Undergraduate Technical Breadth Area

Faculty Executive Committee (FEC) Approved Regulations and Policies Outlining the Technical Breadth Requirement (effective Fall 2023 as of 09/25/2023)

The Technical Breadth Requirement (TBR)  is a 12.0 unit requirement designed to provide a student with the opportunity to gain working knowledge in a technical area outside their major department.   For example: students in the Bioengineering major cannot choose a technical breadth area (TBA) in Bioengineering.  Students must take three courses from one area.  To complete the requirement with three courses, those three courses must add up to at least 12.0 units.  Courses chosen to satisfy the technical breadth requirement can not be used to satisfy other degree requirements and students are responsible for meeting the requisites of courses selected. 

Exceptions to the above are:

  1. Students in the Computer Engineering major and the Computer Science and Engineering major are allowed to select any technical breadth area including Electrical and Computer Engineering or Computer Science.   
  2. Students may choose a course offered by their major department IF the course is part of a schoolwide area and not being used to satisfy other degree requirements. For example: CS majors may take COM SCI 112 for the Engineering Mathematics Area, but then may not “double count” that course to fulfill a Major Field Elective as well.
  3. Students may take multiple department listed (M) courses as long as the course chosen is not used to satisfy other degree requirements. For example: CS major can use COM SCI M119 for the ECE TBR because it is also an ECE course but then may not “double count” that course to fulfill a Major Field Elective as well.
  4. Students may petition, at 6426BH, to use one lower division course to satisfy a technical breadth elective IF that lower division course is a requisite for at least one of the two upper division technical breadth courses that the student takes from the same area (and that lower division course is not being used to satisfy other degree requirements).
  5. Students are not allowed to use more than one course from the same subset in meeting degree requirements for any engineering major.   Please refer to the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS below before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.
SUBSET RESTRICTIONS

SUBSET RESTRICTIONS:  IT IS NOT PERMITTED TO USE MORE THAN ONE COURSE FROM THE SAME SUBSET IN MEETING DEGREE REQUIREMENTS FOR ANY ENGINEERING MAJOR.  

  • Subset 1:  Probability and Statistics (C&EE 110, EC ENGR 131A, ENGR 116, MATH 170A, MATH 170E, STATS 100A)
  • Subset 2: Numerical Computing (C&EE 103, CH ENGR 109, EC ENGR 133A, MATH 151A)
  • Subset 3a: Structural Mechanics (C&EE 108, MECH&AE 156A, MECH&AE 166A) 
  • Subset 3b: Statics  (C&EE 91, MECH&AE 101)
  • Subset 3c: Dynamics (C&EE 102, MECH&AE 102)
  • Subset 4a: Introductory Thermodynamics (CH ENGR 102A, MECH&AE 105A)
  • Subset 4b: Transport Phenomena (CH ENGR 101B, MECH&AE 105D)
  • Subset 5a: Systems (EC ENGR 102, MECH&AE 107)
  • Subset 5b: Controls (CH ENGR 107, EC ENGR 141, MECH&AE 171A)
  • Subset 6: Circuits (EC ENGR 10, EC ENGR 100) 
  • Subset 7: Differential Equations (MATH 33B, MECH&AE 82)
  • Subset 8: Entrepreneurship and Venture Initiation (ENGR 160, MGMT 160)
  • Subset 9: Entrepreneurship and New Product Development (ENGR 163, MGMT 163)

Technical Breadth Areas


Students must satisfy a single Technical Breadth Area (minimum 12.0 units and three courses) outside their major’s department.
Please login to MyEngineering to declare your area (left hand side, select About Me).  Allow 24-48 hours for the system to update DARS.

Students are required to read and review the two items above before selecting an area and enrolling in courses:

  • FEC Approved Regulations and Policies Outlining the Technical Breadth Requirements
  • Subset Restrictions (It is not permitted to use more than one course from the same subset in meeting degree requirements for any engineering major)

 

 

Bioengineering

Designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain working knowledge of a technical field other than his/her major.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): select from
BIOENGR 100 through 187. One of the three courses can be substituted by CHEM 20B or LIFESCI 7A if not used to satisfy other degree requirements and additional two courses that are applied to technical breadth area are upper division.

