Technical Electives

Revised September 15, 2021

The following are the departmentally approved technical electives for ECE programs. Note that any differences between the below elective options and the Academic Catalog are pending review and require an ECE advisor to submit a request to update a student's degree audit. Contact ece-advisor@illinois.edu for any questions or to initiate the update request. 

See additional notes and restrictions below.

Aerospace Eng. (AE): 202, 302, 311, 312, 321, 352, 353, 402, 403, 410, 412, 416, 419, 420, 428, 433, 434, 435, 451, 460

Agri. Bio Eng. (ABE): any 300- and 400-level1 course EXCEPT 440

Astronomy (ASTR): 210, 310, 330, 350, 404, 405, 406, 414, 450

Atmospheric Science (ATMS): 201, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 404, 405, 406, 410, 411, 420, 421, 447, 449

Biochemistry (BIOC): 406, 440, 446, 455

Bioengineering (BIOE): 201, 202, 302, 414, 415, 461, 467, 473, 476, 480, 485

Biophysics (BIOP): all 400-level courses1

Chem & Bio Eng (CHBE): 221, 321, 421, 422, 424, 430, 431, 440, 451, 452, 453, 456, 457, 471, 472, 473, 474

Chemistry (CHEM): 1022, 1032, 104, 105, any 200/300/400-level1 class EXCEPT 396/7, 497, 499

Civil & Env. Eng. (CEE): 310, 330, 408, 409, 410, 416, 430, 447, 491

Crop Sciences (CPSC): 265

Computer Science (CS): (101, by approval), 1733, 2253, 242, 357, 407, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 431, 433, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440, 441, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 450, 460, 461, 463, 465, 466, 467, 473, 474, 475, 476; 477, 481, 484, 491; CS 398 & 498 Special Topics, as approved.

ECE: 297, 304, 307, 310, 311, 314, 3294, 330, 333, 3404, 342, 343, 350, 364, 365, 3743, 380, 3913, 395, 396, 397, 402, 403, 407, 408, 410, 411, 412, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 424, 425, 428, 431, 432, 434, 435, 437, 438, 439, 441, 443, 444, 4454, 446, 447, 448, 449, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 461, 460, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 476, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 495, 4964, 4994; ECE 398 & 498 Special Topics, as approved.

  • For Electrical Engineering
    Elective Labs: See table below for specific courses
  • For Computer Engineering
    1 of 6 EE Foundation Courses: 310, 329, 330, 340, 461, 486
    Advanced Computing Elective Courses: See table below for specific courses

Engineering (ENG): 491, InterdisciplinaryDesign; CubeSat, Solar Decathlon, Formula SAE, Baja SAE, or by approval. Other Engineering courses by approval of the Advising Office.

Geology (GEOL): 107, 208, 333, 380, 411, 417, 432, 436, 440, 450, 452, 460

Industrial Eng. (IE): 310, 330, 360, 361, 400, 410, 411, 412, 413, 420, 430, 431

Integrative Biology (IB): 150, 202, 203, 204, 302, 335, 348, 368, 401, 405, 420, 421, 426, 427, 431, 432, 440, 444, 451, 452, 453, 461, 462, 463, 464, 467, 468, 471, 472, 473, 481, 482, 483, 485, 486

Linguistics (LING): 300, 406, 407, 427

Material Science & Engineering (MSE): 280, any 300/400-level1 class EXCEPT 304, 460, 461

Math: 2133, 2575, 314, 347, 348, 357, 402, 403, 412, 413, 414, 4155, 4165, 417, 418, 423, 424, 425, 427,428, 432, 442, 444, 446, 447, 448, 450, 453, 473, 475, 481, 482, 484, 487, 489, 494

Molecular & Cellular Biology (MCB): 150, 250, 251, 252, 253, 300, 301, 314, 316, 354, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 406, 408, 410, 413, 419, 421, 424, 426, 430, 431, 433, 435, 446, 480

Mechanical Eng. (ME): 200, 310, 320, 330, 340, 370, 371, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 410, 411, 412, 420, 430, 431, 440, 445, 451, 452, 460, 461, 471, 472, 485, and 487

