Electrical and computer engineering faculty, funded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, conduct research in high performance multi-media processors and in muscle control using electromyographic signals. Research on 3-D spot counting is conducted in partnership with the Texas Engineering Experimental Station and on robotics and sensor based control and prognosis of complex distributed systems with the National Science Foundation.

The department is also working extensively in the areas of cyber security and homeland defense. Reliable and secure voice and data communications are important in mission success and in providing assurances to the public. Electromagnetic wave analysis regarding fallout may become necessary after a physical attack. Computer information security, high-speed intrusion detection, problem identification, reliable high-speed network design and redundancy are all important for cyber attack prevention; and computer engineering faculty work with the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security in these efforts. Target analysis and radar signature identification helps identify and track friends or foes.

Wireless communications that are hardened for recovery efforts are of great interest. An understanding of health physics is of particular importance in the case of nuclear and biological attack, and bio-MEMS (micro electromechanical systems) are used increasingly in health monitoring in such instances. Additionally, the doctoral program in Electrical Engineering focuses on communications, control, signal processing, and computers.