Cornell ECE Director Discusses Department Presence and Opportunities

Nestled among some of Cornell’s most contemporary edifices, Phillips Hall can be easy to miss. Regardless, it is home to the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering which is engaged in some of the most cutting edge work on campus. That has been the case since 1883, when the discipline of electrical engineering began to rise on Cornell’s fledgling campus. Indeed, this discipline was the first of its kind in the nation, and while other schools would soon follow, it was rarely without Cornell’s leadership. Stanford, for instance, started a similar program the following year—“by stealing members of our faculty,” Clifford Pollock, the current director of electrical and computer engineering, is quick to add that qualifier with a  smile.