Computer Engineering Program Facilities

A.      Offices, Classrooms and Laboratories

The building of the Faculty of Engineering is a modern structure housing all offices, classrooms, and laboratory facilities for all engineering programs. The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is located in building 40.  It has a gross area of approximately 10,000 square meters. This space is used for academic and research purposes. The academic space consists of the following functions: classrooms, teaching laboratories, meeting and seminar rooms, chairman and faculty offices, staff offices of clerks and teaching assistants. The research space consists of research and support facilities. The students of the Program have access to the Central KAU Library, which is managed by the Deanship of Library Affairs. Additionally, the KAU digital library and the Saudi Digital Library provide comprehensive access to major scientific journal databases and eBooks. The department consistently maintains and updates the facilities allocated to its undergraduate programs to ensure that the instructional and learning environment is adequate and safe for the intended purposes in accordance with ABET Accreditation Policy and Procedure Manual (APPM) section II.G.6.b.(1) Facilities.

A.1 Offices

All faculty offices as well as administrative, clerical and teaching assistants’ offices are equipped with:

• Good quality furniture (desks, tables, shelves and chairs)
• A desktop personal computer and a printer
• Telecommunication equipment (telephone, local area networking, Internet access including wireless)

Every faculty member in the program is also provided with a laptop computer. Most faculty members are able to keep their computing equipment up to date either through their own research funding or through FoE support. Most software licenses for faculty and office use are provided by the university through the Deanship of Information Technology. The size and furniture of all offices allow good interaction with students during office hours and at the time of academic advising.

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department facilities house:

• The department chairman’s office
• The secretarial office, which also contains photo-copying equipment and supplies accessible to all faculty members
• A large Department Council Meeting Room spacious enough for 40+ people and equipped with presentation projection equipment
• A social area for faculty
• Several prayer halls set up for the daily prayer services and serving the whole faculty of engineering

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Students Club is currently located in Room 14G31 in building 40. It houses desks, shelves, sofas and chairs, and is equipped with PCs and printers for student use. The students use this room for a variety of purposes. Primarily, this facility serves as a study room or meeting place for organizational meetings. It also provides a social environment for the students to relax between classes or after an exam.

A.2 Classrooms and Associated Equipment

All classrooms and teaching spaces used by the students of the Program are clean, well lit, and air-conditioned. They provide non-crowded seating (up to a maximum of 30-40 students only), and have large and in some cases, multiple whiteboards. Each classroom is equipped with computer projection equipment and screen. Student presentations also routinely use computer projection. There is convenient access to electrical outlets and internet connections including wireless option throughout the faculty of engineering building.

It should be noted that several laboratories include a small teaching area which is provided with the same classroom facilities as mentioned above.

A.3 Laboratory Facilities

The program has Lab facilities located in Building 40 (Male Section) and Building 64 (Female Section). It is worth mentioning that each lab is equipped with a first aid kit, lab safety manual, and general safety instructions printed on a large-scale notice board. This is in addition to signs showing the lab title and the exit emergency doors. Safety glasses and ear protectors are available as appropriate.  Fire protection is insured through centrally installed fire alarm and fire extinguishing water systems as well as CO₂ movable fire extinguishers. Departmental Lab Committee, Faculty of Engineering Facilities Unit, and the University General Administration for Security and Safety run periodic auditing of safety in laboratories and communicate findings to the head of the department.

With respect to safety outcomes, it is worth noting that there have been no incidents involving injuries to students, staff, or faculty members involved in instructional activities for at least the past 20 years.

Appendix C contains a list of the major equipment used by the Program in support of teaching and research.

i.    Educational Laboratories

The teaching and learning environment in the Program is enhanced through excellent correlation between required course offerings and the laboratory facilities. These integrated laboratory experiences offer students substantial opportunities for hands-on training and experience that makes their theoretical studies more meaningful. Instructional laboratories are spacious and equipped with instrumentation to perform both basic and advanced experiments and measurements. The student laboratory stations have test and measuring equipment that is appropriate for the designated type of experimentation. All labs are equipped with basic utilities such as DC and AC electric sources, signal (function) generators, oscilloscopes, and analog and digital multi-meters for measuring the basic quantities (voltage, current, and resistance). Labs also have a number of integrated personal computer systems to operate the educational software. In order for the students to effectively apply the concepts learned in the classroom in a more conducive and learning environment, the maximum number of students per setup in any laboratory is limited to a maximum of four students. Labs supporting the Program (at male and female sections) are listed in Table ‎7‑1 and details of equipment are given in Appendix-C.