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

 

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain working knowledge of a technical field other than his/her major.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): select from CH ENGR 100 through 187.   One of the three courses can be substituted by CHEM 20B if not used to satisfy other degree requirements and additional two courses that are applied to technical breadth area are upper division.

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain working knowledge of a technical field other than his/her major.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): select from C&EE 100 through 187.  One of the three courses can be substituted by CHEM 20B if not used to satisfy other degree requirements and additional two courses that are applied to technical breadth area are upper division.

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Computer Science

Designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain working knowledge of a technical field other than his/her major.

Required Courses (12 units): select from COM SCI 31, COM SCI 32, COM SCI 33, COM SCI 35L, MATH 61, COM SCI 102 through 187.   

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain working knowledge of a technical field other than his/her major.

Required Courses (12 units): select from EC ENGR 3, EC ENGR 10, EC ENGR 100 through 187 except EC ENGR CM182.

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Materials Science & Engineering

Designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain working knowledge of a technical field other than his/her major.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): select from MAT SCI 100 through 187. One of the three courses can be substituted by CHEM 20B if not used to satisfy other degree requirements and additional two courses that are applied to technical breadth area are upper division.

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain working knowledge of a technical field other than his/her major.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): select from MECH&AE 100 through 187.  One of the three courses can be substituted by CHEM 20B if not used to satisfy other degree requirements and additional two courses that are applied to technical breadth area are upper division.

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Computational Genomics

Designed to provide students with a broad background in Genomics.

Required Courses (12 unit minimum). Select any three courses from: CHEM 20A, EE BIOL 135, HUM GEN C144, LIFESCI 7A,
LIFESCI 7B, LIFESCI 7C, LIFESCI 107, MCD BIO 144,  MCD BIO 172, MIMG CM156/MCD BIO CM156, PHYSCI 125

Enrollment in the following 200 level graduate courses is by an engineering petition and approval is subject to a student meeting course requisites and a minimum 3.000 GPA:  BIOMATH M203, BIOMATH M211, BIOSTAT M272, BIOSTAT M278, EE BIOL M231, HUM GEN 236A HUM GEN 236B, STATS M254

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Digital Humanities

Designed for students who wish to obtain a working knowledge of cutting-edge digital tools and methods applied to fundamental research in the Humanities.  Courses introduce text analysis, data mining, visualization, 3D modeling and simulation, geospatial analysis and mapping, multi-media storytelling, information design, network analysis, interface design, and mark-up, and provide training to apply these tools to humanistic questions.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): DGT HUM 101 (required)*,  an additional two courses (minimum 8 units) selected from DGT HUM 110,  DGT HUM 120, DGT HUM 125, DGT HUM 131, DGT HUM 140, DGT HUM M145, DGT HUM 150**, DGT HUM 151**

*students who are having issues enrolling in DGT HUM 101 after their 2nd pass enrollment begins for the current term and after contacting the Digital Humanities department please notify us via MyUCLA Message Center (select the Engineering Queue) of your enrollment concerns.

**To receive credit for 150 or 151 a student must file an engineering petition and include the syllabus as these are variable topics, which must be vetted.   DGT HUM 150, 151 may be repeated for credit with different topics. 

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Energy and the Environment

Designed to provide students with a broad-background in the science, technology, and policy related to energy production and consumption and its impact on the environment and society.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): select from A&O SCI 102, A&O SCI 103, A&O SCI 104, CH ENGR 102A, C&EE 150, C&EE 151, C&EE 153, C&EE 154, C&EE C159, C&EE M165, ENVIRON M111, ENVIRON M126, ENVIRON 140, ENVIRON M153, ENVIRON 157, ENVIRON C159, ENVIRON 163, ENVIRON 166, EPS SCI 101, MECH&AE 103, MECH&AE 105A, MECH&AE 133A, MECH&AE 135, MECH&AE 136, MECH&AE C137, MECH&AE 150C.

