Module No.

Computer Engineering
ORIENTATION

ENGR. JOEL D. MANACMUL

Department of Engineering and Architecture
Bataan Heroes College

This module or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner
whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for educational
purposes but with a citation to this source.
For Permission: Contact Bataan Heroes College, Roman Super Hi-way, Balanga City, Bataan,
Philippines

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Engr. Joel D. Manacmul
Bataan Heroes College

Course Information
Course Title : Computer Engineering Orientation
Program : Business & Technology
Course Code : CPE 101
Credit Units : 2 units
Pre-requisite/s : None

Instructor Information
Name : Engr. Joel D. Manacmul
Contact Information
Contact Number : 0928-142-1172
Facebook : Joel Manacmul
Email : [email protected]

Course Description
The course covers history of Computer Engineering Profession, what it is today and
where it will be in the future. It covers introductory Computer Engineering’s various
specializations like network, hardware, software, support, analyst, administration, information
technology, information management, and cloud; its contribution to the society, relationship with
the environment, and the ethical standards, roles, responsibilities and competencies required for
the professional.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, the students must be able to:
1. Understand the history of Computer Engineering and the profession.
2. Familiarize the ethical standards, practices and competencies of Computer Engineers in
relation to their interaction to the industries and society.
3. Know the different specializations of Computer Engineering profession.
4. Understand Computer Engineering technology nowadays in the modern world e.g
Robotics, Virtual Reality and others .
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Engr. Joel D. Manacmul
Bataan Heroes College

Course Schedule
Learning
Week Topic
Outcomes
1. Computer Engineering
 Introduction of Computer
Week 1  Uses of Computer 1
Module 1
 History of Computing

2. Generations of Computer
Week 2  Computer Pioneers
Module 2
 What do computer engineers do 2
 Computer Engineering Careers and
Subfields
3 Competencies Certifications
Week 3  Computer Engineering Skills
3
Module 3  Computer Engineer Work
Environment
MIDTERM ASSESSMENT
4 Industries for computer engineers
Week 4  Computer Engineer Specialization
4
Module 4  Computer Engineer nowadays in
Modern World
Week 5 5 Introductory Application on the Real
5
Module 5 World
Week 6 FINAL ASSESSMENT 1-5

References
Fundamentals Of Computer Studies – Jeleel Adekunle Adebisi, University of Ilorin
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258339295_fundamentals_of_computer_studies ;
Learn About Being a Computer Engineer - https://www.indeed.com/career-
advice/careers/what-does-a-computer-engineer-do ; Computer Fundamentals -
https://www.javatpoint.com/history-of-computer
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Engr. Joel D. Manacmul
Bataan Heroes College

Module 02 GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERS

A generation of computers refers to the specific improvements in computer technology with

time. In 1946, electronic pathways called circuits were developed to perform the counting. It
replaced the gears and other mechanical parts used for counting in previous computing machines.

In each new generation, the circuits became smaller and more advanced than the previous
generation circuits. The miniaturization helped increase the speed, memory and power of
computers. There are five generations of computers which are described below;

First Generation Computers

The first generation (1946-1959) computers were slow, huge and expensive. In these computers,
vacuum tubes were used as the basic components of CPU and memory. These computers were
mainly depended on batch operating system and punch cards. Magnetic tape and paper tape were
used as output and input devices in this generation;

Some of the popular first generation computers are;

o ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

o EDVAC ( Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer)
o UNIVACI( Universal Automatic Computer)
o IBM-701
o IBM-650

Second Generation Computers

The second generation (1959-1965) was the era of the transistor computers. These computers
used transistors which were cheap, compact and consuming less power; it made transistor
computers faster than the first generation computers.

In this generation, magnetic cores were used as the primary memory and magnetic disc and tapes
were used as the secondary storage. Assembly language and programming languages like
COBOL and FORTRAN, and Batch processing and multiprogramming operating systems were
used in these computers.

Some of the popular second generation computers are;

o IBM 1620
o IBM 7094
o CDC 1604

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Engr. Joel D. Manacmul
Bataan Heroes College

o CDC 3600
o UNIVAC 1108

Third Generation Computers

The third generation computers used integrated circuits (ICs) instead of transistors. A single IC
can pack huge number of transistors which increased the power of a computer and reduced the
cost. The computers also became more reliable, efficient and smaller in size. These generation
computers used remote processing, time-sharing, multi programming as operating system. Also,
the high-level programming languages like FORTRON-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1,
ALGOL-68 were used in this generation.

Some of the popular third generation computers are;

o IBM-360 series
o Honeywell-6000 series
o PDP(Personal Data Processor)
o IBM-370/168
o TDC-316

Fourth Generation Computers

The fourth generation (1971-1980) computers used very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits; a
chip containing millions of transistors and other circuit elements. These chips made this
generation computers more compact, powerful, fast and affordable. These generation computers
used real time, time sharing and distributed operating system. The programming languages like
C, C++, DBASE were also used in this generation.

