Scholarships at St. Thomas
97% of first-year students receive merit scholarships that bring the average tuition cost down to $23,068 per year.
BS in Computer Engineering
The Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering is a hands-on, industry-oriented and career-focused program that blends theory and research with practical engineering fundamentals to prepare you to succeed in this increasingly autonomous and interconnected world. Computer engineers design, program and develop an ever-growing list of embedded products and systems such as smartphones, self-driving vehicles, smart home systems, pacemakers, medical diagnostic equipment, and a variety of other life-saving medical devices.
Why Study Computer Engineering at St. Thomas?
Your St. Thomas Computer Engineering journey consists of a hands-on, experiential learning in small groups facilitated by faculty with real-word experience. You will apply your curiosity and creativity to enhance your understanding of topics in computing systems, digital embedded systems, electronics, artificial intelligence and software engineering. At the same time, you will get a strong foundation in the liberal arts to cultivate critical thinking, oral and written communication and problem-solving skills that will accelerate your path, whether you plan to go into industry or further your academic studies after graduation.
With this in-demand degree, you will be prepared to work in industries focused on artificial intelligence, medical devices, autonomous vehicles, Internet of Things, digital electronics and more. Senior year, you will spend two semesters in our Senior Design Clinic working as part of a team to solve a real-world design challenge provided by an industry partner. This practical challenge mirrors what you will do as a professional engineer and is a critical component of the St. Thomas engineering program.
And the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering is consistently ranked in the top 50 undergraduate engineering schools in the country by US News and World Report.
Ask the Admissions Office for a Visit with Engineering.
We encourage you to request an in-person or virtual visit with our Dean, Dr. Don Weinkauf and/or one of our engineering faculty to help answer your questions, get to know us better, and see why St. Thomas is a great place to study engineering. Click here to get started.
Program Overview
Course Requirements
Students earning a BS in Computer Engineering will complete the University of St. Thomas Core Curriculum requirements and Computer Engineering major requirements and allied requirements.
If you are interested in transferring to St. Thomas with an Engineering major, read this information for undergraduate Engineering transfer students.
Four-Year Plan
Your faculty adviser will personalize a four-year plan with you based on your goals. This is one snapshot of how the plan of study for this major can look. Plans of study exist for students who wish to study abroad, double major or for ROTC.
Degrees Awarded
- Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.)
Senior Design Clinic
In their senior year, engineering teams take part in a two-semester capstone in which they use their knowledge from engineering and liberal arts courses to solve important problems. Multi-disciplinary teams are given the opportunity to demonstrate the designs they developed in partnership with industry sponsors, non-profits and community partners. From small start-ups to the largest companies in the Twin Cities, all find value in the unique solutions and our students shine while seeing their ideas come to fruition. Outcomes for students include networking with industry organizations and professionals, practical experience through the design cycle, the confidence that comes with real experience, and sometimes even job offers or their names included on patents.
The Design Clinic culminates with the Senior Design Show a great opportunity to showcase each team’s work to family, friends, peers and industry leaders.
Course Requirements
Course Requirements
Students earning a BS in Computer Engineering will complete the University of St. Thomas Core Curriculum requirements and Computer Engineering major requirements and allied requirements.
If you are interested in transferring to St. Thomas with an Engineering major, read this information for undergraduate Engineering transfer students.
Four-Year Plan
Four-Year Plan
Your faculty adviser will personalize a four-year plan with you based on your goals. This is one snapshot of how the plan of study for this major can look. Plans of study exist for students who wish to study abroad, double major or for ROTC.
Degrees Awarded
Degrees Awarded
- Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.)
Senior Design Clinic
Senior Design Clinic
In their senior year, engineering teams take part in a two-semester capstone in which they use their knowledge from engineering and liberal arts courses to solve important problems. Multi-disciplinary teams are given the opportunity to demonstrate the designs they developed in partnership with industry sponsors, non-profits and community partners. From small start-ups to the largest companies in the Twin Cities, all find value in the unique solutions and our students shine while seeing their ideas come to fruition. Outcomes for students include networking with industry organizations and professionals, practical experience through the design cycle, the confidence that comes with real experience, and sometimes even job offers or their names included on patents.
The Design Clinic culminates with the Senior Design Show a great opportunity to showcase each team’s work to family, friends, peers and industry leaders.
A Community of Problem-Solvers
Ann Thompson ’19
“Empathy” isn’t often equated with engineering, but at St. Thomas it’s considered an essential quality for students, according to Ann Thompson. Someday soon, she said, it will help her understand clients’ needs. The School of Engineering encourages her to think about the impact she can have. To that end, she took a year off to volunteer at a school in Nepal. In the next five years, she envisions going on to graduate school in engineering, where she may research the effects of sound on our lives. “The world is getting louder all the time,” she explained. “What will that mean for animals and for humans?”
Dr. Lucas Koerner, Assistant Professor
Dr. Lucas Koerner is developing electrical instrumentation for challenges in sensing with student teams. One team is working on a low-cost, optical measurement system for portable medical diagnostics. Students have created an economical light measurement system that leverages the computational capabilities of a microcontroller.
Jeremy Ziemer '21
Jeremy Ziemer '21 is working on bringing the Internet of Things to a small immigrant farm near the Twin Cities, in partnership with the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA). His project aims to leverage his St. Thomas coursework and what he’s learned about the design and implementation of low-cost sensor platforms and automated control systems. He’ll add instrumentation and robust control to new high-tunnels erected on the HAFA farm.
Become a Global Engineer
Dual Degree in German and Engineering
Combining engineering with the knowledge of German and intercultural competence through a year abroad, the German and Engineering dual degree program prepares graduates for meaningful careers in a globally minded and diverse world. The combination of foreign language and engineering studies lets students apply their language and culture skills to engineering and vice versa.