Enrollment in the following 200 level graduate courses is by an engineering petition and approval is subject to a student meeting course requisites and a minimum 3.000 GPA:  CH ENGR 223, MAT SCI 252, MAT SCI 298 (specifically Materials Science for Alternative Energy Technologies topic)

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Engineering Mathematics

Designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain working knowledge of a technical field other than their major.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): select from C&EE 103, C&EE 110, COM SCI 112, COM SCI 170A, COM SCI 180, COM SCI 181, EC ENGR 102, EC ENGR 133A, EC ENGR 131A, MECH&AE 181A, MECH&AE 182B, MECH&AE 182C, MATH 61, MATH 110A, MATH 115A, MATH 131A, MATH 132, MATH 134, MATH 142, MATH 151A, MATH 164, MATH 167, MATH 171, MATH 180, MECH&AE 181A, MECH&AE 182B, MECH&AE 182C.

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Engineering Science

Designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain working knowledge of a technical field other than their major.

Required Courses (12 units): select from BIOENGR 100, BIOENGR C101, CH ENGR 100, CH ENGR 102A, C&EE 91 (formerly 101), C&EE 103C&EE 108, C&EE 110 or STATS 100A or EC ENGR 131A or MATH 170E, C&EE 153, COM SCI 31 or MECH&AE M20/C&EE M20, COM SCI 32, EC ENGR 3, EC ENGR 10, EC ENGR 100 EC ENGR 101A, ENGR M101/MAT SCI M105, EC ENGR 102,  EC ENGR 133A, MAT SCI 104, MECH&AE 101, MECH&AE 102MECH&AE 103,  MECH&AE 105A.

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

 

Nanotechnology

Designed to train students with cutting-edge knowledge and skills for their future successes in nano-related fields.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): MAT SCI 105 (required),  an additional two courses (8 units) selected from C&EE M165/ENGR M103, EC ENGR 128, MECH&AE M183B, MECH&AE C187L.

 

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Pre-Med

Designed for engineering undergraduates who are also truly pre-med or pre-health and planning to pursue graduate studies in the medical or health fields.

Required Courses (12 units): select from CHEM 30BL, CHEM 30C, CHEM 153A, CHEM 153L, LIFE SCI 7B, LIFESCI 7C , BIOSTATS 100A or STATS 100A.

 

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Technology Management

Designed to teach students how technology management works and what drives decision making in start-ups, in venture-backed IPOs and in giant multinationals.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): select from C&EE 170, ENGR 110, ENGR 111, ENGR 112, ENGR 113, ENGR 160, ENGR 163, ENGR 180, MGMT 108, MGMT 160, MGMT 161, MGMT 162, MGMT 163, MGMT 170*, ECON 1**, ECON 2**

*Students with credit for MGMT 180 (Real Estate Finance and Investment) may not take MGMT 170 for credit.  It is the same course.

Other MGMT 180 topics will be considered by an engineering petition only.  Please include the syllabus as these topics need to be vetted and reviewed.

**ECON 1 may be petitioned for credit.  We recommend students not take ENGR 110 if they use ECON 1 credit due to some content overlap.
**ECON 2 may be petitioned for credit.  Students approved to use ECON 2 may NOT take ENGR 110 due to significant content overlap.

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.

Urban Planning

Designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain working knowledge of community development, environmental planning, housing, land development, regional and international development, transportation, and urban design.  This area was added by popular demand to supplement the education of C&EE majors, however there is no guarantee of being able to access or enroll in URBN PL or PUB AFF courses.  Students should plan carefully and review enrollment restrictions outlined by the Urban Planning and Public Affairs departments.

Required Upper Division Courses (12 units): select courses from C&EE 180, C&EE 181, C&EE C185, C&EE C186, PUB AFF 110, URBN PL M120/PUBAFF M109, URBN PL 121, URBN PL 130, URBN PL CM137, URBN PL 141, URBN PL M150, URBN PL CM151/PUBAFF M153, URBN PL M161/PUB AFF M160. 

Enrollment in the following 200 level graduate courses is by an engineering petition and approval is subject to a student meeting course requisites and a minimum 3.000 GPA:  URBN PL M206A, URBN PL M250, URBN PL M253, URBN PL 254, URBN PL M255, URBN PL M256, URBN PL M258.

Please read the SUBSET RESTRICTIONS before selecting an area and enrolling in courses.