotics, autonomous decision making, autonomous teams and swarms, human-robot interaction, and other projects. Machine learning, optimization, embedded systems, and signals and systems are all important for this field.

Typical career paths include control/automation engineers and robotics engineers. Advanced degrees are common for many robotics/autonomy startups and specific thrusts in larger corporations

Networking and cybersecurity is the backbone of today’s IT industry, which is in turn a main driving force for economic growth. There is a serious shortage of graduates with these skills.

Computer engineers in this field draw on hardware and software skills to ensure the efficient and safe transmission of data and energy through networks such as wireless cellular and the power grid. Stateof-the-art work in the field includes network and information security, cryptography, social networks, reliability, capacity, energy efficiency, and resilience.

Large and small companies, government agencies, universities, and research institutions seek cybersecurity graduates.

Software systems engineers write complex software systems of all sizes for applications including machine learning, cyber physical systems, and infrastructure software. This means they need to be confident and comfortable with hardware/software interactions and equipped with a ready knowledge of how hardware features can be exploited for designing and implementing software.

Career possibilities include working as software engineers or architects, or in other jobs with a large programming component.

The imagination of electrical engineers has transformed the world. EEs develop the tools and techniques to sense, measure, convert, transmit, control, and receive energy and intelligence. In doing this, EEs work on projects as small as mosquito-sized robots, to  controlling massive, million-mile structures, such as the nation’s power grid.

EEs can work in product development, product testing, system management, sales, and consulting in industries including amusements, wireless communication, consumer electronics, power, transportation, manufacturing, automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical, defense, and more.

Wireless communications are now enmeshed in almost every  aspect of modern life and the importance of wireless communications will only grow.

Wireless communications & signal processing overlap with other ECE specializations, which allows students to focus on a specific aspect of communications and networking, for example softwaredefined radio, or spectrum sharing issues.

Engineers who specialize in wireless communications & signal processing work at companies of all sizes—from startups to large defense contractors. Others conduct fundamental research at universities and research institutions.

Controls, robotics and autonomy goes above and beyond robots— it seeks new ways to interact with the world, interpret information, regulate processes, and teach systems how to make autonomous decisions.

Engineers in this field work on aerial vehicles, vehicular networks, deep learning in robotics, autonomous decision making, autonomous teams and swarms, human-robot interaction, and other projects. Machine learning, optimization, embedded systems, and signals and systems are all important for this field.

Typical career paths include control/automation engineers and robotics engineers. Advanced degrees are common for many robotics/autonomy startups and specific thrusts in larger corporations.

Energy and power electronics systems engineers maintain stability in today’s electrical power infrastructure while preparing for, designing, and building smart grids of the future. Modeling, analysis, and design of power systems components and power electronics systems are important skills for this field.

Graduates can choose careers with large-scale energy transmission and distribution, or device-scale power conditioning. With developments in the smart grid, increased use of electric cars, energy storage, smart buildings, and alternative energy sources, career paths in power transmission and distribution include everything from traditional control and protection roles in electric utilities, to new jobs in green engineering and alternative energy startups.

Jobs at the device scale are typically in startup power electronics firms or on development teams at large firms.

Engineers who specialize in micro and nano systems work with electronics and circuits at an extremely small scale. To complicate matters, materials can change their characteristics and behaviors at the nano-scale.

Engineers in this field are involved in applications ranging from creating more efficient solar cells to microprocessors that exceed the capabilities of traditional silicon-based processors. They are designing and building complete systems on a chip to detect and classify gas and toxins, advance cancer research, and other applications.Micro/nanosystem engineers rely on a strong background in electronics and are well versed in the use of semiconductor materials.

Graduates in this major will be able to build careers in development and  design with industry and government organizations—from multinational firms to small startups.

This new ECE major combines the areas of space systems, radio frequency/microwave, and photonics for a comprehensive and well-rounded understanding of these electrical engineering fields. This major will only be available to students who enter Virginia Tech Fall 2023 or after and is not available to current students. Contact your advisor for more information.