Introduction to Circuits for Electrical and Computer Engineers

Class Overview

This course is an introduction to electronic circuits. It begins with basic quantities used to characterize circuit operation (like current, voltage, and power) and then enforces several physical laws of circuit analysis. The material includes passive circuit elements such as resistors, inductors, and capacitors under constant dc, transient, and sinusoidal steady-state conditions. Active components including transistors and Op-Amps are also introduced and used to build simple amplifiers and switching power converters. Students learn to utilize concepts like Laplace transforms and associated transfer functions for circuit analysis. In the lab part of the course, students learn how to use modern instruments to test circuits and develop some simple modeling software in MATLAB to numerically predict the results from analysis and experiment.

Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of calculus (MATH 1920 or PHYS 1112), MATH 2930 and PHYS 2213 are highly recommended as pre/corequisites
Key Topics: Circuit Analysis, Op-Amps

Professor: Carl Bernard

Semester(s): Fall, Spring

Difficulty: 4.5/5

Rating: 5/5

Assignments: Weekly problem sets. Prelabs and labs alternate each week.

Exams: Two prelims and one final exam.

Pros

Practical projects that apply theoretical knowledge.
Well-structured lectures and clear explanations of complex concepts.
Comprehensive and organized course materials.

Cons

Heavy workload that requires significant time investment each week.
Challenging exams that require deep understanding.
Unforgiving math on exams

Student Reviews

"Takes a lot of time. Expect 15-20 hours of homework + labs each week. Ensure you master resistive circuit solving (the first 4 topics) because those topics will come up a lot in different forms later on. I highly recommend taking PHYS 2213 or another electromagnetism class before- not during- so you have a head start on the first few topics. I took the course as part of an 18 credit semester, but even with light classes other than circuits, the class felt like a lot."
– Reece Shiraishi (Spring 2025)

Tips for Success

Make sure to review lectures regularly.
Start working on the projects early; they take more time than expected.
Attend office hours and study groups to tackle difficult topics.