Career Paths
- Data Analyst/Engineer
- Medical Device Engineer
- Control System Engineer
- Embedded Software Engineer
- Internet of Things (IoT) Engineer
- Network Engineer
- Software Engineer
- Computer Engineer
Jobs and Internships
- Every engineering student participates in our Senior Design Clinic where they design and solve an engineering problem for industry.
- 80% of engineering students graduate with a technical internship in industry (Many with more than one!)
- Meet the Engineers is the School of Engineering’s Reverse Career Fair and it is held every fall. St. Thomas engineering students interested in full-time employment and internships represent themselves with a poster board and standby as prospective employers, many of whom are engineering alumni, walk and talk with students about their particular goals, interests and talents.
- Over 600 companies are within 20 minutes of campus including: 3M, Honeywell, Ecolab, Polaris, Medtronic, Cargill, Xcel Energy, Cargill, Graco, Boston Scientific.
Affordability and Outcomes
Scholarships for Engineering Students
Several competitive scholarships are available for first-year students planning to major in engineering, science and mathematics. There are also undergraduate scholarships available for returning engineering students each academic year.
$114K
is the median annual pay for computer engineers in 2018.
Quick Facts
80%
of our engineering students graduate with a technical internship or co-op industry experience. (Many with more than one.)
100%
of computer engineering students design and solve an engineering problem for industry as a part of the St. Thomas Engineering Senior Design Clinic.
Faculty With Real-World Experience
Dr. Hassan Salamy, Associate Professor
Dr. Hassan Salamy is working on research with undergraduate students to reduce power consumption in devices such as smartphones. His team is also working to provide thermal balancing on multi-processor systems commonly used in these devices, because high temperature densities can cause them to fail.
Dr. Lucas Koerner, Assistant Professor
Dr. Lucas Koerner is collaborating with electrophysiologists at the National Institutes of Health to create a new digital-based amplifier system for studying the behavior of ion channels.With his St. Thomas students, he is creating a Python software package that facilitates experiment reproducibility. This software suite manages instrument control, data acquisition and experimental configurations to provide experimentalists more confidence in their measurements.
Dr. Kundan Nepal, Chair of Computer and Electrical Engineering
Dr. Kundan Nepal is collaborating with researchers at Southern Methodist University to design fault tolerant computing systems used in autonomous vehicles and other mission-critical applications. His research team is developing hardware and software techniques to provide low-power, rapid field testing of these critical systems.
The St. Thomas Experience
Clubs
The School of Engineering has many student clubs to choose from:
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- Engineers for a Sustainable World
- Projects and Robotics Club
- Society of American Military Engineers
- National Society of Black Engineers
- Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
- Society of Women Engineers
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers
- Nearly every engineering course is paired with a hands-on laboratory
- Over 90% of engineering classes have 30 students or less. Laboratory sections are designed for 12 students.
- First semester introductory engineering courses are designed for students to work with fellow engineering students on projects and to get to know our engineering faculty.
- 50% of engineering students work on research projects outside coursework, and often have a chance to present at a conference as an undergraduate.
- St. Thomas computer engineering students have the opportunity to participate in meaningful collaborative research with faculty and to design engineering projects that make a real impact in the world. Recently, St. Thomas computer engineering students worked with Dr. Cheol-Hong Min and several other departments at St. Thomas on a precision agriculture project using a robot they built called “FarmBot” – an automated robotic tool guided by GPS -- to increase the yield of crops. Additionally, Dr. Lucas Koerner and a team of engineering students are working to develop a low-cost, optical measurement system for portable medical diagnostics.
Accelerate Your Master’s Degree
The Fast Track Bachelor’s/Master’s Program, offers computer engineering students the opportunity to begin their graduate studies during their undergraduate years, accelerating the process of getting their master’s degree. Students earn their bachelor’s degree first and then would go on to earn their master’s with as few as 8 additional classes, saving time and money. With careful planning, it is possible to finish both degrees from St. Thomas in as few as five years for both degrees. Degree options exist for computer engineering students both from the graduate engineering and graduate software programs.
Engineers get global experience in study abroad programs focused on engineering, social entrepreneurship or cultural immersion. Programs are held worldwide, including in Italy, Peru, Germany, Australia and Jordan.
Accreditation
The University of St. Thomas bachelor's degree programs in Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, the global accreditor of college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering and engineering technology. ABET, 415 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.
The University of St. Thomas is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
Graduates of the University of St. Thomas Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (B.S.C.P.E.) program are expected to achieve one or more of the following:
- Create with Engineering Skills: Use computers and knowledge of hardware and software principles to create systems, products, and services that meet needs of people, improve the quality of their lives, and use resources wisely in pursuit of the common good.
- Grow in a Learning Profession: Increase personal knowledge and skill through graduate or professional study, appropriate certifications, and work assignments.
- Contribute through Citizenship: Contribute time, knowledge, and skills to the profession, community, and the world.
- Lead through One's Work: Serve as a team member or team leader, demonstrating ethical behavior, professional responsibility, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Adopted: April 21, 2014. Revised: May 6, 2022.
Graduates of the program have:
- An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
- An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
- An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
- An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
- An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
- An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
- An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
It takes more than theory to transform an idea into useful technology for our society. St. Thomas engineers emerge with practical, hands-on experience, the power of strong communication skills and the broad perspective of a liberal arts education. Our rigorous engineering programs are designed to transform the young creative minds of our students into engineers who can truly make a difference in the world.
Dr. Don Weinkauf, Dean of the School of Engineering
Take the Next Step
There is more to learn about St. Thomas; including our ranking as a Best Value School by U.S. News & World Report, the many classroom and extracurricular activities that will be part of your student experience and so much more. Schedule a visit to see our beautiful campus or start your application today.