Table ‎7‑1 Program educational laboratories

The following explanatory list shows the objectives of each lab, the activities carried out in it and the major classes of equipment (that are not considered basic) to support the intended activities. Although the names of some of the laboratories in female section are not same as the male section but they serve the same courses and have same equipment.

·      Basic Electrical Engineering Laboratory

This laboratory is designed to support the course EE 250 (Basic Electrical Circuits) which is taken by all ECE students and EE 251 (Basic Electrical Engineering) which is taken by all other engineering students. The lab facilitates the familiarization of students with basic electrical circuit concepts and engineering parameters such as voltage, current and electrical power, and components such as conductors, resistors and capacitors. It allows studies on measurement techniques where students can systematically investigate all factors affecting efficient utilization of the electrical energy in certain setups. Equipment includes: training modules for DC, AC and magnetic circuits, wattmeters, RLC meters, and electrical components and resistance boxes. The lab is adequate for instruction.

·      Electrical and Electronics Measurements Laboratory

This laboratory is used to support the courses EE 306 (Electrical Engineering Technologies) and EE 311 (Electronics I). The lab facilitates the familiarization of students with basic measurement concepts and principles and operations of measuring equipment. Equipment includes: tele-thermometers, electronic timers/counters, strobotac and speed measuring devices, various transducers and transducer amplifiers, operational amplifier training and application modules, electro-dynamic voltmeters and ammeters, synchro-servo trainers, power factor meter, signal (function) generators and a teaching system (Hickok). The lab is adequate for instruction.

·      Automatic Control Laboratory

This laboratory is designed to study control systems involving modular servo systems applications of analog and digital computer techniques in control. The laboratory is used for the course EE 331 (Principles of Automatic Control). The lab facilitates the familiarization of students with tachometer and servomotor characteristics, error detection using operational amplifier, and open-loop and closed-loop position control systems. Equipment includes: servo systems modular and DC, feedback system sub-kit and system components, computerized system sub-kit, pks incremental indexer and drive system, chain code correlator, numerical control kit, transfer function analyzer, serma electronic servo system, analog and hybrid kit, numerical control module, X-Y recorder, analog computer, visual display unit, timer/counter and DVM, shackman camera, decade capacitance and resistance boxes, universal AVO-meter and auto-transformer  110-220 V,  500 W. The lab is adequate for instruction.

·      Communication Laboratory

This laboratory is designed to study communication systems. The laboratory is used for the course EE 321 (Introduction to Communications) course. The lab facilitates the familiarization of students with test and measuring equipment used in communications, several modulation and demodulation schemes with their advantages, characteristics and typical waveforms. Equipment includes: timer/counter, IF and RF spectrum analyzers, RMS and vector voltmeters, frequency comb generator, tracking generators and counters, automatic pre-selector, sweep oscillators and signal generators, synthesized signal generator, swept amplitude analyzer, storage normalizer, various antennas, educational TV, laser unit and receiver, frequency analyzer, and level recorder. The lab is adequate for instruction.

·      Microprocessor and Microcontroller Laboratory and Digital Laboratory

The laboratory is used for the course EE 366 (Microprocessors and Microcontrollers).It is equipped with state of the art microcontroller boards and development kits. The laboratory is used for EE 366 (Microprocessors and Microcontrollers) course. The student can learn basics about microcontrollers and it’s peripherals from the state of the art microcontroller boards. The students can advance their knowledge using development kits and available accessories. The students can also test their designs using simulation software.

This laboratory is also designed to study digital electronic components, devices, circuits and various applications. The laboratory is used for the course EE 360 (Digital Design I) and EE 460 (Digital Design II). The lab facilitates the familiarization of students with logic gates, design of combinational and sequential circuits, flip-flops, and use of shift registers, and FPGA boards. The students can also test their designs using simulation software. The lab is adequate for instruction.

·      Computer Networks Laboratory

This laboratory is used for the course EE 462 (Computer Communication Networks) and EE 463 (Operating Systems). It has several computers, servers, routers, switches, etc. to install software, develop program, and teach different computer network techniques. The lab is adequate for instruction

·      Computer Laboratory

The laboratory is used for the program courses of EE 201 (Structured Computer Programming), EE 202 (Object-Oriented Computer Programming) and EE 332 (Numerical Methods in Engineering). The computer labs are established to provide students of four programs easy access to various software and desktop computers required in their course of studies as well as to increase their communicational, computational and graphing skills. There are more than 100 desktop computers. These desktops are linked to the University internet services and loaded with application programs used in student instruction. Some of the typical applications are summarized in the Table ‎7‑3 Major software provided by Deanship of Information Technology.

