The Impact of the COSINE Committee on the Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Curriculum

The COSINE Committee was funded by the National Science Foundation to spearhead the introduction of computer engineering into the electrical engineering curriculum. This paper assesses the impact of the committee. During the early 1960's, electrical engineering departments in the United States lagged behind other engineering departments in the development of computer-oriented courses. The COSINE Committee, formed in 1965, recommended that electrical engineering departments develop computer engineering courses. Evidence from three surveys taken by COSINE shows the rapid growth of computer engineering since the formation of the COSINE Committee. Three studies made by the author and examination of texts for several EE courses also evidence COSINE impact. However, no exact implementation of COSINE recommendations is found, and no causal relationship is established.