Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications Engineering

Telecommunications engineering lies at the heart of most information exchange, including telephone communications, broadcasting and the Internet. Our program provides a blend of knowledge from electrical engineering and computer science, focusing on communications networks and systems.

Careers in Telecommunications Engineering

Telecommunications engineering is a dynamic and rapidly developing field as a result of today’s heavy reliance on the Internet, cellphones, broadband, wireless networks, broadcasting and satellite applications. Telecom engineers design, implement and manage systems for processing and transmitting information, finding career opportunities in such areas as:

  • Computer communications and networking
  • Mobile communications
  • Voice and data networks
  • TV and radio broadcasting
  • Optical networking
  • Remote sensing, measurement and control
  • Next-generation networks

Telecommunications engineers also find employment in broader areas such as electronic engineering, instrumentation engineering, computer engineering, systems analysis and control engineering.

High School Preparation

Engineering education requires strong high school preparation. Pre-engineering students should have high school preparation of at least one semester of trigonometry and at least one year each in elementary algebra, intermediate and advanced algebra, plane geometry, chemistry, and physics, thus developing their competencies to the highest possible levels and preparing them to move immediately into demanding college courses in calculus, calculus-based physics, and chemistry for science majors. It’s also essential that pre-engineering students be able to read rapidly and write clearly.

Telecommunications Engineering at UT Dallas

The telecom engineering program is based on a solid foundation of science and mathematics coursework. Students learn to extend their abilities to analyze and solve complex problems and to design new uses of technology to serve society. The program provides an integrated educational experience directed toward the development of the ability to apply pertinent knowledge to the identification and solution of practical problems in electrical and telecommunications engineering. The design experience, which includes both analytical and experimental studies, is integrated throughout the curriculum in a sequential development leading to advanced work.

Internships and Fast-Track

The Erik Jonsson School operates one of the largest internship and cooperative education programs of its kind, averaging more than 500 student placements a year at Dallas-area high-tech companies, including Texas Instruments, Research In Motion, Raytheon, Alcatel-Lucent and Tektronix.

The Fast-Track Program enables exceptionally gifted undergraduate students to include master’s level courses in their undergraduate degree plans. When Fast-Track students graduate with a bachelor’s degree, they are automatically admitted to graduate school at UT Dallas. The hours required to complete the master’s degree are reduced by the number of Fast-Track graduate hours completed. So a Fast-Track undergraduate who passed 12 hours of graduate coursework would have only 21 hours of graduate coursework left in order to complete a master’s degree.

The University of Texas at Dallas www.utdallas.edu/enroll

Erik Jonsson School Of Engineering and Computer Science

Strategically located in the Telecom Corridor, home of the second-largest high-tech economy in the U.S., the Jonsson School recently completed a major public-private initiative that greatly expanded its capabilities and included construction of a new state-of-the-art 192,000-square-foot interdisciplinary research building.

With more than 140 tenured/tenure-track faculty members, 4,800 students, and $43 million in research funding, the Jonsson School has six academic departments:

  • Bioengineering
  • Computer Science
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Materials Science & Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Systems Engineering

In addition, the school recently added a minor in nanoscience and technology.

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Science: Biomedical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, software engineering, telecommunications engineering

Master of Science: Biomedical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, software engineering, systems engineering and management, telecommunications engineering

Doctor of Philosophy: Biomedical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, geospatial information sciences, materials science and engineering, software engineering, telecommunications engineering

Research

Research efforts under way at the school involve such cutting-edge technology as:

  • Carbon nanotubes
  • Micro-electromechanical systems
  • Semiconductor design and manufacturing
  • Wireless networking
  • Cochlear implant technology
  • Medical imaging
  • Speech recognition
  • Cybersecurity
  • Organic electronics
  • Materials characterization
  • Physical, chemical and biosensors

Additional Facts

  • The Jonsson School’s recent growth surge has helped propel its undergraduate programs into U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of the nation’s top schools of engineering.
  • The school’s graduate program has continued its rise through the U.S. News rankings, now placing among the top 50 public university graduate programs in engineering.
  • The Jonsson School has significantly increased the size of its faculty in recent years, hiring top recent graduates of Stanford University, Cornell University, Purdue University, Georgia Tech and UCLA as well as seasoned professionals from Rutgers University, USC, UC Davis, and from companies such as Freescale Semiconductor and Texas Instruments.
  • The Jonsson School features a variety of student organizations that are actively involved in both academic and social activities. Completely student-run, these include the Association for Computing Machinery, the Game Development Group, the National Society of Black Engineers, a chapter of the scientific research society Sigma Xi, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers.
  • Jonsson School students took first place in their division of the 2010 and 2011 BattleBots National Championship, and they won second place in the 2008 International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition.

Read what recent Jonsson School graduates think about their education and how it prepared them to be successful in their subsequent careers:

ecs.utdallas.edu/students/profiles/spring2012grads.html

Contact Information

Telecommunications Engineering Program
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, EC-33
The University of Texas at Dallas
800 West Campbell Road
Richardson, TX 75080-3021

Telecom Engineering Undergraduate Program
Dr. Mehrdad Nourani
Phone: 972-883-4391
Email: nourani@utdallas.edu
Website: www.te.utdallas.edu

Office of Admission and Enrollment Services
800 West Campbell Road
Richardson, TX 75080-3021
Phone: 972-883-2270 or 1-800-889-2443
Email: interest@utdallas.edu
Website: utdallas.edu/enroll