·      Senior Projects Laboratory

This laboratory has been established to provide students with a place to assemble and test their senior projects (EE 499) products. It is appropriate to mention here that our senior project teams are formed at the departmental level and a team may include students from all or more than one of the four programs of the ECE department. This imparts a kind of multidisciplinary approach for our students to solve computer problems through engineering design. Each project team is allocated a table-top work area where utility connections for electricity are provided.  Equipment includes: oscilloscopes, signal generators, power supplies, soldering iron, and supplies of electrical components.   

B.       Computing Resources

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering offers the course EE 201 (Structured Computer Programming) for all Faculty of Engineering students. The students attend this course as part of the curriculum and they can use the computer labs supporting this course. The computer labs are equipped with more than 100 desktop computers and it is open during the regular working period of the staff members. Also, the chairman of the Department can expand the regular working time period of the labs when there is a demand of the facility. Most of the software listed in Table ‎7‑2 and Table ‎7‑3 are installed in the computers of the labs. All faculty members have PCs in their offices that are connected to the network.

Table ‎7‑2 Typical computer applications in department computer laboratories

Aside from the Program budget for computer applications, the University Deanship of Information Technology (DIT) provide licensed software to both the program faculty members and to the Electrical Engineering computer rooms. The major software provided by DIT is shown in Table ‎7‑3.

Table ‎7‑3 Major software provided by Deanship of Information Technology

Central Library:  All students have access to the computers in the central library between the hours of 7:30 AM to 10:00 PM on weekdays (Sunday to Thursday). The computers are equipped with wired Internet connection, wireless Internet connection, basic word processing, and other computing applications. The computers allow free access to most of the international literature databases. However, the students are not allowed to install their own software applications on these computers, and they cannot save files on the computer’s hard disk. Nevertheless, they are allowed to save files on their own external hard disk or flash memory stick.

Central Support Unit at the Deanship of Information Technology:  The services provided by this unit and that are available to students and faculty members are as follows:

• Wired Internet connection
• Wireless Internet connection
• Internet security for university computers
• Information storage for educational and research activities
• Shared software library that contains the most used software within the University:

ü  Microsoft Office 365

ü  Microsoft Project Professional

ü  Microsoft Visio Professional

ü  Microsoft Visual Studio

Electrical Engineering Student Club:  The Electrical and Computer Engineering Students Club houses desks, shelves, sofas and chairs, and is equipped with PCs and printers for student use. The students use this room for a variety of purposes. Primarily, this facility serves as a study room or meeting place for organizational meetings. It also provides a social environment for the students to relax between classes or after an exam

C.      Guidance

The department has 16 full-time engineers and several of them take care of program related laboratories and provide the students with appropriate guidance regarding the use of the tools, equipment, computing resources, and laboratories. In addition, the demonstrators (usually graduated students with excellent GPA) in the program participate in the mentioned guidance process during their staying period before getting an admission to continue their graduate studies mostly abroad. The faculty members of the program participate effectively in guiding the students for safe use of equipment and laboratories. Their roles are very important through directly monitoring the performance of the engineers and technicians during laboratory hours. They make sure about the safety issues by running the first set of experiments after the installations of new equipment.

Safety issues are routinely addressed by delivering lectures to the students on first day of the laboratory and thereafter are monitoring and strictly enforcing the do's and don'ts on the students. Also, it should be indicated here that each lab is equipped with a first-aid kit, lab safety manual and general safety instructions printed on a large-scale notice board. This is in addition to signs showing the lab title and the exit emergency doors. Safety glasses and ear protectors are available as appropriate.  Fire protection is insured through the centrally installed fire alarm and fire extinguishing water systems as well as CO₂ movable fire extinguishers. The Departmental lab committee, Faculty of Engineering Facilities Unit and the University General Administration for Security and Safety run periodic auditing of safety in laboratories and report findings to the head of the department.

Guidance in Instructional Laboratories

Instructional laboratories are essentially attached to specific courses. For this reason, course instructors are responsible for the general supervision of the experiments done in these labs. Every laboratory is also assigned an engineer responsible for maintaining the lab and guiding the students during their lab session. In particular, the lab engineer will:

§  Instruct the students on lab safety

§  Explain how the experiment is to be conducted and distribute any required lab experiment sheets

§  Help the students in doing the actual experiment

§  Collect and grade lab reports under the supervision of the course instructor

§  Prepare a lab binder

Guidance in Computer laboratories

The teaching assistants are responsible for:

§  Helping the instructor during and after the lecture

§  Supervising the tutorial sessions

§  Maintaining the PCs by updating the hardware and the software

Guidance in Engineering Workshops

The instructor of the specific course making use of the workshop is responsible for the conduct of the experiments related to his course. One of the technicians serves as a general supervisor of the workshop. The workshop technicians are also responsible for helping the students in their workshop assignments, and any manufacturing related to their senior project.

