A Peek Inside Electrical and Computer Engineering

Preparing students for the real world through experiential learning is key to the Norwich educational philosophy. 

“We have to do the math and understand the science and equations in the classroom, but the fun part is the hands-on stuff, the application, which we love to do as teachers,” he says. “We’re not a research institution, so we don’t have graduate engineering students; we stay current as professors and work with our students.”

Cross enjoys the small class sizes and connections he forms with students. “I know students’ names, I know where they’re from, and I know where they’re going for spring break because we chat,” he says. “Getting that really personal connection makes it much more enjoyable as a professor.”

Connecting with students can look different throughout their time on The Hill. “We do summer projects, we do senior projects, and many of our classes have labs associated with them — we develop the labs, help students through the labs, and grade the labs,” says Cross.

“It’s very hands-on with professors too. It’s a small department and we have better than the average student-to-faculty ratio and we’re very much invested in our students. We know them by first name and what’s going on with them. We have an open-door policy.”

Whether focusing on the electrical or computer engineering side of things, students are deeply familiar with the engineering faculty. “We merged our faculty; the areas of study are very closely related,” he says. “Computer engineering is more focused on computer hardware and the infrastructure side of things. Electrical engineering is more about how you make electricity flow into the computer, so it calculates ones and zeroes to do some computation with it.”

Guidance from Classroom to Career

Department Chair Michael Cross Answers — What do Norwich Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduates Go on To Accomplish?

Though faculty are already so ingrained in the day-to-day life of students, Cross takes it a step further with his role as an advisor. “I always ask my students what they want to do with their degree because you can do just about anything you want, which is really cool,” he says. “Engineering is extremely diverse in what you can do after you leave The Hill.”

“A lot of times, students may not know what they want to do until they get closer to junior or senior year when they’re completing internships or starting to get job offers,” says Cross. “I like to get them thinking about areas of interest and what they like. Do they like gadgets, or have an interest in the military or transportation?”

The crucial point in Cross’s view is that all students have their years at Norwich to discover their interests. 

“You don’t need to know on day one, you can decide later — but once you finish your degree, the world is yours. You can pretty much do whatever you want and go wherever you want.”

“Our electrical and computer engineering students in particular go work for electrical utilities; work for small firms with Department of Defense contracts creating drones and guidance systems; develop the next CPU or GPU; or work on control systems for autonomous vehicles and the battery motor interfaces. The choice is yours. What do you want to do with your degree?”