Education for Electromagnetics: Introducing Electromagnetics as an Appetizer Course for Computer Science and IT Undergraduates [Education Column]

Engineers are a global commodity, who serve to advance the betterment of mankind. Electromagnetics (EM) engineers especially will play an increasingly crucial role in making solar energy economical, advancing health informatics, and preventing nuclear terror, among other roles in the near future. In this day and age, many disciplines are closely intertwined. Traditionally, electromagnetics has played an important role in the curriculum of electrical and/or electronic (EE) engineering. In this paper, electromagnetics is proposed to be introduced as an appetizer course for CS (computer science) and IT (information technology) undergraduates. Since the majority of these students will not pursue a career specializing in electromagnetics, a different approach should be taken to the designing and conducting of this electromagnetics appetizer course that differs from the traditional EE curriculum, which covers topics such as vectors, statics, transmission lines, and waves. On the contrary, this appetizer course should revolve around topics that are relevant to modern life, such as the received signal strength indicated on the smart phone, to which students can relate. The rest of this paper presents an electromagnetics appetizer course introduced at the Department of Computer Science and Networked System, Sunway University, Malaysia, the curriculum of which was validated by Lancaster University, UK.