A digital engineering curriculum with integrated, Windows-based EDA tools

The move to the Windows NT operating system by the University Computing Service, was an excellent opportunity for the Electronic Engineering Department at Kent to develop a new digital engineering curriculum, which closely integrated EDA tools and multi-media courseware into the syllabus. This paper examines the development of the curriculum and describes the software that has been integrated including tools for schematic capture, logic simulation, VLSI design and high-level simulation. The advantages of closely integrating computer based teaching with conventional lecture based material are described.