I was browsing IEEE xplore the other day and found this gem called "What Mathematics Courses Should an Electrical Engineer Take? A Report on the National Study of Mathematics Requirements for Scientists and Engineers" by G.H. Miller. dated 1970. I believe this paper is most likely aimed at undergrad electrical engineers.
In this paper he collected a survey from two groups: awards group and abstracts group. Awards group is a list of electrical engineers who won nationally or internationally recognized awards. Abstracts group were people who published profusely.
The goal was to determine just which courses should ELECTRICAL engineers take during undergrad. Note again this was from the 70s.
The conclusion of the paper is as follows:
Highly recommended: calculus sequence, vectors, elementary DE, intermediate ODE, advanced calculus, elementary complex variables, matrix theory, elementary probability
Moderately recommended: tensor analysis, advanced ODE, advanced PDE, calculus of variations, complex variables and machine computation, numerical analysis and integral transform
and this quote:
There was little use for newer courses in modern mathematics such as group theory, lie lgebras, multilinear algebra, mathematical logic, game theory, and geometric algebra. Therefore, these courses shoud be given low priority.
This quote raises obvious questions. Group theory is the foundation of signal processing. Lie algebra is used widely in quantum mechanics which is important for semiconductor physics. Mathematical logic is core of modern programming and control theory. Geometric algebra has many application in both signal processing and control theory. So it appears highly likely that the paper is out of date.
Three questions I have in mind hope some one can help me with (in no particular order)
Are recent or more modern sources for undergrad electrical engineer to decide on which math courses to take?
As the work force becomes more segmented, it is highly likely that a working electrical engineer will never use much of the math taught in school. (how much math is needed in quality assurance anyhow?)
So this is more aimed towards research engineers. Are there any research electrical engineers who might wish to dispute some of the claims in the paper?
- What courses outside of the high and moderate recommendations should an electrical engineer student consider and why?