Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

EK131 E5 Introduction to Engineering

Prof. Michel A. Kinsy

From Heart Monitoring to Kinect Gaming: Seeing the Invisible

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Course Information §  Course website:

http://ascslab.org/courses/ek131/index.html §  Instructor and Staff

•  Instructor §  Michel A. Kinsy, Asst. Prof. ECE §  E-mail: mkinsy@bu.edu §  Office: PHO 314 §  Office hours:

•  Monday: 1:00pm-2:00pm •  Wednesday: 12:00-1:00am

•  Staff §  Douglas Roeper

•  droeper@bu.edu §  Staff 2 (TDB)

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Course Information §  The general format of the course consists of: •  Regular lectures •  Hybrid lectures with hands-on experiments •  Course project

§  Grading Outline •  Problem Sets: 20% •  Laboratory Assignments: 30% •  In-class Participation: 20% •  Project: 30%

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Course Information §  This course is to introduces you to the principles

of system engineering, in particular computer system engineering

§  Upon successful completion you will be able to: •  understand how physical signals can be represented

digitally as bits stored on a computer •  recognize basic electronics components and circuits

at the heart of information processing •  assess the societal impact of engineering and the

engineer's responsibilities in this regard •  among others

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Course Information §  How to succeed in this class

•  Be curious •  Be engaged •  Make it worth your time

§  The good, the bad and the ugly •  We are truly living in the century of the computer

engineer •  Class period is the time to tune in and drop out: Cell

phones, tablets, laptops, etc., must be muted or off and NOT USED during the class, unless instructed otherwise (e.g., for experiments)

•  Academic misconduct: Please read the the student handbook – It is not worth it.

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Engineering: The Art of Imitating God*

§  According to ABET •  Engineering is the profession in which a knowledge

of the mathematical and natural sciences gained by study, experience, and practice is applied with judgment to develop ways to utilize, economically, the material forces of nature for the benefit of mankind

§  Scientists discover the world that exists; engineers create the world that never was. •  Theodore Von Karman, Aerospace Engineer

*  M.  A.  Kinsy,  “Why  I  do  the  things  that  I  do”,  2011  

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Scientist vs. Engineer §  Scientist

•  A practitioner of science •  Develops knowledge

from analysis and study •  Key characteristic activity

§  Research

•  Related fields §  Biology §  Chemistry §  Physics §  Computer Science (?)

§  Engineer •  A practitioner of

engineering •  Uses knowledge of math

and science to create something new

•  Key characteristic activity §  Creative design

•  Related fields §  Civil Engineering §  Mechanical Engineering §  Electrical Engineering §  Computer Engineering

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

The Long History of Engineering §  One can easily say that the history of humankind

is one of continuous engineering and its refinement •  Primitive tools

•  The pyramids

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

The Long History of Engineering §  One can easily say that the history of humankind

is one of continuous engineering and its refinement •  Roman arched bridges

•  The Great wall of China

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Engineering Disciplines §  Electrical Engineering •  Fields of study

§  Electricity, electronics, controls and electromagnetic fields and waves

•  Applications §  Antennas, televisions, appliances, design of power

generation and distribution system •  Today's Challenges:

§  Gb/s wireless communication §  Post-CMOS compute substrate §  Nano-scale photonic devices §  Renewable Energy

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Engineering Disciplines §  Biomedical Engineering

•  Fields of study §  Biology, chemistry, materials science and medicine

•  Applications §  Advanced diagnostics

•  Biosensing •  Imaging

§  Monitoring •  Electromechanical sensors

§  Therapy •  Artificial body parts

•  Today's Challenges: §  Cancer, §  Alzheimer/Parkinsons §  Zika Virus §  Prosthetic limbs

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Engineering Disciplines §  Mechanical Engineering •  Fields of study

§  Physics and materials science

•  Applications §  Transport systems (cars, aircraft, vessels), heating and

cooling systems and manufacturing systems

•  Today's Challenges: §  Nano-scale mechanical devices §  Autonomous actuators §  Zero emission heat engines §  Microelectromechanical systems

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Engineering Disciplines §  Civil Engineering •  Fields of study

§  Physics and materials science

•  Applications §  Buildings, roads, bridges, canals, dams, storm water system

•  Today's Challenges: §  Seismic hazard estimation §  Structures under extreme loading §  Storm water management §  Efficient transportation systems

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Engineering Disciplines §  Aerospace Engineering •  Fields of study

§  Aerodynamics, propulsion and navigation

•  Applications §  Aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, missiles, and rockets

•  Today's Challenges: §  Aviation biofuels §  Bio-inspired aerodynamics §  Multi-agent flight control systems §  Autonomous trajectory planning

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Engineering Disciplines §  Computer Engineering

•  Fields of study §  Electricity, analog and digital hardware design, mathematics

and software development •  Applications

§  Personal computing •  PCs, tablets, smartphones and gaming consoles

§  Embedded systems •  UAVs, autonomous vehicles, …

•  Today's Challenges: §  Neuromorphic computing §  Secure computing systems §  Ubiquitous and context-aware computing

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Engineering Rocks! §  Literally

•  The synthesizer •  The amplifier

§  It can be the start of your rock career •  Tom Scholz

§  Founder and lead singer of the band Boston

§  Inventor of the Rockman portable guitar amplifier

§  Graduated with a Bachelors and Masters degree in mechanical engineering from MIT

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Computer Engineering §  The focus of this course is a short hands-on

exploration of the field §  What is a computer (in a broad sense)?

•  An electronic device for sensing, collecting, storing, processing and presenting data, according to a built-in logic or instructions given to it in the form of a program

§  Computing and computer technology are part of just about everything that touches our lives: •  From the cars we drive •  To the movies we watch •  To the ways businesses and governments deal with us

§  Can you give examples of computers around your house?

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Computer Engineering

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Computer Engineering §  Examples: Gaming •  Augmented Reality •  Entertainment •  Virtual Reality •  Learning

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Computer Engineering §  Examples: Cybersecurity •  Computer based threats

§  Hackers §  Privacy

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Computer Engineering §  Examples: Robotics •  Artificial Intelligence •  Sensors / Actuators •  Embedded systems

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Computer Engineering §  Computing Cycle

Physical  World    

Compu2ng  System    Store  and  Process  

Sense  Act  

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Computer Engineering §  Computing Cycle

Physical  World    

Compu2ng  System    Store  and  Process  

Sense  Act  

The  physical  world  is  analog  (we  will  define  these  terms  later)    

Most  compu:ng  systems  are  digital  

Computers  has  more  senses:  they  can  see,  hear,  taste,  smell,  and  feel  things  that  humans  cannot    

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Computer Engineering §  Computing Cycle

Physical  World    

Compu2ng  System    Store  and  Process  

Sense  Act  To  explore  this  interes:ng  bridge,  we  have  this  course:  From  heart  monitoring  to  Kinect  gaming:  Seeing  the  invisible  

Department Electrical & Computer Engineering

Next Class §  A brief history of computer systems