Collaborative Curriculum Development Of An Industry-Driven Digital Logic Design

Hardware Description Language and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) have revolutionized the way Digital Logic Design is taught and implemented. Traditional ways of teaching logic design using discrete components (TTL: Transistor-Transistor Logic and CMOS: Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors) have been replaced by Programmable Logic Devices (CPLD: Complex Programmable Logic Devices and FPGA). Today, a more standard development process is widely used in industry. The process uses Hardware Description Languages as a design entry to describe the digital systems. The two most widely used Hardware Description Languages in industry are VHDL (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language) and Verilog (Verifying Logic). Although most traditional electrical and computer engineering programs have updated their curriculum to include topics in hardware description language and programmable logic design (FPGA/CPLD), two-year and four-year electrical engineering technology programs have fallen behind and moved slowly in updating their curriculum. This paper describes the industry-led faculty training and digital logic design curriculum development that will reshape the way digital logic design is taught in the electrical engineering technology programs. The new curriculum development will provide students with a hands-on educational experience well-respected by industry.