Some of the popular fourth generation computers are;

o DEC 10
o STAR 1000
o PDP 11
o CRAY-1(Super Computer)
o CRAY-X-MP(Super Computer)

Computer Engineering Orientation Page 6 of 11

Engr. Joel D. Manacmul
Bataan Heroes College

Fifth Generation Computers

In fifth generation (1980-till date) computers, the VLSI technology was replaced with ULSI
(Ultra Large Scale Integration). It made possible the production of microprocessor chips with ten
million electronic components. This generation computers used parallel processing hardware and
AI (Artificial Intelligence) software. The programming languages used in this generation were C,
C++, Java, .Net, etc.

Some of the popular fifth generation computers are;

o Desktop
o Laptop
o NoteBook
o UltraBook
o ChromeBook

Computer Pioneers
Some of the most prominent pioneers in computer hardware include:

 Blaise Pascal, inventor of the mechanical calculator;

 Charles Babbage, inventor of the Analytical Engine;
 J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, builders of ENIAC, and later UNIVAC, the first
computer to be sold commercially;
 Nicholas Metropolis, designer of the MANIAC I computer;
 William Shockley and his team at Bell Labs, inventors of the transistor;
 Seymour Cray, the "Father of Supercomputing";
 Steve Wozniak, designer of the Apple I and II personal computers and co-founder of
Apple Computer along with Steve Jobs;
 Adam Osborne, developer of the first portable computer, the Osborne 1; and
 Douglas Engelbart and Bill English, co-inventors of the computer mouse and developers
of hypertext, computer networks and the graphical user interface (GUI).

Computer Engineering Orientation Page 7 of 11

Engr. Joel D. Manacmul
Bataan Heroes College

Since those early days of computing, however, most significant advancements in computer
hardware have been made by teams working at medium to large corporations.

 George Boole, who formalized binary (Boolean) algebra;

 Alan Turing, who made enormous contributions to computer science, including inventing
the Enigma code-breaking machine that broke the German ciphers in World War II and
doing pioneering work in artificial intelligence and neural networks;
 John Backus, leader of the team that invented the first high-level programming language,
Fortran (FORmula TRANslation);
 Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson, developers of the UNIX operating system and the C
programming language;
 Gary Kildall, founder of Digital Research Inc. and inventor of the CP/M (Control
Program for Microcomputers) operating system;
 Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corp.; and
 Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, inventors of Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP) and sometimes referred to as the "Fathers of the Internet."

As with computer hardware, most significant advancements in computer software these

days are made by companies rather than individuals.

Activity 02
Essay: Questions to be post on the class room.

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Engr. Joel D. Manacmul
Bataan Heroes College

What do computer engineers do?

Computer engineers design, test, implement and maintain computer software and hardware
systems. They ensure that both the physical hardware components and software programming
components work together smoothly for their clients. Some computer engineers specialize in
fields like robotics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, mobile apps and operating systems.
Computer engineer duties include:

 Researching software and computer hardware

 Designing and testing computer hardware components, such as processors, circuit boards,
memory devices and routers
 Writing and testing software for mobile devices and computers
 Designing, setting up and testing networks
 Managing operating systems
 Designing and testing robots
 Creating programming to support a range of products, from aircraft components to
surgical technology

Computer hardware engineers "research, design, develop and test computer systems and
components such as processors, circuit boards, memory devices, networks and routers,"
according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Computer hardware includes:

 microprocessors;
 memory chips: random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM) and
nonvolatile rewritable flash memory;
 data storage devices: hard disks, solid-state drives and optical drives;
 input devices: keyboards, mice, joysticks and gaming controllers, cameras, microphones,
scanners, touch screens and remote sensors;
 output devices: printers, monitors, audio devices and remote controls; and
 networking components: adapters, modems, switches and routers.

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Engr. Joel D. Manacmul
Bataan Heroes College

An important function of computer engineers is to integrate these components into computer and
network systems. This all requires a good working knowledge of electrical engineering.
Another important aspect of computer engineering is software development. Computer software
includes:

 operating systems;
 applications: word processing, spreadsheets, accounting, database management, graphics,
computer-assisted design (CAD), computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM), audio, video,
media and games;
 networking and communications: World Wide Web (WWW), voice over Internet
Protocol (VOIP), instant messaging and email;
 utilities: file handling, disk management, device drivers, archiving and backup systems;
 programming languages: editing, compiling and debugging; and
 security: antivirus, firewalls, encryption and user authentication.

Computer Engineering Careers and Subfields :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8ZoxzX0hro
Future Carrer and Subfields, Explain in this video clip

Projected Estimated Potential Average Salary

Computer engineers are usually full-time employees, although some work on a part-time,
freelance or contract basis. Their salaries depend on their education level, experience and the size
of the company in which they work. The type and industry in which they work can also affect
their wages.

 Common salary in the U.S.: $83,159 per year

 Some salaries range from $22,000 to $176,000 per year

https://www.indeed.com/career/computer-engineer/salaries

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Engr. Joel D. Manacmul
Bataan Heroes College

Assessment 02
Multiple Choices & Essay: Write the correct answer on each blank. To be post on the class room.

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Engr. Joel D. Manacmul