Computer Engineering (BEng)
Inside every phone, car, and satellite are processors that have to work together. Computer engineers design them. At Dalhousie, you'll learn to build both the hardware and the code that runs it.
Why choose this program?
Computer engineering sits where hardware meets software, and it's our newest engineering degree. You'll learn to design the computing systems inside modern technology at Atlantic Canada's #1 engineering school, in a city with a fast-growing tech sector.
You'll combine the principles of electrical engineering and computer science to build a strong foundation in programming, circuit design, digital logic, microprocessor systems, and embedded software. You'll also work with industry-standard tools on hardware design and system optimization.
We built this program with industry experts and students and designed it to meet international education standards. You'll explore embedded systems, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cybersecurity, and take advanced courses such as Computer Architecture and Operating Systems.
You'll learn from faculty with distinctive expertise, including the cybersecurity of embedded devices and computer engineering applied to ocean technology, an area where our region and our Faculty are unusually strong.
Careers
Computer engineers are in demand as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and smart technologies reshape industry.
Through your degree, you'll build skills in programming, computer architecture, embedded systems, digital hardware, and operating systems. As a graduate, you could work in telecommunications, healthcare, aerospace or finance — anywhere hardware and software have to work together.
You might start in embedded systems development, hardware or software engineering, systems architecture or network engineering, then grow into technical leadership. Halifax's growing tech sector offers strong co-op and post-graduation opportunities, and co-op work terms count toward the experience needed for your P.Eng. licence.
What you will learn
You'll start with the core engineering program, building a foundation in math, science, design and engineering fundamentals. From your second year you'll move into computer engineering, going deeper into digital systems, computer architecture and embedded software, with technical electives, including computer science courses, to focus your final years.
Sample courses
- Engineering Design 1
- Introduction to Programming
- Applied Linear Algebra
- Digital Logic Systems
- Electronic Circuits
- Data Structures and Algorithms
- Applied Probability and Statistics
- Computer Architecture
- Embedded Systems Design
- Operating Systems
- Communication Systems
- Computer Networks
- Microprocessor Systems
- Computer Engineering Design Project I & II
- Technical Electives (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Machine Learning)
Practical, marketable skills
You'll gain practical skills through labs, real-world projects and co-op placements with industry partners. Because computer engineering is about how systems fit together, you'll work on interfacing computers with external devices, specialized networking, and the relationship between hardware and software, the skills that let you lead a project, not just contribute to one.
Customize your degree
Tailor your BEng to your goals. Choose the four-year program or the five-year co-op stream, and take up to four computer science courses as part of your degree.
Certificate in Biomedical Engineering
Combine your BEng with a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts, or add electives in areas like power and radio frequency engineering.
You'll graduate able to design both the hardware and the software inside modern computing systems—and to understand how they connect, communicate and perform in the devices people rely on every day.
Admission Requirements
Minimum admission requirements
To be considered for admission to this program, you must meet minimum academic criteria:
- Completion of secondary school (Grade 12)
- Achievement of the minimum average for your program of choice.
- Completion of Grade 12 English (or equivalent course).
Admission to many Dalhousie programs is competitive. This means that meeting minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.
Program-specific admission requirements
Minimum overall average:
Academic English 12
Academic Math 12
Three additional academic subjects
Need Pre-Calculus, Chemistry, Physics, or another admission requirement? Our online, self-paced UPrep courses can help you earn the prerequisite you need, upgrade your marks, and build confidence before starting your degree at Dal. Explore UPrep courses.
