Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department at UC Santa Cruz aims to achieve engineering discoveries that benefit humankind through a combination of curiosity, open-mindedness, and inclusiveness. We aim to provide undergraduate and graduate students with inspiration and quality education, believing that rigor, creativity, and excitement should be part of the Electrical and Computer Engineering curriculum.

Our Electrical Engineering undergraduate program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org. Learn more about ABET Accreditation.

Research

Learn about the research being conducted within our department.

People

Meet people in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Degrees

Learn about the Graduate and Undergraduate programs in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

#2

public university in the nation for students focused on making an impact in the world (Princeton Review, 2022)

#10

best electrical engineering master's degree school in California (College Factual, 2025)

#2

top public colleges for engineering salaries (Wall Street Journal, 2023)

Researchers run high-performing large language model on the energy needed to power a lightbulb

UC Santa Cruz researchers show that it is possible to eliminate the most computationally expensive element of running large language models, called matrix multiplication, while maintaining performance.

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ECE research news

‘Future-guided’ AI improves seizure prediction

Engineers developed a deep learning method that manipulates time to make better predictions.

UC Santa Cruz helps feed America

For more than 50 years, UC Santa Cruz has been a national leader in supporting farmers and shaping food systems. Stand with us to defend this work.

Smart device uses AI and bioelectronics to speed up wound healing process 

A wearable device called “a-Heal,” designed by engineers at UC Santa Cruz, aims to optimize each stage of the wound healing process.

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Upcoming events

2025 Fall STEM Career & Internship Fair

October 15, 2025

Stevenson Event Center

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Explore potential Electrical and Computer Engineering career paths

• AI Engineer
• Computer Hardware Engineer
• Electrical and Electronics Engineer
• Embedded Systems Engineer
• Robotics Engineer
• Signal Processing Engineer
• Software Engineer
• Systems Engineer
• Telecommunications Engineer

Professor Holger Schmidt gives a tour of his labs and discusses his research in optofluidics. By working together, Schmidt and his UC Santa Cruz colleagues have discovered important biomedical applications for this technology.

Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Marco Rolandi is researching the use of technological devices to mimic biological processes.

Professor Ricardo Sanfelice and his Hybrid Systems Lab works to develop Cyber Physical Systems that incorporate networks, computers, and physics. applied to aerial vehicles and systems that operate in complex environments.

Learn about Robotics and Control Engineering at UC Santa Cruz

Dejan Milutinović and his graduate students study the control of robotic and autonomous vehicle systems, especially in the presence of uncertainty. The research is multidisciplinary, involving control theory, statistical physics, mathematics and mechanics. In the lab, they can test at a small scale, so there is no need to invest in airplanes and automobiles to test their theories.