Program Overview

Program Overview

The Electrical and Computer Engineering program at Northwestern University offers a comprehensive education in the field, with a focus on computer vision and image processing. This specialization utilizes techniques from artificial intelligence and pattern recognition to derive meaningful information from images, videos, and other visual inputs.

Program Details

Description

Computer vision and image processing are closely related fields that use techniques from artificial intelligence and pattern recognition to extract information from images, videos, and other visual inputs. Image processing is a key component of the technical revolution known as Industry 4.0, laying the framework for new technologies in image data processing and object recognition. Computer vision uses image processing to recognize and categorize image data, and is becoming increasingly adept at identifying patterns from images.

Applications

Computer vision and image processing technologies have numerous applications across various industries, including:

• Healthcare: medical devices use image classification to identify and diagnose conditions
• Media: object and motion tracking is used to follow balls and players in sports
• Gaming: computer vision is used to enable driver assistance systems and autonomous navigation
• Transportation: vehicles use computer vision to track objects and surroundings
• Security: facial recognition and object detection are used in video surveillance
• Agriculture: drones with sophisticated cameras are used to monitor the health and yield of crops

Core Courses

Students in the Computer Vision and Image Processing specialization must select at least six courses from the following list:

• CE 355 ASIC and FPGA Design
• CE 387 Real-Time Digital Systems Design and Verification with FPGAs
• EE 332 Introduction to Computer Vision
• EE 335, 435 Deep Learning Foundations from Scratch
• EE 359 Digital Signal Processing
• EE 363 Digital Filtering
• EE 375, 475 Machine Learning: Foundations, Applications, and Algorithms
• EE 418 Advanced Digital Signal Processing
• EE 420 Digital Image Processing
• EE 422 Random Processes in Communications and Control I
• EE 431 Human Perception and Electronic Media
• EE 432 Advanced Computer Vision
• EE 433 Statistical Pattern Recognition
• EE 435 Deep Learning Foundations from Scratch

Elective Courses

Students can select up to six courses from the following list:

• BME 325 Introduction to Medical Imaging
• CE 392 VLSI Systems Design Projects
• CE 395, 495 Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: Challenges and Design
• CS 329 HCI Studio
• CS 330 Human Computer Interaction
• CS 396 Natural & Artificial Vision
• EE 395, 495 Biometrics
• EE 395, 495 Computational Photography Seminar
• EE 395, 495 Geospatial Vision and Visualization
• EE 395 Adaptive Signal Processing and Learning
• EE 395, 495 Machine Learning for Medical Images and Signals
• EE 420 Digital Image Processing
• EE 421 Multimedia Signal Processing
• EE 495 Optimization and Learning in Stochastic Dynamic Environments

Specializations

The Electrical and Computer Engineering program offers several specializations, including:

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Network and Communication Systems
• Quantum Computing, Sensing & Communications
• Robotics and Autonomous Systems
• Cybersecurity
• Photonics & Optoelectronics
• Embedded Systems
• High-Performance Computing
• Internet-of-Things & Edge Computing
• Semiconductors
• Sustainable Energy and Low-Power Design

Conclusion

The Computer Vision and Image Processing specialization in the Electrical and Computer Engineering program at Northwestern University provides students with the technical skills and in-depth knowledge to develop algorithms that automatically extract and analyze high-level information from images, videos, and other types of high-dimensional data. With its numerous applications across various industries, this field is expected to continue to grow and evolve, making it an exciting and rewarding career path for students.