Nowadays the world is lit by lightning, playwright Tennessee Williams wrote. But electrical and computer engineers prove him wrong every day.<br>From city lights to satellites, semiconductors, telephone switching systems and audio equipment, their work depends on electricity and the engineers who design and develop ways to harness its power.<br>Electrical Engineering majors at CSUN receive a solid, broad-based education. Among the many topic areas in the basic curriculum are mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer programming, engineering materials, electrical circuits, engineering mechanics, thermodynamics, engineering economy and numerical analysis. At the senior level, students may choose elective courses from one or more of the following Electrical and Computer Engineering areas: Biomedical Engineering, Communications, Digital Systems Design, Control Systems, Electronics, Microwave and Antenna Engineering, or Power Systems.<br><br>The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department has 17 labs associated with its ECE classes. In the labs, students work alongside professors who may be designing medical instrumentation for healthcare, designing microcontroller-based applications, developing pager and satellite communications systems, or working on innovations in electrical power systems.<br><br>All students in the EE or CompE programs take part in the department's senior design program, modeled on industry work groups that students will encounter on the job. Like professional engineers, students design and develop a project from conception through manufacture. In the process, they gain valuable experience in working as a team and dealing with personalities, as well as technical areas.