Electrical Engineering Laboratories


The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering takes pride in its intensive laboratory-based program.  Most electrical engineering courses have labs.  Some of the equipment is donated by our corporate partners who employ our students.  Some of our students work for one of the companies that designs and builds equipment that we have in our laboratories.

Automotive Electronic Systems Laboratory

The Automotive Electronic Systems Laboratory offers students the opportunity for rapid prototyping of multi-sensor, multi-actuator automotive control systems. These systems are developed and implemented on the ETAS ES-1000 automotive embedded control development system. A featured project is electronic throttle control (throttle-by-wire).

Lab Equipment:

  • ETAS ES-1000 embedded control development system
  • TENMA DC power supply
  • Analog devices SHARC EZ-KIT LITE DSP development board
  • National Instruments NI-SCOPE, NI-FGEN, and NI-DMM software
  • ETAS ASCET-SD embedded control software development system
  • Multisim circuit simulator
  • Matlab, Simulink, and Labview
  • ETAS Labcar hardware-in-the-loop vehicle simulator

Courses Supported by the Laboratory:

  • EE-580, Automotive Electronic Systems
  • EE-330, Digital Signal Processing
  • EE-430, Communication Systems
  • EE-584, Wireless Communications for Automotive Applications
  • IME-100 Interdisplinary Design and Manufacturing
Automotive Electronic Systems Lab

Circuits Laboratory

The Circuits Laboratory introduces students to fundamental circuit analysis and measurement equipment as well as the procedure of creating laboratory reports that describe their results and relating them to predicted results from classroom topics. Students perform experiments on principles like equivalent resistance, superposition, mesh and nodal circuit analysis, Thevenin & Norton equivalent circuits, phasors and 3-phase systems.

Laboratory Equipment:

  • Tektronix TDS 420A 4 channel 200MHZ Digital Scopes 
  • Tektronix PS280 3 Output DC Power Supplies
  • Kenwood FG-273 2MHZ Signal Generators
  • 3-phase power supplies  
  • Function generators  
  • Digital multimeters 

Courses Supported by this Laboratory:

  •  EE-210, Circuits I 
  •  EE-424, Power Electronics and Applications 

Laboratory Coordinator: Professor Ken Kaiser

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Circuits Laboratory

Communication Systems Laboratory

The Communication Systems Laboratory is equipped with radio-frequency (RF) spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, antennas and telecom and television equipment.  The laboratory experiments complement classroom material covering methods of modulating, transmitting and receiving signals.  Experiments include both analog and digital communications with an emphasis on practical applications.

Key experiments include:

  • Cordless Telephone Systems
  • Broadcast of Digital Audio from a Mini-Disc Player  
  • Television NTSC signals and commercial broadcast 
  • Characteristics of Antennae 
  • Characteristics of Cable  AM and FM modulation
  • Ring-Diode Mixers

Laboratory Equipment:

  • Hewlett-Packard RF Generators 
  • Hewlett-Packard Function Generators
  • Hewlett-Packard RF Spectrum Analyzers (EL-1500A) 
  • Hewlett-Packard Network Analyzer 
  • Fluke NTSC and RF Television Signal Generator
  • 6 PC workstations
  • Oscilloscopes  
  • Mini-Disc and Digital Audio Receiver

Courses Supported by this Laboratory:

  • EE-430, Communications Systems 

Laboratory Coordinator: Professor D. Melton

Communication Systems Laboratory

Controls Laboratory

The Controls Laboratory provides the student with hands-on experience in the design of control systems.  Students use a servomotor system with position and velocity feedback for their experiments.  They construct controllers which accurately adjust speed and position.  The principles learned apply to many control applications such as automotive cruise control systems, inkjet printer head mechanisms, and industrial motor applications.

Laboratory Equipment:

  • Servomotor Systems
  • Tektronix Digital Storage Oscilloscopes
  • Personal Computers
  • Virtual Instrumentation (DMM, Spectrum Analyzers)  
  • Advanced Control Systems Apparatus

Courses Supported by this Laboratory:

  • EE-432, Feedback Control Systems
  • EE-530, Digital Control Systems 

Laboratory Coordinator: Professor Mark Wicks

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Controls Laboratory

Digital Signal Processing Laboratory

Students enrolled in this course and laboratory, learn firsthand about DSP by programming a signal processing chip. DSP experiments provide a fundamental understanding of concepts like sampling and aliasing and provide opportunities to learn about advanced topics like frequency analysis, signal extraction, and adaptive filtering.  Laboratory experiments have been designed around physical applications such as: heart rate monitoring, acoustic room response, and guitar effects processing.