The faculty policy is to devote the first lecture in the workshop to safety. Students are required to bring their own gloves, safety goggles, ear protectors, work jackets and boots. They are not allowed to enter the workshop without wearing them. This is strictly enforced by the workshop supervisor and the attending technician. The workshop supervisors keep safety items in reserve for any student who might have forgotten to bring his own personal items.

The students are also instructed on how to act in the event of an emergency and safely evacuate the workshop. A hard copy of the Safety Regulation booklet is available in all labs and distributed electronically in PDF format to all faculty members, staff and students. An Accident Report Form is also available with the workshop supervisor to report any accident to the Dean’s office.

Classrooms, offices and corridors are equipped with smoke detectors, and fire alarms are installed where needed. Each lab is also equipped with first aid kits, lab safety manual, and general safety instructions printed on a large-scale notice board. This is in addition to signs showing the laboratory title and the emergency exit doors. The engineering building has a centrally installed fire alarm system and fire extinguishing water systems. Portable fire extinguishers are regularly checked and dated by the University Maintenance Department. The Departmental Workshop and Labs Committee, the Faculty of Engineering Facilities Unit and the University General Administration for Security and Safety run periodic auditing of safety in laboratories.

D.      Maintenance and Upgrading of Facilities

The department consistently maintains and updates the facilities allocated to its undergraduate program to insure that the instructional and learning environment is adequate and safe for the intended purposes.

D-1 Maintenance of Facilities

Equipment maintenance and management in each lab is the responsibility of the laboratory engineer or the laboratory technicians. Their duty is to keep the equipment in good and safe working condition. Any equipment needing repair beyond the capabilities of the program staff is sent to the university’s Scientific Equipment Maintenance Center (SEMC), which is ultimately responsible for all technical equipment in the university. If the maintenance is also beyond the capabilities of SEMC, the supplier of the equipment is called upon to get the equipment repaired. The university maintenance crew only handles building maintenance and utility related problems.

Computer hardware and software are maintained within the program by the IT Unit of the Faculty of Engineering, which is responsible for the servicing, maintenance and upgrading of computer equipment, computer networks, and computer software.

The engineers and technicians in the computer laboratories are responsible for installing, and maintaining the necessary specialized software needed for course teaching; they are also responsible for providing the students with the software they need to complete their assignments at home.

D-2 Upgrading of Facilities

The Program is committed for continuous upgrading and development of its laboratories including, equipment, staff and space wherever possible. The process of upgrading is handled as follows. The Department has a laboratory committee with the task of updating and furnishing various laboratories with new equipment and materials. This committee is formed of faculty members, laboratory instructors and engineers in the Program. All labs have full time engineers with a faculty member as a laboratory supervisor.

The Laboratory Committee is responsible for establishing and enforcing general laboratory policies. The committee allocates the laboratory-specific resources to purchase materials, software, and equipment for both the undergraduate teaching laboratories and the research and support facilities and to upgrade facilities. The Program faculty, engineers and technicians are continuously encouraged to make suggestions or to submit requests for whatever they feel is needed for equipment maintenance, course work, or facilities upgrades. This committee sets the priorities for spending and, as necessary, establishes a timetable for the replacement of aging equipment.

E.       Library Services

The central library of KAU is maintained by the Deanship of Library Affairs and is available to all KAU students. The central library building has a total area of 30,000 m². The library houses a large collection of engineering books, journals and databases. Library material is shelved in open stacks using the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme. The Library collection is accessible to faculty and students alike between the hours of 8:00 AM and 10:00 PM on weekdays. Professional librarians are available during the working hours to provide assistance.

The library contains more than one million titles of books, reference materials, manuscripts, dissertations and reports in different branches of knowledge. The central library subscribes to different databases and has a wide range of periodicals, and books, related to electrical and computer engineering fields. Reference services are available to the students and the faculty. The library general catalogue is accessible from anywhere at any time through the library website. Faculty members may request the Deanship of Library Affairs to purchase any textbook or reference material through the library website.

The Deanship of Library Affairs has a digital library that allows students and faculty to access all information resources through the Internet and intranet. Examples of these resources include the Saudi Digital Library (SDL), ScienceDirect, Web of Science (ISI), IEEE, SpringerLink – Springer, Wiley, E-Journals, E-books and different databases such as EBSCO, Cambridge Journals, and others. These resources may be accessed through the web page of the Deanship of Library Affairs.