Digital Signal Processing Seminar

Since 1993, we have taught a required course for Computer Engineering majors entitled "Introduction to Discrete Systems" which precedes the traditional circuits course in the Georgia Tech curriculum. Since this introductory course deals with digital signal processing (DSP), we have spent considerable effort in creating demonstrations and laboratories that encourage students to manipulate real signals (e.g., sound, music and images). Students are expected to use computer software tools for algorithm implementation at the same time as they learn about the mathematical theory inherent in the subject. All this course material has been distributed locally via the web, and is now available on a CD-ROM where the interface is also a web browser. This talk will give an overview of the course content and style, together with some demonstrations of the CD-ROM material. Finally, some lessons can be drawn from our experience in developing this course and using the ever-changing technology. These lessons will be put to the test when utilizing computers to teach other basic subjects of the EE curriculum.

JAMES H. McCLELLAN received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from L.S.U. in 1969, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Rice University in 1972 and 1973, respectively. From 1973 to 1982, he was a member of the research staff at Lincoln Laboratory and then a professor at MIT. From 1982 to 1987, Dr. McClellan was employed by Schlumberger Well Services. Since 1987, he has been a Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. Recently he has co-authored the text "DSP First: A Multimedia Approach" with R. W. Schafer and M. A. Yoder. He is also a co-author of the texts "Number Theory in Digital Signal Processing" and "Computer Exercises for Signal Processing." In 1996, Dr. McClellan received the Society Award from the IEEE Signal Processing Society, and in 1987, he received the Technical Achievement Award for work on FIR filter design. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu.

A list of digital signal processing seminars is available at from the ECE department Web pages under "Seminars". The Web address for the digital signal processing seminars is http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~bevans/dsp_seminars.html