Laboratory Equipment:

  • Texas Instruments TMS320C30EVM DSP Processors 
  • Analog Devices SHARC DSP Processors
  • 6 PC workstations
  • Function generators 
  • Oscilloscopes  
  • MATLAB w/ Signal Processing Toolbox  
  • DADiSP Signal Processing Software 

Courses Supported by this Laboratory:

  •  EE-330, Digital Signal Processing 

Laboratory Coordinator: Professor D. Melton

Digital Signal Processing Laboratory

Electric Machines Laboratory

The Electric Machines Laboratory is designed to give the student a basic understanding of the use of electrical machines such as dc motors and generators, synchronous motors and alternators, and transformers.

Laboratory Equipment:

  • Lab-Volt Modular Test Stations 
  • Electronic Wattmeters
  • Oscilloscopes 

Courses Supported by this Laboratory:

  • EE-342, Electric Machines 
  • EE-344, Fundamentals of Power Systems 

Laboratory Coordinator: Professor B. Guru

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Electric Machines Laboratory

Electronics I & II Laboratory

The Electronics I & II Laboratory supports EE-320 and EE-420. Students who enroll in these courses apply classroom instruction to investigate electronics at a component level. Diodes, transistors and other semiconductor devices are investigated. Students perform fundamental tests to understand the principles of operation of electronic components like timers, TTL and CMOS logic, op-amps, comparators and filters. The laboratory is equipped with digital storage oscilloscopes, function generators and other device characterization equipment.

Laboratory Equipment:

  • 2-Channel 400 MHZ Oscilloscopes 
  • Function generators 

Courses Supported by this Laboratory:

  • EE-320, Electronics I    
  • EE-420, Electronics II 
  • EE-520, Electronic Circuits and Systems 

Laboratory Coordinator: Professor Mark Thompson

Electronics I & II Laboratory

High Voltage Laboratory

The High Voltage Laboratory offers the student an opportunity to design, construct, and test different types of high-voltage supplies and to highlight the influence of geometry on the distribution of electric fields.  It also gives the student a hands-on experience evaluating the performance of gaseous, liquid, and solid dielectrics by destructive and non-destructive testing.

Laboratory Equipment:

  • 2-Stage Cockroft-Walton DC Voltage Generator 
  • 2-Stage Marx Generator
  • Partial Discharge Detector

Courses Supported by this Laboratory:

  • EE-346, High Voltage Generation & Measurement Techniques 

Laboratory Coordinator: Professor Huseyin Hiziroglu

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High Voltage Laboratory

Semiconductor Characterization Laboratory

The main goal of the Semiconductor Characterization Laboratory is to enhance student understanding of fundamental semiconductor physics and solid state device mechanisms through the implementation and evaluation of carefully designed experiments.  Experimental investigations in the laboratory focus on fundamental semiconductor transport phenomena, junction diode and MOS capacitor characterization, defect energy level determination, and transistor parameter measurements.  A secondary goal of the laboratory is to introduce undergraduate students to the experimental environment of a modern, computer automated testing facility.

Laboratory Equipment:

  • HP Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer 
  • Wafer Probe Station

Courses Supported by this Laboratory:

  • EE-426, Solid State Devices 

Laboratory Faculty Supervisor: Professor Mark Thompson

Semiconductor Laboratory

Sun Workstation Laboratory

In addition to Kettering University Computing facilities provided by the Information Technology Department, the ECE Department has its own UNIX workstations, popular for running Matlab, PSpice, DADiSP, and MicroSim.  These computers are used to complete assignments in a various undergraduate courses. 

Laboratory Equipment:

  • 3 - SUN SPARC Station IPC's 
  • SUN SPARC Station 10

Courses Supported by this Laboratory:

  • ECE-428, VLSI Design
  • ECE-460, Feedback Control Systems 
  • ECE-476, Computer Architecture and Organization

Laboratory Coordinator: Professor Mark Wicks

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Sun Workstation Laboratory