Music (MUS): 407, 409

Neuroscience (NEUR): 453

Nuclear Plasma & Radiological (NPRE): 201, 247, 402, 412, 421, 423, 429, 431, 432, 435, 441, 442, 444, 446, 447, 448, 451, 455, 457, 458, 470, 475

Physics (PHYS): 225, 246, 325, 326, 370, 371, 401, 402, 403, 406, 419, 420, 427, 460, 466, 470, 485, 486, 487

Psychology (PSYC): 204

Speech & Hearing Science (SHS): 200, 240, 300, 301, 320, 450, and 470

Statistics (STAT): 420, 424, 425, 428, 429, and 440

Systems Eng (SE): 411, 420, 423, 424

Theoretical & Applied Mechanics (TAM): 211, 212, 251, 324, 335, 412, 435, 445, 451

1 except seminars and special topics courses, which may be reviewed in the Advising Office
2 Elective for CompEs on the Fall 2021 or later catalog year
3 Elective for EEs only, required core for CompEs (any catalog year)
4 Elective for CompEs only, required core for EEs (any catalog year)
5 Elective for EE or CompEs on the old curriculum (prior to Fall 2021 catalog year)
Technical electives must be taken for a letter grade. S/U graded courses will not count.
Bring descriptions of new courses to the Advising Office, 2120 ECE Building, for evaluation.

Restrictions:

  • Proficiency exams, AP, and Int'l. Baccalaureate credit cannot be used as technical elective hours. A-level credit is accepted as transfer credit and applicable to technical electives.
  • Courses that are “same as” ECE courses are counted as ECE courses. GE 421 Intro to Robotics is “same as” ECE 470, so it counts as an ECE tech elective. In CS 241 it says “Credit is not given for both CS 241 and ECE 391.” They are not the same course; you won’t get any credit for CS 241.
  • ECE/PHIL 316, Engineering Ethics, is a Campus Humanities course which meets the Comp II requirement. It does not count as an ECE Elective.
  • Some sections of ECE 198, 199, 298, 398, and 498, Special Topics, may not have technical content. These sections will not count as ECE electives.
  • Specifically required ECE courses (e.g., ECE 220) do not count as electives.
  • Courses for non-majors (e.g., ECE 205) do not count except by permission.
  • Independent study courses = ECE elective hours: ECE 297, Individual Study, ECE 397, Individual Study in ECE, ECE 396, Honors Project, ECE 496+4994, Senior Thesis. ECE 297 may be repeated once for a total of 2 hours of ECE tech electives, but does not count as part of the 6 hours of independent study allowed for tech electives.

In different departments, CS, PHYS, etc. independent study can be approved for non-ECE tech elective hours. Bring to 2120 ECE Building for approval.

However, no student may take more than 4 hours special problems with the same instructor, nor count more than a total of 6 hours towards graduation as a technical elective or a required advanced ECE course or lab.

  • Non-ECE tech elective hours: ENG 491 Interdisciplinary Design Project, and other project classes, for technical credit, go to 2120 ECEB.

ECE Elective Laboratories: Old EE majors must take 2 hardware labs besides the required labs (385, 445), more are allowed. EE students entering August, 2014 and later must take 3 labs, at least one of which must be a hardware lab.

