IBM Research

IBM’s PowerPC Donation Helps Resurrect ECE Course at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez This Fall, IBM’s PowerPC Embedded Solutions Group donated over a dozen PPC403 boards along with manuals and other related equipment to Professor Manuel Toledo of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. UPRM is using this equipment to create and update advanced embedded systems courses, including the resurrection of a microprocessor interface course from 12 years back that will now focus on low power and embedded systems. Computer-based embedded systems have been used for more that thirty years. Recently, however, they have taken a growing economic importance due to their use in every day devices that range from simple home gadgets to mobile phones, industrial and car control systems, and many other consumer electronic items. To satisfy the need for advanced embedded systems’ education, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department has defined embedded systems as one of the core areas of the Computer Engineering undergraduate program. IBM’s donation will be used to balance theoretical classroom learning with practical experience. These boards will not only be used for lab experiments for these updated courses, but will also be used to perform research projects. The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez is the largest Hispanic engineering school in the country, and only one of the many universities IBM invests in through IBM University Relations and Community Relations programs. UPRM ranks 13th in the U.S. for undergraduate engineering enrollment. The university boasts a 30% female undergraduate enrollment, and is 2nd in awarding engineering degrees to women. The B.S. electrical and computer engineering programs were established in 1928 and 1981, respectively. Since 2001, the department offers a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer and Information Science and Master Programs in both electrical and computer engineering.