The ECEi program is right for you, if:
You are a prospective undergraduate student
You know you want to study Electrical or Computer Engineering and are ready to get a head start in your discipline in first year
You dream of becoming an entrepreneur with a world-class engineering background OR
You want to pursue an engineering career in industry and want to acquire additional business and communication skills that will give you a step up in your career
ECEi, or Electrical and Computer Engineering Innovation Stream is an undergraduate program option for ECE students who are interested in learning additional entrepreneurship and innovation skills.
Enhanced Curriculum
The ECEi program includes ALL core BASc Computer/Electrical Engineering courses + four Commerce courses in entrepreneurship/innovation + 2 electives. Students graduate with a BASc in either Electrical or Computer Engineering and can take advantage of all the opportunities that the department has to offer, including the QUIP internship program, graduate studies, and the 4+1 program that combines BASc and MASc degrees.
Direct Entry
Our students know that they want to study in ECE when they apply to Queen’s! ECEi is the first and only program in the Faculty of Engineering And Applied Science to accept first-year students into a department directly. ECEi students still get to enjoy the variety and the benefits of the common engineering first year and take courses across disciplines during their first year of study. However, two first year courses APSC 100 Engineering Practice and APSC 143 Introduction to Computer Programming for Engineers offer ECEi students an enhanced curriculum and innovation-oriented design projects to prepare them for their upper years in the program. This combination of a common engineering first-year and a headstart in your discipline offers the ECEi cohort the best benefits of both worlds!
Experiential Components
ECEi students are encouraged to pursue their own business projects and to experiment and learn outside of the classroom. There are multiple resources on campus to help them do so. ECEi students are offered a free membership to SparQ Makerspace, a makerspace in Mitchell hall offering a variety of equipment, mentorship, and workshops. ECEi students are encouraged to participate in the many initiatives by the DDQIC, including the summer innovation accelerator program QICSI. First year ECEi students get access to the Bain and Annex computer labs in Walter Light Hall.
Community and Support
ECEi is a small cohort of students. The program accepts up to 50 students a year. The small community ensures that our students get to know their peers across the program years and build a strong network with current ECEi students and program alumni. For core program courses, ECEi students attend labs and lectures with the rest of the students in the Department. In ECEi - specific courses students study in separate course section with only their cohort. For more information on curriculum structure, please visit the Curriculum tab.
There are social and educational opportunities and events offered specifically for the ECEi community throughout the year. Students receive mentorship and support. Current and prospective ECEi students are encouraged to contact Shahram Yousefi (Program Advisor and Associate Dean, Corporate Relations) at s.yousefi@queensu.ca and ECEi Coordinator Alisa Darbinyan at alisa.darbinyan@queensu.ca.
Looking for more information?
Frequently Asked Questions
Qunicorns newsletter
Contact the ECEi coordinator Alisa Darbinyan alisa.darbinyan@queensu.ca
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The ECE Innovation Stream from Queen's Engineering on Vimeo.
ECEi is the first direct-entry program in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. Prospective students can chose to apply to it under a separate category in OUAC. First year ECEi students take the same common first-year curriculum as the rest of FEAS frosh students, with special course outlines and projects in three core first-year courses:
APSC 100 Engineering Practice l FW
APSC 143 Introduction to Computer Programming for Engineers F
APSC 114 Electromagnetics W
Upper year ECEi students are required to take the following four courses offered by the Smith School of Business:
COMM 201 - Introduction to Business for Entrepreneurs – F
This course introduces students to the language of business, as well as the main functional areas of business, and demonstrates how these areas interact to produce and market products and/or services in an economically viable manner. An emphasis is placed on both strategic and tactical development and execution in entrepreneurial contexts. The course also assists students in developing an understanding of the nature of the modern entrepreneurial enterprise in Canadian and international contexts, and of the tasks, practices, and responsibilities of its leaders. Of particular importance is the use of a capstone simulation – like the Capsim Strategy Simulation, but one geared towards entrepreneurial ventures – whose focus lies in the development and application of fundamental strategic management skills and financial analysis interpretation for decision-making purposes. The approach of the course is to challenge students to strive to develop a base-level competency in business principles which they can effectively transfer to their future entrepreneurial venture.
COMM 301 - Funding New Ventures – F
This course provides a detailed examination of the fundamentals of a financing strategy for new ventures, and the specific financing alternatives for obtaining capital to launch new ventures. The financing alternatives include crowdfunding, angel investing, and venture capital, and thus cover the entire financing spectrum from start-up to growth capital.
COMM 302 - Launching New Ventures – W
This course will focus on the specific commercial activities required to launch new ventures into industrial markets. Students will gain an understanding of how to size-up industrial markets, apply lean principles to the new customer development process, align early-stage demand generation activities with industrial buyer behavior, and implement best practices to acquire, retain and grow their first industrial customers. This course will make extensive use of cases both historical and ideally from the Living Case Initiative.
COMM 405 – New Business Development – F
The focus of this course is to provide students with knowledge, skills, and tools that form the basis required to identify, analyze, plan, and execute a new venture activity. It also provides a depth of understanding of the practical realities of new ventures and growing a small business. This course requires a high degree of self-study as the major project involves the detailed analysis, planning and presentation of a business plan for a new venture proposal. Students are expected and encouraged to use this course to assess and plan actual new venture opportunities that they may seriously consider. Guest speakers, cases and concepts will be utilized to allow the student to better understand the exciting and challenging realities of entrepreneurship and managing new ventures.
Dear ECEi community, innovators, entrepreneurs, friends of Queen’s ECE,
Congrats are due to our ECEi students who are wrapping up another academic term. With lots to look back on and even more exciting events coming up ahead, we would like to welcome you to our first ECEi newsletter: Qunicorns.
Read the first issue of Qunicorns here.