HARDWARE LABS SOFTWARE LABS
1 hr ECE 343 Electronic Circuits Lab 1 hr ECE 311 Digital Signal Processing Lab
4 hrs ECE 391 Computer Systems Engineering 1 hr ECE 314 Probability in Engineering Lab
2 - 3 hrs ECE 395 Advanced Digital Projects Lab 3 hrs ECE 364 Programming Methods for Machine Learning
3 hrs ECE 402 Electronic Music Synthesis 3 hrs ECE 365 Data Science and Engineering
2 hrs ECE 415 Biomedical Instrumentation Lab 4 hrs ECE 484 Principles of Safe Autonomy
2 hrs ECE 420 Embedded DSP Lab 4 hrs ECE 411 Comp Organization & Design Design
4 hrs ECE 431 Electric Machinery      
3 hrs ECE 435/CS 436 Computer Networking Lab      
3 hrs ECE 437 Sensors and Instrumentation      
3 hrs ECE 438 Communication Networks      
3 hrs ECE 439 Wireless Networks      
4 hrs ECE 443 LEDs and Solar Cells      
4 hrs ECE 444 IC Device Theory      
4 hrs ECE 446 Prin Experiment Research in EE      
3 hrs ECE 447 Active Microwave Circuit Design      
3 hrs ECE 451 Adv Microwave Measurements      
4 hrs ECE 453 Wireless Communication Systems      
4 hrs ECE 456 Global Nav Satellite Systems      
3 hrs ECE 460 Optical Imaging      
2 hrs ECE 463 Digital Communications Lab      
1 hr ECE 466 Optical Communications Lab      
3 hrs ECE 468 Optical Remote Sensing      
2 hrs ECE 469 Power Electronics Lab      
4 hrs ECE 470 Introduction to Robotics      
4 hrs ECE 481 Nanotechnology      
4 hrs ECE 486 Control Systems      
3 hrs ECE 489 Robot Dynamics and Control      
4 hrs ECE 495 Photonic Device Lab      

New CompE curriculum: Computer engineering majors beginning Fall 2014 must take at least 3 Advanced Computing Electives. ECE 411 counts as both advanced computing elective and a design elective.

Advanced Computing Electives

NOTE: SOME ECE CLASSES ARE CROSS LISTED WITH CS

CS ECE
3 hrs CS 357 Numerical Methods I 3 hrs ECE 407/ CS 407 Cryptography
3 hrs CS 411 Database Systems 4 hrs ECE 408/ CS 483 Applied Parallel Programming
3 hrs CS 412 Introduction to Data Mining 4 hrs ECE 411 Computer Organization & Design
3 hrs CS 414 Multimedia Systems 3 hrs ECE 412 Microcomputer Laboratory
3 hrs CS 418 Interactive Computer Graphics 3 hrs ECE 419/ CS 460 Computer Security Lab
3 hrs CS 419 Production Computer Graphics 4 hrs ECE 422/ CS 461 Computer Security I
3 hrs CS 420 Parallel Programming: Scientists and Engineers 3 hrs ECE 424/ CS 463 Computer Security II
3 hrs CS 421 Progrmg Languages & Compilers 3 hrs ECE 425 Intro to VLSI System Design
3 hrs CS 423 Operating Systems Design 3 hrs ECE 428/ CS 425 Distributed Systems
3 hrs CS 424 Real Time Systems 3 hrs ECE 434 Mobile Computing and Application
3 hrs CS 425 Distributed Systems 3 hrs ECE 435/ CS 436 Computer Networking Lab
3 hrs CS 426 Compiler Construction 3 hrs ECE 438/ CS 438 Computer Networking Laboratory
3 hrs CS 431 Embedded Systems 3 hrs ECE 439/ CS 439 Wireless networks
3 hrs CS 436 Computer Networking Laboratory 3 hrs ECE 448/CS 440 Artifical Intelligence
3 hrs CS 437 Topics in Internet of Things 3 hrs ECE 449/CS 446 Machine Learning
3 hrs CS 438 Communication Networks 3 hrs ECE 462 Logic Synthesis
3 hrs CS 440 Artificial Intelligence 4 hrs ECE 470 Introduction to Robotics
3 hrs CS 441 Applied Machine Learning 3 hrs ECE 478/ CS 477 Formal Software Devel. Methods
3 hrs CS 444 Deep Learning for Computer Vision 3 hrs ECE 479 IoT and Cognitive Computing
3 hrs CS 446 Machine Learning 4 hrs ECE 484 Principles of Safe Autonomy
3 hrs CS 450 Numerical Analysis 3 hrs ECE 491/ CS 450 Numerical Analysis
3 hrs CS 461 Computer Security I 3 hrs ECE 492/CS 420 Parallel Programming: Scientists and Engineers
3 hrs CS 475 Formal Models of Computation      
3 hrs CS 476

Programming Verification

     
4 hrs CS 473

Algorithms

     
3 hrs CS 477 Formal Software Devel Methods      
3 hrs CS 483 Applied Parallel Programming