In university of Gondar, institute of technology, computer engineering (CE) has started as a stream in the department of Electrical and computer engineering by admitting students in the first semester of the fourth year of the five-year study period. Admitted students to the CE stream studied for four semesters before graduation. Eventually, during the curriculum harmonization process, justifications arose to run computer engineering as a program besides electrical engineering, while the department of electrical engineering adopted a stream based system. Today we are living in the era where computers are ubiquitously deployed in almost every aspect of our life. The proliferation and progressively cheaper prices of microprocessors, memories and so many other digital gates made it simple, efficient and cost effective to use digital equipment to operate and control industrial and home used devices. Due to the fast pace in the invention of new hardware devices and software programs that run on them new ways of modeling, simulation and programming has been developed. Accordingly, the demand for skilled computer engineers is increasing drastically. Its versatile and adoptable nature, the need for educators and professionals in this area of expertise is abundant at a global scale. Irrespective of their economic and political status, every nation has become increasingly dependent on the use of digital systems.

Computer nowadays are found everywhere than ever and the users realized its importance and efficiency. The saving in time, increased productivity, improvement in life quality has proved worthy of its immense investment. Existing service providers and production companies are upgrading their system towards digital systems such as breweries, sugar factories, transport offices, financial institutions, military installations, service providers, and countless others. The use of data networking and distributed applications are expanding in both demographic and geographic coverage. Engineering systems require solid knowledge in mathematics, electrical circuitry, signal analysis, electronics principles, ability to model and design physical systems. Today’s computer engineers must be highly capable of comprehending wide variety of knowledge areas to be successful towards national growth and better personal career. They must have strong scientific, technical and managerial skills and be able to integrate technical concepts with practical applications. It is vital to compare what kind of professionals does the Industry need and the applications of the graduates and the services that could be provided by them to the industry.

In computer engineering, more attention will be given to:

  • Current technological advancement in the area
  • The demand and needs of the industries in accordance with the needs of the country
  • Increasing the linkage between the industry and the faculty
  • Enhancing the innovative and problem solving skills of the graduates.
  • Ability to model, design and build cost efficient electronic and computer system
  • Operation and control of programmable household and industrial machineries and electronics systems
  • Model and build software systems for devices and services

Taking into consideration the requirements of modern industries, this program has realized that there is a need to provide intensive theoretical and technical knowledge to students in their focus areas. The focus areas outlined below are therefore prepared partly in response to the initiative and partly to address the ever-increasing demand for computer professionals in the various sectors by producing skilled workforce capable of taking up positions at various levels in the areas of modeling and simulation, digital equipment manufacturing, software and hardware development and networking. Students graduating in this program can find themselves well equipped to pursue further specialization in academic career and competent in industries not only in Ethiopia but also globally.

Visions

Aspire to be a source of pride for the nation through excellence in computer engineering education, research and innovation.

Missions

To produce skilled manpower in computer engineering to lead productive and rewarding professional lives at the forefront of Engineering based on:

  • Current technological advancement in the area,
  • The demand from the industries (need of the country),
  • Increasing the linkage between the industry and the department,
  • Enhancing the innovative and problem-solving skills of the graduates.
  • To foster research and project work to solve the problems of the society.
  • To conduct community service activities.

Rational of the Program

The basic rationale for program is the prevailing conditions in the country with respect to the needs for professionals in the area of computer engineering, specifically in the areas of computerized automation, data networking, and persistence of more and more computer – based systems and products. Also, future trends in these and other areas in the country show  developing demands for the profession. The program keenly follows the developments in this regard both within the country and internationally and the following provide some of the major facts and observations on which these programs premised.

Ethiopia, like many of the developing countries, is essentially a user of products of computer technology. The current undergraduate program, which is matured through a series of peer discussion and workshops with stakeholders, is designed to meet the needs of the main employers of the graduates in the design, operation and maintenance of hardware and software systems. To meet these needs the program is made broad enough to cover most major professional and academic areas. The program members shall strive so that the training provided should be versatile and enables graduates to work in research, design, development, manufacturing, quality control, marketing, sales and technical support, and as entrepreneurs, consultants and teachers.

The program has a five-year undergraduate (BSC) programs accepting and training students with the aim of creating skilled graduates with strong mathematical background, knowledge of electronic technology and computing ability the academic contents of undergraduate computer engineering program are designed to enable graduates to build computing abilities in the electronic arena. The program is organized in a department head, two chairs and five research groups.

The two chairs are:

Software and data science systems chair

Thematic Areas: Distributed systems, Software development, System engineering, Computer graphics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, Computer vision, and etc.

Hardware & networking systems chair

Thematic areas: Computer architecture, embedded systems, Electronic design automation, FPGA, Hardware verification and testing, Nano-systems design and modeling, System-onchip design, Computer networks, Mobile and wireless computing IOT, high performance computing, VLSI design, Cyber Security ,Robotics and etc

The five research groups are:

  1. AI/Machine Learning /Data Science
  2. High-Performance and cloud Computing
  3. Computer Architectures, Internet of Things and Embedded Systems
  4. Networks, Distributed Systems and Security
  5. Database Management and Software Engineering

General Objectives

To produce a high quality Computer Engineering graduates with an entrepreneurial and problem solving mindset.

Specific Objectives

  • Equip students with strong theories in electrical engineering
  • Equip students with strong Mathematics
  • Equip students with strong knowledge in programming, modeling and design of systems and applications
  • Educating and training students for the very dynamic and rapidly changing science and technology market.
  • Educating and training students to become life-long learners by providing them with a sound base in Computer Engineering, basic sciences as well as general education for a career in a dynamic and rapidly evolving industry.
  • Offer staff members a motivating environment within which they can be a tutor, researcher, trainer, expert and practitioner.
  • Provide students with skill, knowledge and academic background based on internationally recognized academic standards.
  • Motivating students to become innovators who can respond very positively to the challenges and opportunities presented by new ideas and technologies.
  • Laying a strong foundation and instilling confidence in students who may want to pursue post-graduate studies later in life.
  • Provide an environment in which students are exposed to the legal issues

Encourage participation in research and development.